as karolyn says, there are lots of pros and cons about ANY sort of vaccinations for healthy AND compromised cats--there's a yahoo group called "beyondvaccination" if anyone is interested...
the distemper issue cannot be overemphasized--FeLV is a gentle passing, comparitively, while distemper is a horrid death. tho i'm no longer working at the FeLV/FIV sanctuary, i know that they have had only one vaccine-related reaction and it was not a serious one. when a group of 60+ ferals/strays brought in distemper almost 3 years ago, they lost hundreds of cats to it, including many who had had one (rather than the series of two they SHOULD have gotten as kittens) distemper vaccination. all cats entering the sanctuary must prove they had their kitten shots, or have the series of two before they can come in--again, distemper is a horrible thing to do to a cat, and protecting against it has proven worth the very limited risks they've seen. once the initial vaccine series has been completed, i personally have much less rigid opinions re: boosters, as i don't believe the evidence is clear about how long immunity lasts or if it is ever lost once established... humbly, as usual, (that's a joke...) MaryChristine ----- Original Message ----- From: "Karolyn Lount" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2004 7:34 AM Subject: Re: Vaccinations in Felv+ Cats > Hi, I know there are "Pros & Cons" about this. I have been rescuing > FeLV+ cats for 12+ yrs. I vaccinate my cats and have never had a bad > result because of it. My neighbor, who also rescued FeLV+ cats, did not > vaccinate her cats. And she lost all of them to Distemper. We both live > in a condo. I am on the ground floor and she is on the 3rd. floor. She > now vaccinates her cats. It is so easy to bring it in on your shoes. >
