Would you give distemper booster...

To a senior cat with triaditis? Hasn't had a booster in 6 or 7 years. Inside only but we do feed a lot of strays. We also wash our hands very well after each time. Pred dose is high, so immune is compromised. After each visit to the vet she takes a long time to recover, seems stressed, and not herself. Vet wants me to and I understand her reasons. However, Peep is such a careful balancing act. Even adding more water to her food can cause diarrhea. Not sure what is best. Scared to make the wrong choice!

 

Assess the risk of her exposure to feline distemper:

Does she go outdoors?

Do you have any cats or other animals which go outdoors and come back inside without being scrubbed down immediately?

Do you or anyone in the household handle cats from outside the home?

If you answer yes to 1 or more of the above, those put your cat at risk.


If you, household members, or guests do handle cats from outside the home, are they vaccinated?

If you, household members, or guests handle cats from outside the home, upon returning to the home, do you immediately strip all clothing (including any coat, scarf, gloves, boots, etc) and put them in the wash or disinfect them, and take a bath, plus wash your hair? (Doing so reduces the risk from fomites - ie infection-contaminated clothing and body)

Are all pans used to feed the strays brought inside and IMMEDIATELY placed in a dishwasher or disinfecting solution and washed?

If you answer no to either question above, those put your cat at risk.

So - how're you doing with those questions? Does that help clarify what you want to do?

Some of the risks you can reduce, some you cannot control - like guests to the house.

 

http://www.abcd-vets.org/guidelines/fel ... pter-6.asp
http://maxshouse.com/viral_diseases.htm
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/feline_distemper.html

It is ultimately your decision, but I would not. not in a sick, already immunocompromised cat. If you go ahead with it, make sure they use Merials Purevax that does not use adjuvant. I did not vaccinate Merlyn after his heart diagnosis, and Janeway, at 22, hasnt gotten any in 3 years.

The majority of Panleukopenia cases are in kittens and unvaccinated adults. An older immune compromised cat can be at risk, but you have to assess her exposure risk vs the vaccine risk. If she has had any vaccines in her life (FVRCP is the one that includes panleuk) I would not.

Many vaccines stimulate the immune system to create a response to the vaccine, so an immune compromised cat may not get full benefit of that vaccine.

It is true that the FVRCP also vaccinates against some of the Upper respiratory illnesses too, herpesvirus and rhinotrachitis so those might be more severe if she hasnt had vaccine in a while. They are learning that some vaccines are lasting for much longer than they had previously thought..that even every 3 yrs may be too much.

 

I don't vaccinate cats with comprised immune systems if I can avoid it. Rabies I have to, but distemper I don't.

I was fostering a litter of kits several years ago who came down with distemper (Panleukopenia). The vet came to vaccinate other cats and kittens in the house. He suggested not vaccinating the 2 FIV+ cats that I had. I use the same caution when dealing with my group of diabetics.

Other vets don't necessarily agree with me. But, that is my decision.

Claudia

 

My Cali is young and healthy, and not immune-compromised so our situation is not the same as yours. She was due for her FVRCP booster this year (3.5 years since her last vax) and after waffling over it for a bit (half a year, hence the 3.5 years LOL!), I chose to do a distemper titre instead. Titre testing measures the level of feline distemper antibody in her blood; Cali's showed she had an adequate antibody level, so we skipped the booster.

Ask your vet her opinion on titre testing, and if she would consider skipping the booster if the titre comes back showing an adequate level of antibodies. Some vets and groomers don't consider titres equivalent to vaccination, so responses may vary. But our vet is perfectly comfortable with going the titre route.

There are other reasons not to over-vaccinate, even when a kitty is not immune-compromised. There is a question whether the FVRCP vaccine is linked to the development of chronic kidney disease in cats. See http://www.geocities.com/~kremersark/acvim_3_2002.html and http://www.cvmbs.colostate.edu/insight/ ... 4/cats.htm

 

I wouldn't. I don't/didn't with my elderly cats, irrespective of other health issues. Now that I have young'uns, I will have to decide with the vet when to stops that vaccination, but it likely will be much sooner than when I stopped with my elders--about 13YO.

 

She is almost 14. I asked about titre testing and was told that she would not have any antibodies left, it had been so long. Wasn't even willing to discuss it. I believe her last booster was due in 2004 (skipped it due to vaccine sarcoma worries) so her last booster was probably 2001. Thanks to all of you for your replies. I am actually more worried about what the vaccine might do to her very, very precariously balanced combo of pancreatitis, IBD, diabetes, and liver issues than about us bringing that in the house. I may be wrong and I hope I don't regret it (*anti-jinx*) but I just do not feel comfortable about this.
I have a feeling this vet is about to fire me anyway!

 

The consensus is not to vaccinate, based on her health.

It means you must be very diligent in taking precautions to avoid bringing any infection into the house (fomites - infection contaminated clothing or skin). Everyone in the household needs to be on the same page about this, too, so I'd encourage a house meeting to discuss what infection prevention rules will be the standard from now on.

For example, any bowls used to feed strays, when brought inside must immediately be washed or must be placed where they can't expose anyone. It may be easiest to toss them into a bowl of disinfectant, because then you're sure that a potential source of infection has been handled.

Disposable coveralls may be useful when you need to clean up areas the strays frequent - wear while cleaning, then carefully remove and dispose of them before returning to the house. The trick is to take them off without touching the exterior, possibly contaminated side - generally by turning it inside out, while holding it from the interior side. (Or removing any gloves last.)

Check veterinary supply merchants for sanitizing and disinfecting products; these may be used to treat surfaces such as patios where you may feed the strays.

If you want really stringent rules, do some web searches on biosecurity strategies for livestock and poultry farms - wow! If you thought the suggestions above were extreme, those will have 'em beat!

(I work for a health department and the H1N1 and Avian influenza surges had us looking at a lot of infection control procedures)

 

Thanks so much for the awesome tips! I will follow all the advice here to keep the germs away. I just reread my post and I did say strays but that is exaggerating on my part, probably because I feel like we're being eaten out of house and home right now. Currently we are feeding 2 neutered male cats, both seemingly in good health and probably someone's pets...they just figured out we serve Fancy Feast and saw the Sucker sign. I know at least one of them gets vet care because he frequently comes up with the tell-tale flea med wet spot, and earlier this year he disappeared after a cat fight and came back 2 months later with a shaved arm/shoulder. They are probably both vaccinated. However, other cats I know nothing about do come up on our porch and eat from the plates after these two boys are gone, so I still need to clean well.

They eat on paper plates, so that is good.

Thank you all very much.