IS YOUR cat VACCINATED?

Vaccinating your cat

Regular vaccination is important for cats of all ages. Vaccinations are intended to prevent infectious diseases or make the symptoms of the disease less severe after infection. Infectious diseases can be transmitted in different ways:

• Directly through an infected animal (sniffing, licking, biting)
• Through the air (coughing, sneezing)
• Through the environment (water, floor, handles)
• Through people (hands, clothing)

This means it is advisable to vaccinate all cats; also the ones that do not go outside and/or have little to no contact with other cats. However, the time between vaccinations may vary.

To maintain the protection of the vaccinations, they should be repeated annually. Cats are vaccinated against Feline Distemper and Sneezing Disease as standard. The vaccine against Sneezing Disease is given annually (depending on living conditions), the vaccine against Feline Distemper is given every 3 years. Only for kittens a different schedule applies.

If your cat is going abroad with you, he/she must have a valid Rabies vaccination. This vaccine must be repeated after one year and is afterwards valid for three years. The vaccine can be administered from the age of 3 months.

Some cat boarding houses have strict requirements for your cat’s vaccination status. Therefore, always check in advance whether your cat has had all vaccinations required by your boarding house.

Vaccination schedule kitten

Kittens are vaccinated several times because their immune system is still developing. In the first few weeks of life, they receive antibodies from their mother through her milk, but this protection gradually fades over time.

By repeating vaccinations during kittenhood, we help their body build strong and lasting immunity against infectious diseases such as sneezing disease and Cats disease.

A well-planned vaccination schedule ensures your kitten is well protected during these vulnerable first months, and laying the foundation for a healthy adult cat.

Vaccination schedule adult cat

If your cat has received all kitten vaccinations according to schedule, the vaccination advice for adult cats is as follows:

Indoor cats

• After the kitten vaccinations: the next vaccination is at 3 years of age, against Sneezing disease and Cat disease
• After that: a booster every 3 years against Sneezing disease and Cat disease

Outdoor cats

• After the kitten vaccinations: the next vaccination is at 1,5 years of age against Sneezing disease
• After that: yearly annual vaccination against Sneezing disease, and every 3 years against Sneezing disease and Cat disease

Vaccinations tailored to your pets needs!

We believe it is important not to just vaccinate your pet, but to make an informed choice to do so. This is called tailor-made vaccinations. Recently, new insights about vaccinating animals have been developed.

The vaccination policy in companion animals has been extensively reviewed by the WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association). In the Netherlands, a consensus on this subject has been written under the direction of veterinary virologist dr. Herman Egberink. We follow the guidelines of this vaccination policy at our clinics. This means that we will consider per animal whether to follow the above schedule and, if so, against which diseases to protect the animal.

Depending on your cat’s living conditions, the vaccination schedule may vary slightly from the previously described schedule for the reasons described above. In consultation, we will make an informed choice for your cat.