Please vaccinate your cats and other pets, if you have many

In just this one week, I’ve received two cases of outbreak of Feline Panleukopenia (also known as feline distemper), which is caused by the deadly feline parvovirus.

Please see this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feline_panleukopenia

In both cases, the persons concerned are keeping MANY cats but have never got them vaccinated. All it takes is to bring in one single cat that is infected, and in both cases, their cats are now dying one by one. Isolating the healthy ones may help, but the incubation period of virus is normally 2 weeks, and this is the time when we are none the wiser that our cats have already been infected. Vaccinating during an infection outbreak may not be the wisest thing to do because the vaccine contains weakened virus and it might further bring down the immunity once the animal is injected and the animal may already be infected.

So, in both situations, it is extremely tricky.

In one of the cases, her vet advised her to only vaccinate her surviving cats after the outbreak is over. In the other case, the vet advised him to get all his unsymptomatic cats vaccinated now, as soon as possible, and he is applying for help, which we will offer, provided he sends us a photograph of all his cats, as per our policy.

Bringing in street animals is a noble deed, but we have to do it wisely. When we bring in street animals, we expose them (in close proximity) to other cats which may be infected. And if we do not do the needful to protect them for possible outbreak of disease, wouldn’t it have been better if we’d just left them on the streets?

Of course people like THE Hoarder in Ipoh (in the Kawan-and-Hoarder case) will fight to the death that she is doing the dogs a big favour by providing shelter for them in her house compound. But what kind of “shelter” would that be, if half of them die of distemper because she, despite her experience having worked as a vet assistant in an animal clinic, refused to get them vaccinated and even refused to isolate the sick animals from the healthy ones?

I’m writing about cats today, because of the two cases I’ve received this week, but the same applies to dogs as well.

About cat vaccination: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feline_vaccination

About dog vaccination: http://dogsindia.com/vaccination_schedule.htm

The argument against vaccination: http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/petvacc.htm

Another viewpoint provided by a reader: http://catinfo.org/?link=vaccines

So, which school of thought should we subscribe to?

It all depends on our circumstances.

For shelters which house many animals, vaccination is imperative, or an outbreak will wipe out all their animals.

For those of us who keep a considerable number of animals, or those who often bring in street animals, vaccination is probably of great importance, too.

For those of us who only keep a few pets, it’s best to read up on the pros and cons of vaccination and consult our vets for the best possible options.

For my brood, they are given the first vaccination schedule (either 2 or 3 at infant stage, one month apart), followed by a booster after one year. Then, it is once in three years. For Bobby, I stopped his vaccinations after he reached 11 years.

Vaccination does not give 100% protection against diseases, but it definitely helps if our animal is infected. The disease might not be so severe. This especially applies to local breeds (mixed) because they are genetically stronger than purebreds.

Two years ago, way back in the old house where my cats were allowed to roam, one of them came back with flu, and the entire brood caught it. It was a nightmare for me, having (at that time), 6 sneezing animals, with Bunny being the worst hit as he is FIV-positive (Tiger, who is also FIV+, surprisingly did not fare badly, I suspect his earlier acupuncture sessions had somehow solved many problems in his body). All of them recovered with Vetri DMG, but Bunny took the longest to recover.

http://animalcare.my/2010/08/09/coping-with-a-sneezy-colony/

http://animalcare.my/2010/07/29/bunnys-blood-test-results/

http://animalcare.my/2010/07/28/bunny-comes-home/

http://animalcare.my/2010/07/28/bunny-is-sick/

When my entire brood got sick, I did wonder if they would have fared better had I chosen the yearly vaccination option and I did have moments of regret when Bunny was so sick. But Bunny’s case was tricky as he was FIV+, and at that time, my vet said it was difficult for him to advise if vaccinations would actually help Bunny or have detrimental effects on him. Recently, he said, based on latest findings, it was better to vaccinate. Hence, everyone, including Bunny, had their boosters last year.

Well, this is the “problem” our ancestors left behind for us, when they domesticated the wild cats and wolves and made them into “pets”. They took them away from the jungle, away from Nature, so that they could live with us, as our companions, with the promise that we will look after them. Have we kept that promise?

Humans have damaged the environment so much and made it so “synthetic”, not realising that biologically, we are all, humans and animals, still the same as we were thousands of years ago (when there was no junk food, petfood or carbonated sodas), and now, our animals are at our mercy, so to speak.

We owe it to them to look after them well.

After all, why are they here?

Our ancestors brought them here to live with us.

So yes, we definitely owe it to them, to look after them well.