July 30, 2024 • 27 mins
Join us on Vetsplanation for a comprehensive guide to cat vaccines! Our veterinary expert breaks down which vaccines are crucial for your cat's health and why. Learn about the benefits of each vaccine, how they protect against serious diseases, and tips for maintaining your cat's vaccination schedule. This episode is a must-watch for any cat parent looking to provide the best care for their furry companion.
In this episode you will learn:
- Essential vaccines every cat should receive
- Benefits of each vaccine for your cat’s health
- Recommended vaccination schedules for different life stages
- Common side effects and how to manage them
- Tips for maintaining your cat’s vaccination records
- How vaccines protect against serious feline diseases
- Expert answers to frequently asked questions about cat vaccines
Resources:
Crazy Cat Vet
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Sugerman (00:00):
Imagine your beloved cat contracting a
preventable disease simplybecause you weren't aware of the
importance of vaccines.
Welcome back to another episodeof Vetsplanation, I am your
host, Dr.
Sugarman.
Today, we have the pleasure ofspeaking with Dr.
Černá, a newly board certifiedinternist with extensive
experience in feline health.
(00:20):
We're thrilled to have her here,especially because she also just
gained membership in theAustralian and New Zealand
College of Veterinary Scientistsin the medicine of cats.
So congratulations Dr.
Černá, we're really excited tohave you here.
Just so you guys know, you know,this information is all free, so
we really do appreciate when yougive us likes, follow our page,
(00:41):
follow our podcast, follow us onYouTube, and make sure to leave
us a review.
I do look at a lot of thecomments that are on YouTube.
I think that's the best place tokind of interact with this, so I
do make sure to respond to a lotof those comments.
So if you have a comment thatyou want to leave, feel free to
leave it there.
Otherwise, you can always emailus as well.
All right, let's jump into thisweek's episode.
(01:02):
Hi everybody.
Welcome back to another episodeof Vetsplanation.
I'm so excited again we're gonnabe here with Dr.
Černá and I am really excitedbecause she just passed her
boards if I remember correctlyif I saw..
Dr. Petra Černá (01:12):
Yes, actually.
Dr. Sugerman (01:14):
Yes, now a board certified internist and and like
a hundred specialties just incats.
Dr. Petra Černá (01:20):
Yes, yes.
I actually also gained myAustralian and New Zealand
College of Veterinary Scientistmembership exam in Medicine of
Cats.
Dr. Sugerman (01:31):
Very nice.
Congratulations.
We're really excited for you.
Dr. Petra Černá (01:33):
Thank you.
Dr. Sugerman (01:34):
Yeah, so today we're gonna be talking about
vaccines in cats.
I feel like not a lot of peoplethink that vaccines in cats is
really important.
People always focus on dogs, butvaccines in cats I think are
really, really important.
Do you agree?
Dr. Petra Černá (01:48):
Absolutely.
Yes, I couldn't agree more.
And I think especially in catsthat go outside and in cats
where we have multiple cats inthe household, vaccinations are
definitely very important.
But even in indoor only cats andespecially young cats.
So I definitely think once wehave vaccinating the cats
multiple times throughout theirlife, I don't think we really
(02:09):
really need to continuevaccinating them until they are
24 years old.
But I think especially when theyare kittens and young adults as
well in their first few years,vaccinations are really
important.
Dr. Sugerman (02:22):
So why are they so important?
Dr. Petra Černá (02:24):
So they protect you from several diseases and
there are different types ofvaccines.
Some of them that can protectyou from the disease completely,
and some of them that you canstill get the disease.
Like for example, one of themain ones that we do in cats
would be feline panleukopenia,feline herpes, and feline
calicivirus.
And you can still getcalicivirus and herpes even when
(02:46):
you vaccinate, but the vaccinekind of protects you from
developing very severe clinicalsigns.
So if your cat is vaccinated forherpes, they can still get it.
They can develop some clinicalsigns, but very unlikely they're
actually going to get severeenough signs to die from the
disease.
Dr. Sugerman (03:03):
Yeah.
Yeah, I know a lot of peoplealways get confused by that
because like well I gave themthe vaccine they shouldn't be
able to get this disease butyou'll have to like it to like
us getting influenza or you knowyour flu vaccine or COVID you
know we might get a vaccine andit's going to help protect us to
where hopefully we won't getvery severe signs but you're
(03:24):
still most likely going to getthe flu and you're probably
still going to get COVID at somepoint.
Dr. Petra Černá (03:29):
Exactly.
But it's really important thatit protects you from developing
severe clinical signs where youcan die from.
And for example, panleukopenia,that's a disease in cats.
It's similar to dogs withparvovirus.
So panleukopenia can causereally severe clinical signs and
we can lose actually, and a lotof kittens will die because they
develop severe white blood celldeficiencies, severe anemias,
(03:53):
and really severe clinical signsand diarrhea as well.
And just become very weakened.
We have lost several kittens topanleukopenia both in my
hospital and especially inshelter environments as well.
So it is really important thatthose young cats and kittens get
vaccinated.
Dr. Sugerman (04:10):
Yeah.
I know there's different typesof vaccines.
We have like core vaccines andnon core vaccines.
Why don't we start with whatcore vaccines are and which ones
are core vaccines?
Dr. Petra Černá (04:19):
Yeah, I think that's a great topic.
So what we call core vaccinesare, it means those vaccines
that be really, really stronglyrecommended each get cats.
So those would be, like Imentioned, the feline
calicivirus, feline herpesvirus, and feline panleukopenia.
Those are the three corevaccines.
The great thing is most of themcome in one vaccine, right?
In one vial.
(04:40):
So it's like a magic vial thathas all three of them together.
So you don't have to bring yourcat to the vet to get vaccinated
for each of these separately,which is amazing.
And then those non core vaccinesare vaccines where we might
recommend them depending on thecat's lifestyle.
So for example, that would be aFELV vaccine.
So Feline Leukemia Vaccine,where we might not be
(05:01):
recommending it in all cats.
So if you only have one catthat's indoor only, never goes
outdoors, this cat is veryunlikely to get FELV infection
because it spreads from othercats.
But for example, let's say youhave one cat that is FELV
positive and then you have asecond cat in this household
that is so far still FELVnegative, that one might be a
(05:23):
good cat potentially tovaccinate to try to prevent the
infection in that cat.
Dr. Sugerman (05:28):
What about rabies vaccines?
Are those core or non corevaccine?
Dr. Petra Černá (05:32):
Yeah, it's actually a great question.
And this one rabies I think itvery much depends on the state
and the legislation.
So those are really hard toconsider as core or non core
vaccines because those very muchare state and country dependent.
So actually in Czech Republic,it's until I think recently, I
don't know if it has changedbecause I do not practice that
(05:54):
much in Czech Republic.
But they did not have to haverabies actually.
And I believe they still do nothave to have rabies vaccine.
Dogs have to, but cats do nothave to have rabies vaccine.
Now I live in Colorado.
So my, all my cats have to berabies vaccinated because it's a
legal requirement and they areactually, if my cat went to the
vet and accidentally bitsomeone, there are extremely
(06:16):
strict rules.
And sometimes some states mighteven require that these cats
then get euthanized.
because there is of course therisk of the rabies or at least
be put in a strict quarantineand receive vaccination.
So I would always recommend thateverybody checks or talk to your
local vets and check therequirements in the state or
country you live in.
Dr. Sugerman (06:36):
Got it.
So you had mentioned, we don'twant to vaccinate them until
they're like 25 years old, buthow often should we be
vaccinating them and until whatage?
Dr. Petra Černá (06:45):
And this is changing all the time with new
research as well, but currently,and what we actually use are the
AFP AAHA feline vaccinationguidelines.
The newest ones have beenupdated in 2020.
So currently what we are doing,we actually recommend to
vaccinate more when they areyoung kittens.
(07:06):
So interestingly, what we havelearned in the past, because in
the past we usually used tovaccinate somewhere around eight
weeks.
And especially when we have ashelter or rescue situations, we
might want to start vaccinatingeven a little earlier, but
otherwise we are recommendingvaccines starting around eight
weeks of age and thenrevaccinating in three to four
(07:26):
weeks after that.
And in the past, this seemedpotentially, maybe this was
enough.
But we have actually learnedjust recently that cats get
these maternal directantibodies, which means that as
kittens, if they were drinkingcolostrum and milk from their
moms, especially the colostrumwithin the first two days, they
(07:46):
actually got some of the kind ofthe antibodies from the mom to
protect them against thesediseases.
And what we have learnedrecently is that sometimes these
maternal derived antibodies canpotentially prevent the vaccine
actually working and creatingimmunity for them to then be
protected enough.
(08:07):
So now we are actuallyrecommending again, somewhere
vaccine around eight weeks, andit can be as early as six weeks.
We usually try not vaccinatingearlier than that, then three to
four weeks later.
And now we actually arerecommending that they get
vaccinating until they are about16 to 20 weeks of age, because
we really want the last vaccineto be around 16 to 20 weeks of
(08:30):
age to make sure that there wereno more maternal derived
antibodies present, that theyare not interfering with the
vaccines.
And this is mainly the cause forfeline panleukopenia, but it
potentially can be, there couldbe interference with other
vaccines as well.
Dr. Sugerman (08:45):
Basically, so that Mom's antibodies are not making
it so that the kitten cannotmake its own antibodies.
Is that correct?
Dr. Petra Černá (08:51):
Exactly.
So they are fighting against theantibodies that the mom gave to
the kittens, which is a greatthing.
And we really want that, butpotentially this can be fighting
the immunity and antibodies thatthe kittens would get from the
vaccine.
So we really recommend a littlebit more of a frequent vaccines
when they are small kittens andthen potentially revaccinating
(09:12):
at 6 or 12 months.
And then actually after that, alot of these vaccines, and this
very much depends on themanufacturer, but a lot of these
vaccines are actually good forup to even three years.
So then we don't have tovaccinate for a while, which is
a really, really good thing.
Dr. Sugerman (09:28):
Is there an FELV that's for three years?
I don't remember.
I know that there's FVRCP andthere's rabies that are three
years, but is there an FELVthat's three years as well?
Dr. Petra Černá (09:36):
Yeah.
So the FELV very much depends onthe manufacturer.
So there are some that are everytwo to three years as well,
actually.
Dr. Sugerman (09:45):
So then we're vaccinating, as an adult every
one to three years, depending onwhich vaccines.
And then do you have have an agewhere you stop vaccinating them?
Dr. Petra Černá (09:53):
Yeah, and that's a great question.
I think we currently do not havelike a data that says, we want
to stop vaccinating them at whenthey are this age or that age,
unfortunately, however, we alsopotential a little bit concerned
that sometimes these adjuvantsmight, there are very few
studies, not many, but fewstudies that maybe could suggest
(10:14):
that vaccinating older cats thathave kidney disease, it might
not be the best thing for themas well.
So I think it's really importantto really consider always the
environment the cat lives in,right?
So I actually breed kittenssometimes, so I still vaccinate
even my 10 year old cat everythree years.
Just because I really want tomake sure she is protected, but
(10:35):
also that she doesn't getsomething that can get
transmitted into the kittens aswell, because we have newborn
kittens in the house at leastonce a year.
So I, but if I, for example, hadone indoor only cat, I might not
want to be vaccinating her after10 years when the cat already
has received like severalvaccines.
But there are no studies showingthat just stop vaccinating after
(10:57):
10 or 12 years.
And that's that's the way to go.
We need more studies lookinginto this, and there are places
where you can actually send yourcat's blood and measure those
antibodies as well and actuallysee if the cat needs a vaccine
or not
Dr. Sugerman (11:11):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And those are like things thatyou need for traveling and stuff
anyways, right?
So it's super easy.
You just send out a blood test.
They tell you where their levelsare and tell you whether you
need to continue vaccinating ornot, right?
Dr. Petra Černá (11:23):
Exactly.
Dr. Sugerman (11:25):
What are some of the side effects of vaccines for
cats?
Dr. Petra Černá (11:28):
Yeah, side effects can definitely happen.
They usually do not happen withthe first vaccine the cat ever
gets, but there are sometimesreactions, especially to the
second vaccine, because then thecat was already exposed to the
antibodies.
Things like anaphylaxis andanaphylactic reactions are
extremely rare in cats.
I think the latest study wasshowing like less than 1 percent
(11:50):
of cats will developanaphylaxis.
So it's, it is quite rare, butit definitely can happen.
What I see most of the times isjust the cats being maybe a
little bit more sleepy after thesecond vaccine that day.
I just vaccinated my kittens, Ithink two or three weeks ago,
and I thought they would finallyget some rest and be a little
sleepy for one.
Yeah, I've seen also potentiallycats maybe being a little bit
(12:16):
nauseous, hyper salivating, somecats can vomit, maybe have some
diarrhea, but these are usuallyvery rare side effects of
vaccine.
So most of these times the catsmight just be a little sleepy.
Dr. Sugerman (12:27):
I think the most common thing I see is that
they're just painful over thatarea, or they get a fever from
after the vaccine.
People often come in and belike, my cat just feels very hot
after it got his vaccines todayor yesterday.
Dr. Petra Černá (12:40):
Yeah.
And and that's one thing we canpotentially call it a side
effect.
However, it also means that theimmune system is working
appropriately, right?
So I think I try not alwayscalling fever like a bad thing
because even in diseases whencats have fever it's the body's
natural reaction and naturalbody's kind of defense against
(13:01):
pathogens as well.
But yes, they can definitelydevelop fever.
Pain is definitely at theinjection site a big thing.
And what we really need tocover, and I talk about is
potentially the feline injectionsite sarcomas as well, because
there is enough research andenough evidence for us to know
that cats can develop what wecall FISS or feline injection
(13:24):
site sarcomas.
So where the cat has beenvaccinated, they can develop
tumors that are very locallyaggressive.
What that means is that they canreally grow really big in size
and reoccur even if you removethem by surgery.
However, they don't seem toreally metastasize.
So they're not really aggressiveby the ways that they would
(13:45):
spread, for example, to othersites like lungs or for example,
liver or other organs.
However, that can happen aswell.
And because they are so locallyaggressive, we really try to
recommend that cats getvaccinated either in their tail
or in their what we call distallimbs.
So either in the front paw whenwe go below the elbow or in
(14:07):
below the kind of their knee orthe hock even in their, in their
hind legs.
And we usually actually have aspecial vaccination system and
scheme that we would try to do.
For example, the right front legwhere we would be vaccinating
cats with the regular corevaccines, the herpes,
calicivirus, and panleukopenia.
(14:28):
And then we do the right hindleg for rabies, and then we
would do the left hind for FELV.
Dr. Sugerman (14:34):
Do you see them getting these sarcomas with any
particular vaccine more ingeneral?
Dr. Petra Černá (14:40):
There is potentially a concern that they
might be more likely gettingthis with the adjuvanted
vaccine.
So for example, like some of theFELV vaccines, there has been
some reports of this happeningwith rabies vaccines as well.
So most of the times it's theadjuvanted vaccines that this
can happen with.
And that's why we really need tobe careful with those vaccines.
(15:00):
And the fact that we wouldvaccinate into tail or the
distal limb doesn't prevent fromthe tumor developing.
However, those are really easyplaces where we can prefer
either partial amputation of thetail or limb.
Cats do really great living withthree legs.
I've had multiple throughout mycareer where, they had an
accident, for example, orbecause of the injection site
(15:22):
sarcoma they had to have anamputation.
But if you actually vaccinatebetween the shoulder blades,
that's not good at all.
Because unfortunately, I've seencats where we had to remove even
partial part of their ear.
And it's just they had two orthree surgeries, radiation
therapy, and these can be very,very locally aggressive.
And there is at some point,there is really nowhere else to
(15:43):
go to remove things.
To skin and everything becauseyou run out of the tissue in the
area.
So we really want to be carefuland proactive and really
vaccinating either in the tailor limbs.
And it sounds hard, but Iactually just vaccinated my
kittens, actually on my own athome with one hand into this
(16:04):
limb.
So I would really urge people totry doing that as well.
Dr. Sugerman (16:09):
And I know that it, so it's not like it happens
right away, right?
It's not like I give the kittena vaccine and then the next week
it develops a sarcoma, right?
Like how long is it?
Dr. Petra Černá (16:19):
Exactly.
It can really take.
It can really take severalweeks, but actually months or
even years for us to see anykind of masses or developments
there.
So we need to monitor andunfortunately the fact that it's
not there in a few weeks doesn'tmean that it's not gonna come on
in a couple of months to years.
(16:40):
And.
Yeah, and we usually try tobecause they can have a small
lump there after a vaccine,actually, when you give it to
them.
So we usually follow with thiswhat we call the 321 rule.
And what that means is that weusually monitor and we get
really concerned if the mass ispresent three months after
vaccination still.
So if the lump or the mass thereis still present after three
(17:03):
months of vaccination.
If it's bigger than twocentimeters in diameter.
Or if it's increasing in sizeone month after the vaccine has
been done.
So these are our main rules thatwe go about and try to really
follow these.
So if you just see a small massthere after the vaccine and it
disappears within the firstmonth, then we are usually not
(17:25):
too concerned.
Dr. Sugerman (17:27):
Yeah, that's it.
I think that's really easy tounderstand that, that kind of 3
2 1 rule because that's, it's areally scary thing for them to
have to see this mass rightafterwards.
I've, I saw one that the cathadn't been vaccinated for, I
think, six years, and it endedup developing a sarcoma after
that.
So I know it's always a veryscary thing.
And I do know that there arepeople who do not go to the vet
(17:49):
to vaccinate, and they typicallywould do it themselves.
And I think it's reallyimportant to know not to do it
between the shoulder blades,right?
Because when they do do it, theydon't know that we have this
scheme to try to figure outwhich type of vaccine
potentially could have causedthis, and also to know we need
to do it as low as possible sothat if we have to amputate,
then we can.
Dr. Petra Černá (18:09):
Yeah.
I actually had no idea thatsomeone can vaccinate up unless
you're a veterinarian.
That you can actually vaccinateat home.
Dr. Sugerman (18:15):
You can, you can go to a lot of the feed stores
and get vaccines and the hardpart is like they aren't always
effective, like I get this a lotwith parvo dogs.
They aren't always effectivebecause they weren't stored
correctly and then they a lot oftimes aren't given correctly and
then, and then now we have allthese problems that develop.
Dr. Petra Černá (18:32):
Wow.
I am definitely, I am definitelynow really surprised because
only veterinarians in Europe canactually vaccinate cats.
So I'm shocked that this is evenpossible in this country.
Dr. Sugerman (18:45):
I'm surprised you haven't come across it yet.
Dr. Petra Černá (18:47):
No, no.
Thankfully no, because thatdefinitely sounds very scary to
me.
Dr. Sugerman (18:51):
Yeah, exactly.
Was there anything else we needto know about vaccines?
Dr. Petra Černá (18:58):
I think I would definitely just make sure that
we are aware about thevaccinations.
Which vaccines to vaccinate for.
For the rabies to really checkthe local kind of rules and
everything.
And just trying to keep up onthe schedule.
I think, I know it's really hardto forget.
I actually keep up.
Kind of an Excel documentsbecause I have six cats.
(19:19):
I have an Excel spreadsheet withall the vaccines because not
every cat also has beenvaccinated at the same time.
So sometimes the core vaccinefor the calicivirus, herpes, and
chlamydia finishes earlier thanthen my rabies, for example.
And then they actually have norabies for three years as well.
So there's also a three yearrabies vaccine, which is great.
(19:41):
So I definitely am using thatone for my cats because I think
the risk of my cats ever gettingrabies in my house or in their
carriers is extremely low.
But we are, of course, complyingwith the Colorado State
legislation and vaccinating thecats.
Yeah, but just, just keeping ontop of the schedule.
And I think that's probably themost kind of important thing and
(20:04):
just not panicking.
There are a lot of people whoare, of course, adverse to
vaccines.
And I understand some, I've seencats getting anaphylactic shock
from vaccines.
I have seen cats having sideeffects from vaccines.
However, the risk of your catdying from not being vaccinated
is much higher than your risk ofyour cat dying from side effects
(20:25):
to the vaccines.
I think that's probably my onelike to go home message for
people who are a little bitadverse to vaccines and they
didn't maybe want to vaccinatetheir cats.
Like seeing kittens dying from adisease that's 100 percent
preventable by vaccinations.
And those tiny kittens reallybeing anemic, needing
transfusions, and there is notreatment, there's no cure for
(20:46):
panleukopenia, right?
So we can try treating and dosupportive treatment and maybe
try getting them like the serumfrom vaccinated cats and stuff,
but there is no cure for thatdisease, there is no drug for
that disease, so it's justsomething that's 100 percent
preventable with vaccinations.
Dr. Sugerman (21:03):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
That is so sad because I do seelike a lot of panleukopenia
cats, unfortunately.
It's a lot of barn cats andstuff.
And there's so many differentvaccine clinics that you could
potentially go to.
Not just like going into yourvet, but even just like vaccine
clinics.
They have trucks that go todifferent places or really low
cost vaccine places like so thatway they could get vaccinated
(21:26):
and we've talked a lot aboutbefore just had like how to get
your cat to be able to becomfortable in the carrier.
So that we can bring them to thevet.
But I also love your idea ofdoing that spreadsheet.
If you go to multiple differentvaccine clinics or you've been
to different vets, they may notalways send you those reminders
to be able to tell you like whento get vaccinated.
So for my dogs, like I actuallyjust put it in my phone to tell
(21:49):
me as an alarm for in threeyears to tell me to get the dogs
vaccinated.
But you don't always know what'sgoing to happen to your phone.
So definitely some sort ofspreadsheet or something I think
is a really great idea as well.
Dr. Petra Černá (22:02):
Yeah, because for me, like my cats have these
in Europe, each cat they, we nowhave to require to have these
vaccine passports actually.
So all my cats have a EuropeanUnion vaccine passports and I
just don't want to list throughall those pages because I've had
some of those cats for years,right?
So I made that spreadsheet.
I actually have a reminder on myphone for their antiparasitic
(22:23):
for their heart and tick andflea.
Yeah.
So I have that every two monthson the dot, it's like today's
Bravecto day.
And then all my cats getmedications that day.
So I have that for that.
But for the vaccines, it just, Ijust like having it there.
And I usually put an alarm on myphone too, but I think this
spreadsheet was just, yeah, thesix cats at home and you don't
(22:44):
want to miss something.
Dr. Sugerman (22:46):
Exactly.
Exactly.
Yeah.
And especially like one of themgets sick, I do have that happen
a lot in litters when they comein.
One of them gets sick and it'slike they can't get vaccinated
and they have to get vaccinatedat a different time than the
other kittens.
And that's really hard toremember who needs to get
vaccinated when we're doing itevery three to four weeks.
Right.
Dr. Petra Černá (23:04):
Yeah, exactly.
No, I couldn't agree more.
So I think it's really importantto keep up on top of that.
And it's not always easy.
I feel like I personally don'tgo to doctors myself as often as
I should for regular checkups,but I try at least once a year
and go in and make sure I'mokay.
Dr. Sugerman (23:22):
Yeah.
Exactly.
Was there anything else youwanted to share about vaccines
in our kitties?
Dr. Petra Černá (23:28):
I think we covered a lot of the topics, so
I hope people are a little bitmore comfortable with getting
their cats vaccinated.
There are, of course, othervaccinations as well for
example, Bordetella for cats,which actually is not very
common disease in cats.
It's a non core vaccine as well,it's an intranasal vaccine.
But for example, if I have a, ifI had a dog, I don't have a dog
(23:51):
and probably never will have adog.
But if I had a dog and they weregoing a lot to kennels or just
like daycare and stuff, it mightbe a good idea.
And they had a kennel cough.
It might be a good idea topotentially protect the cats.
I vaccinate some of my cats forchlamydia as well because we go
to sometimes to cat shows sothey can get it there.
(24:11):
And there is an FIP vaccine onthe market at the moment, but
it's a non actually it's a nonrecommended vaccine.
So it's not even non core.
It is a not recommended vaccine.
We currently do not recommendvaccinating with the vaccine for
FIP because there is just nostudy showing that it's
effective.
And also, you're only supposedto be vaccinating kittens that
(24:34):
are coronavirus free at the ageof 16 weeks, which good luck
finding those.
Coronavirus is just soprevalent.
About 90 percent of cats areseropositive for coronavirus and
they get usually infected whenthey're about six to eight weeks
of age, when their maternalantibodies wane, right?
So when they are no longerprotected from their moms.
(24:56):
And yeah, so if you ever find a16 week old coronavirus free
kitten, please do let me know.
Dr. Sugerman (25:03):
If I remember correctly, I think if you
vaccinate for, for FIV theyactually will become positive on
the snap tests.
Is that correct?
Dr. Petra Černá (25:12):
Exactly.
So the SNAP testing is anotherthing because FELV, we are
actually detecting the antigen.
So we are actually trying tolook for the virus there.
While with FIV, when we aredoing the SNAP test, we are
detecting antibodies.
And currently, I don't believethe FIV vaccine is no longer
available on the U.S.
market.
Dr. Sugerman (25:33):
I thought so.
Yeah.
Dr. Petra Černá (25:34):
But the cats, I think from the one study they
could have tested positive forup to seven years after the
vaccination.
So those antibodies definitelycan last for a very long time.
So please do not panic if yourcat was vaccinated in the past
and tests FIV positive becauseit is very likely false positive
if they were vaccinated in thepast.
So that's a great thing toremember as well.
(25:56):
And I'm really excited becausethere are some places where they
are developing.
UC Davis just presented a reallyexciting research about mRNA
vaccines like we have for COVID.
So they are actually doing moreresearch into looking at
potentially mRNA vaccines forFIP in the future.
It's years and years away, ofcourse, but in preliminary
(26:18):
studies in mice and it's so faris very exciting.
Dr. Sugerman (26:21):
Very cool.
Yeah.
I know that you know all aboutlike how long it takes to get to
like actually getting to makesomething.
Dr. Petra Černá (26:27):
Yeah.
So this will be years away and alot of money away, but yeah, I
am very excited that someone'sworking on that too.
Dr. Sugerman (26:34):
Very cool.
Awesome.
All right.
Was there anything else youwanted to share with us Dr.
Černá?
Dr. Petra Černá (26:38):
No, just so great to be here again.
And thank you for having me ontoday.
Dr. Sugerman (26:43):
Absolutely.
Thank you.
And again I think then next timewe're going to be talking about
osteoarthritis if I remembercorrectly.
So arthritis in kitties, right?
Dr. Petra Černá (26:50):
Yes.
We'll go from kittenvaccinations to senior cats and
their pain.
Dr. Sugerman (26:56):
Exactly.
All right.
Well thank you again Dr.
Černá, I'm super excited for ourtalk next time and we'll see you
then.
Dr. Petra Černá (27:03):
Wonderful.
See you soon.
Bye.
Dr. Sugerman (27:05):
Bye.
Thanks for tuning in to anotherepisode of Vetsplanation.
We hope that you found thisdiscussion on cat vaccines
informative and helpful.
Remember, keeping your catsvaccinated is crucial for their
health and well being.
If you enjoyed this episode,please subscribe to our podcast
and leave a review.
Your feedback helps us to reachmore pet lovers just like you.
(27:28):
Do you have any questions ortopics that you'd like us to
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Make sure to drop us a message.
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And don't forget to share thisepisode with your friends and
family who might benefit fromlearning more about cat
(27:49):
vaccines.
Together, we can ensure that ourfurry friends stay happy,
healthy, and safe.
Until next time, take care, andwe'll see you then.
Imagine your beloved cat contracting a
preventable disease simplybecause you weren't aware of the
importance of vaccines.
Welcome back to another episodeof Vetsplanation, I am your
host, Dr.
Sugarman.
Today, we have the pleasure ofspeaking with Dr.
Černá, a newly board certifiedinternist with extensive
experience in feline health.
(00:20):
We're thrilled to have her here,especially because she also just
gained membership in theAustralian and New Zealand
College of Veterinary Scientistsin the medicine of cats.
So congratulations Dr.
Černá, we're really excited tohave you here.
Just so you guys know, you know,this information is all free, so
we really do appreciate when yougive us likes, follow our page,
(00:41):
follow our podcast, follow us onYouTube, and make sure to leave
us a review.
I do look at a lot of thecomments that are on YouTube.
I think that's the best place tokind of interact with this, so I
do make sure to respond to a lotof those comments.
So if you have a comment thatyou want to leave, feel free to
leave it there.
Otherwise, you can always emailus as well.
All right, let's jump into thisweek's episode.
(01:02):
Hi everybody.
Welcome back to another episodeof Vetsplanation.
I'm so excited again we're gonnabe here with Dr.
Černá and I am really excitedbecause she just passed her
boards if I remember correctlyif I saw..
Dr. Petra Černá (01:12):
Yes, actually.
Dr. Sugerman (01:14):
Yes, now a board certified internist and and like
a hundred specialties just incats.
Dr. Petra Černá (01:20):
Yes, yes.
I actually also gained myAustralian and New Zealand
College of Veterinary Scientistmembership exam in Medicine of
Cats.
Dr. Sugerman (01:31):
Very nice.
Congratulations.
We're really excited for you.
Dr. Petra Černá (01:33):
Thank you.
Dr. Sugerman (01:34):
Yeah, so today we're gonna be talking about
vaccines in cats.
I feel like not a lot of peoplethink that vaccines in cats is
really important.
People always focus on dogs, butvaccines in cats I think are
really, really important.
Do you agree?
Dr. Petra Černá (01:48):
Absolutely.
Yes, I couldn't agree more.
And I think especially in catsthat go outside and in cats
where we have multiple cats inthe household, vaccinations are
definitely very important.
But even in indoor only cats andespecially young cats.
So I definitely think once wehave vaccinating the cats
multiple times throughout theirlife, I don't think we really
(02:09):
really need to continuevaccinating them until they are
24 years old.
But I think especially when theyare kittens and young adults as
well in their first few years,vaccinations are really
important.
Dr. Sugerman (02:22):
So why are they so important?
Dr. Petra Černá (02:24):
So they protect you from several diseases and
there are different types ofvaccines.
Some of them that can protectyou from the disease completely,
and some of them that you canstill get the disease.
Like for example, one of themain ones that we do in cats
would be feline panleukopenia,feline herpes, and feline
calicivirus.
And you can still getcalicivirus and herpes even when
(02:46):
you vaccinate, but the vaccinekind of protects you from
developing very severe clinicalsigns.
So if your cat is vaccinated forherpes, they can still get it.
They can develop some clinicalsigns, but very unlikely they're
actually going to get severeenough signs to die from the
disease.
Dr. Sugerman (03:03):
Yeah.
Yeah, I know a lot of peoplealways get confused by that
because like well I gave themthe vaccine they shouldn't be
able to get this disease butyou'll have to like it to like
us getting influenza or you knowyour flu vaccine or COVID you
know we might get a vaccine andit's going to help protect us to
where hopefully we won't getvery severe signs but you're
(03:24):
still most likely going to getthe flu and you're probably
still going to get COVID at somepoint.
Dr. Petra Černá (03:29):
Exactly.
But it's really important thatit protects you from developing
severe clinical signs where youcan die from.
And for example, panleukopenia,that's a disease in cats.
It's similar to dogs withparvovirus.
So panleukopenia can causereally severe clinical signs and
we can lose actually, and a lotof kittens will die because they
develop severe white blood celldeficiencies, severe anemias,
(03:53):
and really severe clinical signsand diarrhea as well.
And just become very weakened.
We have lost several kittens topanleukopenia both in my
hospital and especially inshelter environments as well.
So it is really important thatthose young cats and kittens get
vaccinated.
Dr. Sugerman (04:10):
Yeah.
I know there's different typesof vaccines.
We have like core vaccines andnon core vaccines.
Why don't we start with whatcore vaccines are and which ones
are core vaccines?
Dr. Petra Černá (04:19):
Yeah, I think that's a great topic.
So what we call core vaccinesare, it means those vaccines
that be really, really stronglyrecommended each get cats.
So those would be, like Imentioned, the feline
calicivirus, feline herpesvirus, and feline panleukopenia.
Those are the three corevaccines.
The great thing is most of themcome in one vaccine, right?
In one vial.
(04:40):
So it's like a magic vial thathas all three of them together.
So you don't have to bring yourcat to the vet to get vaccinated
for each of these separately,which is amazing.
And then those non core vaccinesare vaccines where we might
recommend them depending on thecat's lifestyle.
So for example, that would be aFELV vaccine.
So Feline Leukemia Vaccine,where we might not be
(05:01):
recommending it in all cats.
So if you only have one catthat's indoor only, never goes
outdoors, this cat is veryunlikely to get FELV infection
because it spreads from othercats.
But for example, let's say youhave one cat that is FELV
positive and then you have asecond cat in this household
that is so far still FELVnegative, that one might be a
(05:23):
good cat potentially tovaccinate to try to prevent the
infection in that cat.
Dr. Sugerman (05:28):
What about rabies vaccines?
Are those core or non corevaccine?
Dr. Petra Černá (05:32):
Yeah, it's actually a great question.
And this one rabies I think itvery much depends on the state
and the legislation.
So those are really hard toconsider as core or non core
vaccines because those very muchare state and country dependent.
So actually in Czech Republic,it's until I think recently, I
don't know if it has changedbecause I do not practice that
(05:54):
much in Czech Republic.
But they did not have to haverabies actually.
And I believe they still do nothave to have rabies vaccine.
Dogs have to, but cats do nothave to have rabies vaccine.
Now I live in Colorado.
So my, all my cats have to berabies vaccinated because it's a
legal requirement and they areactually, if my cat went to the
vet and accidentally bitsomeone, there are extremely
(06:16):
strict rules.
And sometimes some states mighteven require that these cats
then get euthanized.
because there is of course therisk of the rabies or at least
be put in a strict quarantineand receive vaccination.
So I would always recommend thateverybody checks or talk to your
local vets and check therequirements in the state or
country you live in.
Dr. Sugerman (06:36):
Got it.
So you had mentioned, we don'twant to vaccinate them until
they're like 25 years old, buthow often should we be
vaccinating them and until whatage?
Dr. Petra Černá (06:45):
And this is changing all the time with new
research as well, but currently,and what we actually use are the
AFP AAHA feline vaccinationguidelines.
The newest ones have beenupdated in 2020.
So currently what we are doing,we actually recommend to
vaccinate more when they areyoung kittens.
(07:06):
So interestingly, what we havelearned in the past, because in
the past we usually used tovaccinate somewhere around eight
weeks.
And especially when we have ashelter or rescue situations, we
might want to start vaccinatingeven a little earlier, but
otherwise we are recommendingvaccines starting around eight
weeks of age and thenrevaccinating in three to four
(07:26):
weeks after that.
And in the past, this seemedpotentially, maybe this was
enough.
But we have actually learnedjust recently that cats get
these maternal directantibodies, which means that as
kittens, if they were drinkingcolostrum and milk from their
moms, especially the colostrumwithin the first two days, they
(07:46):
actually got some of the kind ofthe antibodies from the mom to
protect them against thesediseases.
And what we have learnedrecently is that sometimes these
maternal derived antibodies canpotentially prevent the vaccine
actually working and creatingimmunity for them to then be
protected enough.
(08:07):
So now we are actuallyrecommending again, somewhere
vaccine around eight weeks, andit can be as early as six weeks.
We usually try not vaccinatingearlier than that, then three to
four weeks later.
And now we actually arerecommending that they get
vaccinating until they are about16 to 20 weeks of age, because
we really want the last vaccineto be around 16 to 20 weeks of
(08:30):
age to make sure that there wereno more maternal derived
antibodies present, that theyare not interfering with the
vaccines.
And this is mainly the cause forfeline panleukopenia, but it
potentially can be, there couldbe interference with other
vaccines as well.
Dr. Sugerman (08:45):
Basically, so that Mom's antibodies are not making
it so that the kitten cannotmake its own antibodies.
Is that correct?
Dr. Petra Černá (08:51):
Exactly.
So they are fighting against theantibodies that the mom gave to
the kittens, which is a greatthing.
And we really want that, butpotentially this can be fighting
the immunity and antibodies thatthe kittens would get from the
vaccine.
So we really recommend a littlebit more of a frequent vaccines
when they are small kittens andthen potentially revaccinating
(09:12):
at 6 or 12 months.
And then actually after that, alot of these vaccines, and this
very much depends on themanufacturer, but a lot of these
vaccines are actually good forup to even three years.
So then we don't have tovaccinate for a while, which is
a really, really good thing.
Dr. Sugerman (09:28):
Is there an FELV that's for three years?
I don't remember.
I know that there's FVRCP andthere's rabies that are three
years, but is there an FELVthat's three years as well?
Dr. Petra Černá (09:36):
Yeah.
So the FELV very much depends onthe manufacturer.
So there are some that are everytwo to three years as well,
actually.
Dr. Sugerman (09:45):
So then we're vaccinating, as an adult every
one to three years, depending onwhich vaccines.
And then do you have have an agewhere you stop vaccinating them?
Dr. Petra Černá (09:53):
Yeah, and that's a great question.
I think we currently do not havelike a data that says, we want
to stop vaccinating them at whenthey are this age or that age,
unfortunately, however, we alsopotential a little bit concerned
that sometimes these adjuvantsmight, there are very few
studies, not many, but fewstudies that maybe could suggest
(10:14):
that vaccinating older cats thathave kidney disease, it might
not be the best thing for themas well.
So I think it's really importantto really consider always the
environment the cat lives in,right?
So I actually breed kittenssometimes, so I still vaccinate
even my 10 year old cat everythree years.
Just because I really want tomake sure she is protected, but
(10:35):
also that she doesn't getsomething that can get
transmitted into the kittens aswell, because we have newborn
kittens in the house at leastonce a year.
So I, but if I, for example, hadone indoor only cat, I might not
want to be vaccinating her after10 years when the cat already
has received like severalvaccines.
But there are no studies showingthat just stop vaccinating after
(10:57):
10 or 12 years.
And that's that's the way to go.
We need more studies lookinginto this, and there are places
where you can actually send yourcat's blood and measure those
antibodies as well and actuallysee if the cat needs a vaccine
or not
Dr. Sugerman (11:11):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And those are like things thatyou need for traveling and stuff
anyways, right?
So it's super easy.
You just send out a blood test.
They tell you where their levelsare and tell you whether you
need to continue vaccinating ornot, right?
Dr. Petra Černá (11:23):
Exactly.
Dr. Sugerman (11:25):
What are some of the side effects of vaccines for
cats?
Dr. Petra Černá (11:28):
Yeah, side effects can definitely happen.
They usually do not happen withthe first vaccine the cat ever
gets, but there are sometimesreactions, especially to the
second vaccine, because then thecat was already exposed to the
antibodies.
Things like anaphylaxis andanaphylactic reactions are
extremely rare in cats.
I think the latest study wasshowing like less than 1 percent
(11:50):
of cats will developanaphylaxis.
So it's, it is quite rare, butit definitely can happen.
What I see most of the times isjust the cats being maybe a
little bit more sleepy after thesecond vaccine that day.
I just vaccinated my kittens, Ithink two or three weeks ago,
and I thought they would finallyget some rest and be a little
sleepy for one.
Yeah, I've seen also potentiallycats maybe being a little bit
(12:16):
nauseous, hyper salivating, somecats can vomit, maybe have some
diarrhea, but these are usuallyvery rare side effects of
vaccine.
So most of these times the catsmight just be a little sleepy.
Dr. Sugerman (12:27):
I think the most common thing I see is that
they're just painful over thatarea, or they get a fever from
after the vaccine.
People often come in and belike, my cat just feels very hot
after it got his vaccines todayor yesterday.
Dr. Petra Černá (12:40):
Yeah.
And and that's one thing we canpotentially call it a side
effect.
However, it also means that theimmune system is working
appropriately, right?
So I think I try not alwayscalling fever like a bad thing
because even in diseases whencats have fever it's the body's
natural reaction and naturalbody's kind of defense against
(13:01):
pathogens as well.
But yes, they can definitelydevelop fever.
Pain is definitely at theinjection site a big thing.
And what we really need tocover, and I talk about is
potentially the feline injectionsite sarcomas as well, because
there is enough research andenough evidence for us to know
that cats can develop what wecall FISS or feline injection
(13:24):
site sarcomas.
So where the cat has beenvaccinated, they can develop
tumors that are very locallyaggressive.
What that means is that they canreally grow really big in size
and reoccur even if you removethem by surgery.
However, they don't seem toreally metastasize.
So they're not really aggressiveby the ways that they would
(13:45):
spread, for example, to othersites like lungs or for example,
liver or other organs.
However, that can happen aswell.
And because they are so locallyaggressive, we really try to
recommend that cats getvaccinated either in their tail
or in their what we call distallimbs.
So either in the front paw whenwe go below the elbow or in
(14:07):
below the kind of their knee orthe hock even in their, in their
hind legs.
And we usually actually have aspecial vaccination system and
scheme that we would try to do.
For example, the right front legwhere we would be vaccinating
cats with the regular corevaccines, the herpes,
calicivirus, and panleukopenia.
(14:28):
And then we do the right hindleg for rabies, and then we
would do the left hind for FELV.
Dr. Sugerman (14:34):
Do you see them getting these sarcomas with any
particular vaccine more ingeneral?
Dr. Petra Černá (14:40):
There is potentially a concern that they
might be more likely gettingthis with the adjuvanted
vaccine.
So for example, like some of theFELV vaccines, there has been
some reports of this happeningwith rabies vaccines as well.
So most of the times it's theadjuvanted vaccines that this
can happen with.
And that's why we really need tobe careful with those vaccines.
(15:00):
And the fact that we wouldvaccinate into tail or the
distal limb doesn't prevent fromthe tumor developing.
However, those are really easyplaces where we can prefer
either partial amputation of thetail or limb.
Cats do really great living withthree legs.
I've had multiple throughout mycareer where, they had an
accident, for example, orbecause of the injection site
(15:22):
sarcoma they had to have anamputation.
But if you actually vaccinatebetween the shoulder blades,
that's not good at all.
Because unfortunately, I've seencats where we had to remove even
partial part of their ear.
And it's just they had two orthree surgeries, radiation
therapy, and these can be very,very locally aggressive.
And there is at some point,there is really nowhere else to
(15:43):
go to remove things.
To skin and everything becauseyou run out of the tissue in the
area.
So we really want to be carefuland proactive and really
vaccinating either in the tailor limbs.
And it sounds hard, but Iactually just vaccinated my
kittens, actually on my own athome with one hand into this
(16:04):
limb.
So I would really urge people totry doing that as well.
Dr. Sugerman (16:09):
And I know that it, so it's not like it happens
right away, right?
It's not like I give the kittena vaccine and then the next week
it develops a sarcoma, right?
Like how long is it?
Dr. Petra Černá (16:19):
Exactly.
It can really take.
It can really take severalweeks, but actually months or
even years for us to see anykind of masses or developments
there.
So we need to monitor andunfortunately the fact that it's
not there in a few weeks doesn'tmean that it's not gonna come on
in a couple of months to years.
(16:40):
And.
Yeah, and we usually try tobecause they can have a small
lump there after a vaccine,actually, when you give it to
them.
So we usually follow with thiswhat we call the 321 rule.
And what that means is that weusually monitor and we get
really concerned if the mass ispresent three months after
vaccination still.
So if the lump or the mass thereis still present after three
(17:03):
months of vaccination.
If it's bigger than twocentimeters in diameter.
Or if it's increasing in sizeone month after the vaccine has
been done.
So these are our main rules thatwe go about and try to really
follow these.
So if you just see a small massthere after the vaccine and it
disappears within the firstmonth, then we are usually not
(17:25):
too concerned.
Dr. Sugerman (17:27):
Yeah, that's it.
I think that's really easy tounderstand that, that kind of 3
2 1 rule because that's, it's areally scary thing for them to
have to see this mass rightafterwards.
I've, I saw one that the cathadn't been vaccinated for, I
think, six years, and it endedup developing a sarcoma after
that.
So I know it's always a veryscary thing.
And I do know that there arepeople who do not go to the vet
(17:49):
to vaccinate, and they typicallywould do it themselves.
And I think it's reallyimportant to know not to do it
between the shoulder blades,right?
Because when they do do it, theydon't know that we have this
scheme to try to figure outwhich type of vaccine
potentially could have causedthis, and also to know we need
to do it as low as possible sothat if we have to amputate,
then we can.
Dr. Petra Černá (18:09):
Yeah.
I actually had no idea thatsomeone can vaccinate up unless
you're a veterinarian.
That you can actually vaccinateat home.
Dr. Sugerman (18:15):
You can, you can go to a lot of the feed stores
and get vaccines and the hardpart is like they aren't always
effective, like I get this a lotwith parvo dogs.
They aren't always effectivebecause they weren't stored
correctly and then they a lot oftimes aren't given correctly and
then, and then now we have allthese problems that develop.
Dr. Petra Černá (18:32):
Wow.
I am definitely, I am definitelynow really surprised because
only veterinarians in Europe canactually vaccinate cats.
So I'm shocked that this is evenpossible in this country.
Dr. Sugerman (18:45):
I'm surprised you haven't come across it yet.
Dr. Petra Černá (18:47):
No, no.
Thankfully no, because thatdefinitely sounds very scary to
me.
Dr. Sugerman (18:51):
Yeah, exactly.
Was there anything else we needto know about vaccines?
Dr. Petra Černá (18:58):
I think I would definitely just make sure that
we are aware about thevaccinations.
Which vaccines to vaccinate for.
For the rabies to really checkthe local kind of rules and
everything.
And just trying to keep up onthe schedule.
I think, I know it's really hardto forget.
I actually keep up.
Kind of an Excel documentsbecause I have six cats.
(19:19):
I have an Excel spreadsheet withall the vaccines because not
every cat also has beenvaccinated at the same time.
So sometimes the core vaccinefor the calicivirus, herpes, and
chlamydia finishes earlier thanthen my rabies, for example.
And then they actually have norabies for three years as well.
So there's also a three yearrabies vaccine, which is great.
(19:41):
So I definitely am using thatone for my cats because I think
the risk of my cats ever gettingrabies in my house or in their
carriers is extremely low.
But we are, of course, complyingwith the Colorado State
legislation and vaccinating thecats.
Yeah, but just, just keeping ontop of the schedule.
And I think that's probably themost kind of important thing and
(20:04):
just not panicking.
There are a lot of people whoare, of course, adverse to
vaccines.
And I understand some, I've seencats getting anaphylactic shock
from vaccines.
I have seen cats having sideeffects from vaccines.
However, the risk of your catdying from not being vaccinated
is much higher than your risk ofyour cat dying from side effects
(20:25):
to the vaccines.
I think that's probably my onelike to go home message for
people who are a little bitadverse to vaccines and they
didn't maybe want to vaccinatetheir cats.
Like seeing kittens dying from adisease that's 100 percent
preventable by vaccinations.
And those tiny kittens reallybeing anemic, needing
transfusions, and there is notreatment, there's no cure for
(20:46):
panleukopenia, right?
So we can try treating and dosupportive treatment and maybe
try getting them like the serumfrom vaccinated cats and stuff,
but there is no cure for thatdisease, there is no drug for
that disease, so it's justsomething that's 100 percent
preventable with vaccinations.
Dr. Sugerman (21:03):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
That is so sad because I do seelike a lot of panleukopenia
cats, unfortunately.
It's a lot of barn cats andstuff.
And there's so many differentvaccine clinics that you could
potentially go to.
Not just like going into yourvet, but even just like vaccine
clinics.
They have trucks that go todifferent places or really low
cost vaccine places like so thatway they could get vaccinated
(21:26):
and we've talked a lot aboutbefore just had like how to get
your cat to be able to becomfortable in the carrier.
So that we can bring them to thevet.
But I also love your idea ofdoing that spreadsheet.
If you go to multiple differentvaccine clinics or you've been
to different vets, they may notalways send you those reminders
to be able to tell you like whento get vaccinated.
So for my dogs, like I actuallyjust put it in my phone to tell
(21:49):
me as an alarm for in threeyears to tell me to get the dogs
vaccinated.
But you don't always know what'sgoing to happen to your phone.
So definitely some sort ofspreadsheet or something I think
is a really great idea as well.
Dr. Petra Černá (22:02):
Yeah, because for me, like my cats have these
in Europe, each cat they, we nowhave to require to have these
vaccine passports actually.
So all my cats have a EuropeanUnion vaccine passports and I
just don't want to list throughall those pages because I've had
some of those cats for years,right?
So I made that spreadsheet.
I actually have a reminder on myphone for their antiparasitic
(22:23):
for their heart and tick andflea.
Yeah.
So I have that every two monthson the dot, it's like today's
Bravecto day.
And then all my cats getmedications that day.
So I have that for that.
But for the vaccines, it just, Ijust like having it there.
And I usually put an alarm on myphone too, but I think this
spreadsheet was just, yeah, thesix cats at home and you don't
(22:44):
want to miss something.
Dr. Sugerman (22:46):
Exactly.
Exactly.
Yeah.
And especially like one of themgets sick, I do have that happen
a lot in litters when they comein.
One of them gets sick and it'slike they can't get vaccinated
and they have to get vaccinatedat a different time than the
other kittens.
And that's really hard toremember who needs to get
vaccinated when we're doing itevery three to four weeks.
Right.
Dr. Petra Černá (23:04):
Yeah, exactly.
No, I couldn't agree more.
So I think it's really importantto keep up on top of that.
And it's not always easy.
I feel like I personally don'tgo to doctors myself as often as
I should for regular checkups,but I try at least once a year
and go in and make sure I'mokay.
Dr. Sugerman (23:22):
Yeah.
Exactly.
Was there anything else youwanted to share about vaccines
in our kitties?
Dr. Petra Černá (23:28):
I think we covered a lot of the topics, so
I hope people are a little bitmore comfortable with getting
their cats vaccinated.
There are, of course, othervaccinations as well for
example, Bordetella for cats,which actually is not very
common disease in cats.
It's a non core vaccine as well,it's an intranasal vaccine.
But for example, if I have a, ifI had a dog, I don't have a dog
(23:51):
and probably never will have adog.
But if I had a dog and they weregoing a lot to kennels or just
like daycare and stuff, it mightbe a good idea.
And they had a kennel cough.
It might be a good idea topotentially protect the cats.
I vaccinate some of my cats forchlamydia as well because we go
to sometimes to cat shows sothey can get it there.
(24:11):
And there is an FIP vaccine onthe market at the moment, but
it's a non actually it's a nonrecommended vaccine.
So it's not even non core.
It is a not recommended vaccine.
We currently do not recommendvaccinating with the vaccine for
FIP because there is just nostudy showing that it's
effective.
And also, you're only supposedto be vaccinating kittens that
(24:34):
are coronavirus free at the ageof 16 weeks, which good luck
finding those.
Coronavirus is just soprevalent.
About 90 percent of cats areseropositive for coronavirus and
they get usually infected whenthey're about six to eight weeks
of age, when their maternalantibodies wane, right?
So when they are no longerprotected from their moms.
(24:56):
And yeah, so if you ever find a16 week old coronavirus free
kitten, please do let me know.
Dr. Sugerman (25:03):
If I remember correctly, I think if you
vaccinate for, for FIV theyactually will become positive on
the snap tests.
Is that correct?
Dr. Petra Černá (25:12):
Exactly.
So the SNAP testing is anotherthing because FELV, we are
actually detecting the antigen.
So we are actually trying tolook for the virus there.
While with FIV, when we aredoing the SNAP test, we are
detecting antibodies.
And currently, I don't believethe FIV vaccine is no longer
available on the U.S.
market.
Dr. Sugerman (25:33):
I thought so.
Yeah.
Dr. Petra Černá (25:34):
But the cats, I think from the one study they
could have tested positive forup to seven years after the
vaccination.
So those antibodies definitelycan last for a very long time.
So please do not panic if yourcat was vaccinated in the past
and tests FIV positive becauseit is very likely false positive
if they were vaccinated in thepast.
So that's a great thing toremember as well.
(25:56):
And I'm really excited becausethere are some places where they
are developing.
UC Davis just presented a reallyexciting research about mRNA
vaccines like we have for COVID.
So they are actually doing moreresearch into looking at
potentially mRNA vaccines forFIP in the future.
It's years and years away, ofcourse, but in preliminary
(26:18):
studies in mice and it's so faris very exciting.
Dr. Sugerman (26:21):
Very cool.
Yeah.
I know that you know all aboutlike how long it takes to get to
like actually getting to makesomething.
Dr. Petra Černá (26:27):
Yeah.
So this will be years away and alot of money away, but yeah, I
am very excited that someone'sworking on that too.
Dr. Sugerman (26:34):
Very cool.
Awesome.
All right.
Was there anything else youwanted to share with us Dr.
Černá?
Dr. Petra Černá (26:38):
No, just so great to be here again.
And thank you for having me ontoday.
Dr. Sugerman (26:43):
Absolutely.
Thank you.
And again I think then next timewe're going to be talking about
osteoarthritis if I remembercorrectly.
So arthritis in kitties, right?
Dr. Petra Černá (26:50):
Yes.
We'll go from kittenvaccinations to senior cats and
their pain.
Dr. Sugerman (26:56):
Exactly.
All right.
Well thank you again Dr.
Černá, I'm super excited for ourtalk next time and we'll see you
then.
Dr. Petra Černá (27:03):
Wonderful.
See you soon.
Bye.
Dr. Sugerman (27:05):
Bye.
Thanks for tuning in to anotherepisode of Vetsplanation.
We hope that you found thisdiscussion on cat vaccines
informative and helpful.
Remember, keeping your catsvaccinated is crucial for their
health and well being.
If you enjoyed this episode,please subscribe to our podcast
and leave a review.
Your feedback helps us to reachmore pet lovers just like you.
(27:28):
Do you have any questions ortopics that you'd like us to
cover in future episodes?
Make sure to drop us a message.
You can do that on the socialmedia pages.
You can do that via YouTube.
You can email us.
Any of those things.
We're more than happy to coversome of those topics that you'd
love to hear.
And don't forget to share thisepisode with your friends and
family who might benefit fromlearning more about cat
(27:49):
vaccines.
Together, we can ensure that ourfurry friends stay happy,
healthy, and safe.
Until next time, take care, andwe'll see you then.
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