Vaccines

Vaccinations are one of the most important ways you can protect you cat from illness and disease. Vaccinations introduce a small amount of the virus into the body, allowing a cat’s immune system to become familiar with it, creating a better defense for combating that virus in the future. There are many different types of vaccinations for cats that may vary depending on which part of the country you are in, but there are three core vaccinations that are the same. These three core vaccines are the FVRCP, Rabies and FeLV vaccines.

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Vaccinations

FVRCP

The FVRCP vaccine is a combination vaccine. This means that it protects against more than one disease, similarly to how DHPP works in dogs.

The "FVR" represents Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis, also known as feline herpesvirus 1 (FHV-1). This condition can lead to severe upper respiratory tract disease, including rhinitis, sneezing, and conjunctivitis. In addition, cats with FHV-1 may experience oral ulceration and primary pneumonia. It is noteworthy that the virus can remain dormant in cats until they are stressed, which can trigger a flare-up of symptoms. It is crucial to be aware of the potential risks of FHV-1, as it can impair a cat's pulmonary defense mechanisms, leaving them vulnerable to secondary bacterial pneumonia or coinfection with feline calicivirus.

The "C" represents calicivirus, specifically feline calicivirus (FCV). Like FHV-1, it often leads to upper respiratory tract disease and oral ulcers. Additionally, it may cause chronic stomatitis, pneumonia, systemic disease, or lameness.

Sometimes, a virulent systemic strain of feline calicivirus (VS-FCV) may spread through a population, leading to more severe symptoms and internal organ infection. This virulent strain often proves to be fatal.

Lastly the "P" represents Feline panleukopenia, also known as feline distemper or FPV, is a highly contagious virus that can be fatal for cats. It causes symptoms such as anorexia, vomiting, fever, and severe diarrhea. The virus attacks the bone marrow and lymph nodes, leading to a low white blood cell count and preventing cats from activating their immune system normally. It's important to vaccinate your cat against FPV to protect them from this serious disease.

Rabies

The rabies virus is often found in wild animals such as bats, skunks, and foxes, but it can be transmitted to any type of mammal. It is incredibly important to keep your cats up to date on their rabies vaccinations as it is one of the few viruses that can be transmitted to humans and once the symptoms begin there is no treatment. In Tennessee it is required by law to keep your pets up to date on their rabies vaccination or you risk a fine.

FeLV

The FeLV vaccine protects against Feline Leukemia, a retrovirus that effects a cat’s immune system and can lead to the development of cancer when it progresses. It is primarily spread through a cat’s saliva but can also be spread through their feces, tears, blood, and urine. Most commonly cats get this virus from their mothers, but it can also spread easily through bites and sometimes by sharing food and water dishes. If you have a cat that goes outside unsupervised it is important to keep them up to date with this vaccine on a regular basis.

Fleas and Heartworm disease

FLEAS

Ctenocephalides felis/canis

The flea life cycle is 3 months long and their life cycle is just like a butterfly (egg, larva, pupa, adult). NOTHING can kill the pupal stage. Fleas can stay in the pupal stage for a very long time until they sense the environment is suitable for them to become adults (ex. If you leave your house for the winter and reside elsewhere, the fleas will stay in the pupal stage until your return in the spring). Fleas hatch out in response to heat, pressure and carbon dioxide.

Fleas jump on the first shadow/heat signature that passes by—this may be your pant leg. They will continue to move from shadow/heat signature to shadow/heat signature until they find a suitable environment. This is how and why EVEN INDOOR ONLY CATS can become infested with fleas.

If 1 animal in the household has fleas, they all have fleas—EVEN IF YOU DON’T SEE THEM!! All animals in the household must be treated for 3 consecutive months minimum.

Most of the time you will not see adult fleas on cats because they groom themselves so well. This does not mean they do not have fleas.

Some animals are more sensitive to fleas than others. That is why you can have 2 cats in the same house and one is itchy and chewing/scratching themselves raw, but the other one doesn’t seem bothered by it. Some cats are actually allergic to the flea saliva, so 1 bite from 1 flea can make them go crazy itching.

Fleas can carry tapeworms. If your cat has fleas, you should watch his/her stool very closely for proglottids (tapeworm segments). Proglottids look like little pieces of rice, but they move.

HEARTWORMS

Dirofilaria immitus

Heartworm is carried by mosquitoes. Even INDOOR ONLY cats can become infected with heartworm disease (~40% of cats that are diagnosed with heartworm disease are indoor only).

The 2 most detrimental times for the cat during the heartworm life cycle are when the larvae are travelling through the lungs to get to the heart (75-90 days after infection) and when the adults die and are pumped out into the lungs. The lungs are the shock organ in cats and respond very viciously to the heartworm adults and larvae causing a major inflammatory reaction. These cats develop HARD (Heartworm associated respiratory disease) which can look just like asthma or allergies. When in this stage of heartworm disease, the cat feels like it is breathing through a coffee straw. In some cases, the cat does not show any symptoms of heartworm disease but will suddenly die.

There is no good test for heartworm disease in cats because cats are not the ideal host and because of the small number of worms that infect cats’ hearts. Cats typically will only have 2-3 adult worms in the heart, unlike dogs who get thousands of worms in the heart. To get a positive on the heartworm test you must have antigen which is made by female worms. It is possible, because of the small number of worms present, that the cat could have an all male heartworm infection or not enough females to make enough antigen to show up positive on the test even though they are infected. It is also possible that there are no adult heartworms present, and therefore no antigen, if the larvae are causing the symptoms. Unlike dogs, cats do not typically have microfilaria (baby heartworms) circulating in their bloodstream because of the likelihood of same sex worm infections and because their immune system attacks heartworm larvae/microfilaria so viciously, so we cannot use this as a secondary testing method. Adult heartworms typically live a 2-3 year lifespan in a cat’s heart.

The best thing to do for cats is to PREVENT heartworm infection in the first place by using monthly, year-round heartworm prevention.

Heartworm prevention works in a different way than flea/tick prevention. It actually works backwards or “in reverse”. When you give the heartworm prevention, it kills any heartworm larvae that the cat has been exposed to in the last 30 days. It can do this because these are immature larvae that can be killed by the active ingredients in heartworm prevention. The longer the larvae are allowed to survive in the body, the less likely the prevention will kill them. Heartworm prevention DOES NOT kill adult heartworms. This is one of the major reasons it is SO important to give Revolution/Advantage Multi on a monthly basis and on time.

Revolution PLUS

Revolution Plus is a topical medication that allows for the prevention of fleas, ticks, heartworms, roundworms, hookworms and ear mites. This medication MUST be applied MONTHLY. It is one of the safest preventions on the market, and is what we recommend to protect your feline friend from infection with these parasites.