Are cat vaccinations necessary?

Sometimes there are legal requirements to vaccinate; for example against rabies in the USA. Unless you are prepared to break the law, a vaccination against rabies is necessary in that country. However, it might be possible to argue that it is not necessary from a health perspective. People who make the law are not always right.

There is a commercial element to vaccinations. It enables veterinarians to get people in to the surgery on a regular basis which in turn enables them to sell other services and products to the customer.

The commercial nature of the veterinarian's business distorts the delivery of cat health care. It can lead to over vaccinating. A lot of veterinarians agree that multiple vaccines either in the form of frequent and/or repeated vaccines could compromise the cat's immune system.

It is suggested that the immune responses (by the immune system) becomes confused and unable to distinguish between harmful and benign substances.

It has been said that the customer, the pet owner, is insufficiently informed about the risks of vaccines. One unnamed vet says that if customers knew how vaccines affected the health of a cat they would not have their cat vaccinated!

It could be argued that full-time indoor cats that are old and that have been vaccinated routinely when young no longer benefit from further vaccinations. The risk of ill health from vaccines outweighs the potential benefits for some cats under some circumstances.

There are things that we can do to boost our cat's immune system. That is a more natural form of protecting the health of the cat. Good cat food and good all round care is the answer.

Some vets simply don't vaccinate their cats. Some are heavily against vaccinations saying that vaccines are poisonous to the cat's immune system. Some are resolutely for vaccinations.

Conclusion: Are cat vaccinations necessary? No, not in an absolute sense. It is a balancing act. Vaccines are meant to improve the cat's health. They might not. They might hurt the cat. The injection can cause cancer. The immune system can be damaged. But they might protect the cat from serious illness. There are no clear answers. We should not automatically presume that vaccines are good as is promoted by most vets. See cat vaccination recommendations.

Feline Acne Treatment

Chilli an Abyssinian cat - Photo: Maggie Sharp

Feline acne treatment consists of cleaning the skin 2x per day with an ointment that contains 2.5 to 5 per cent bezoyl peroxide. In the USA this is OxyDex. The product below may be a good choice. Alternatives are Nolvasan or Betadine. Sometimes antibiotics are required when the infection is severe.

The skin should be cleaned with medical shampoo where there is excess sebum.

Cats are predisposed to developing feline acne when skin pores are blocked by excess sebum or keratin. Feline acne develops in the sebaceous glands that are situated on the underside of the chin and edges of the lips. Cats with an oily skin are more likely to suffer from feline acne.

A condition that is similar to feline acne is an allergic reaction to a rubber or plastic food bowl. This can be treated by removing the cause of the allergic reaction and buying a stainless steel or ceramic bowl.

Feline acne tends to return. The treatments do not cure the cat of the condition. Dry food might help but full-time dry food is not recommended in my opinion. Washing your cat's chin after eating might help too.

Signs Of Cat Inbreeding

Signs of cat inbreeding include the appearance of anomalies, inbreeding depression and a decline in hybrid vigor. I have a page on genetic diseases in purebred cats that shows how inbreeding can affect health. It depresses the immune system and throws up inherited illnesses that are serious.

The cat breeds on the left are the most inbred. The most inbred is the Singapura. The Siberian is the least inbred and on a level of random bred cats. On the far right are 3 subspecies of wildcat. Chart: in the public domain. Click on the image to see it more clearly.

MOST INBRED CAT BREEDS

So called "vigor" really means general health and well-being. Inbreeding results in the homozygosity of more genes with harmful effects. Deleterious genes that are carried by cats and which are "dormant" or unseen in physical appearance and health "make their presence felt due to inbreeding".

A classic example is Bengal nose. Breeders, though, would not agree. Breeders tend to downplay inbreeding problems for obvious reasons. And we have the depressed immune systems in modern Siamese cats that results in a depressed lifespan because of general illness that would not be present in random bred cats.

Robinson's Genetics quote the following as examples of possible consequences of inbreeding. More than one may be present or one in the extreme:

• decline in birth weight - small, thin and lethargic kittens.
• small litter sizes, more stillborn kittens, abnormal kittens.
• poor growth in later life and "below standard" individual cats.
• sterility problems. Poor sperm quality (see wild cat inbreeding), reluctance to copulate.
• predisposition to illness. One disease kills all the litter.
• physical deformities or physical appearance that lacks symmetry.

To this list I will add subnormal intelligence. Inbreeding depression can lead, in my view, to individual cats that lack the usual level of intelligence or cognitive function of the typical domestic cat. These cats are noticeable unresponsive and dull in character.

It is my contention that the most established cat breeds tend to have the most established genetic illnesses and the higher number of these sorts of illnesses. Examples: Siamese and Persian.

Purebred cat breeders like to fix a good looking cat persuant to the breed standard by inbreeding. This can also fix a poor immune system.

I have written this on the basis of what I have read over a considerable period of time and in reference to Robinson's Genetics for Cat Breeders & Veterinarians Fourth Edition ISBN 0-7506-4069-3.

Cat Dental Cleaning Procedure

Brushing Truman's teeth - Photo by John Morton

Unfortunately, cat dental cleaning procedure requires a general anesthetic. There are therefore cat dental cleaning risks because general anesthesia of cats carries risk of injury and possible death.

A general anesthetic is essential for the veterinarian to fully assess all the teeth and to clean below the gum line.

Before a general anesthetic cats should be evaluated to minimize the risk. This includes a physical examination and basic blood and urine analyses.

What is the risk of injury or worse for a cat when under a general anesthetic? The risk is surprisingly high. I was in a veterinarians the other day and a fellow customer was having his cat's teeth cleaned. He was anxious as he had been told that the risk of death was 1 in 100 (1%). 

Gaynor J.S.; Dunlop C.I. Wagner A.E. et al. (1 January 1995). Complications and mortality associated with anesthesia in dogs and cats, concluded in their study that there was a 1 in 9 chance of "complications" and a 1 in 233 chance of death. 

In this study: Brodbelt DC, Blissitt KJ, Hammond RA, et al. (September 2008). The risk of death: the confidential enquiry into perioperative small animal fatalities, the risk of death was put at:

• for sick cats 1 in 71 (1.4%)
• for cats generally 1 in 895

Well, there you have it. For the sake of clean teeth you have quite a real risk of death. Like all these things it is a balancing act of risk versus benefit. See also feline gum disease.

Burmese Cat Health - Feline Orofacial Pain Syndrome

Burmese cats have a predisposition to acquiring Feline Orofacial Pain Syndrome (FOPS).  The condition occurs mainly in Burmese cats and associated breeds (Tonkinese, Burmillas and occasionally Siamese cats). There is another disease that affects the head of this cat breed: meningeoncephalocele. See Burmese cat health.

What is FOPS? It is acute pain in the mouth and face that is so severe that is causes the cat to scratch at the mouth and self-mutilate on the outside of the mouth and inside (the tongue). It is obviously very distressing for cat and cat caretaker alike. It is similar to the human version of this disease and in other animals.

It seems that it is not entirely clear what causes it. Is there a genetic inheritance connection?

Certain things bring on FOPS such as kitten teething, mouth disease, stress and dental work. Damage to the trigeminal nerves seems to be one cause. Trigeminal nerves carry sensory messages from the face to the brain.

Treatment is multifaceted: bandaging claws to prevent self-mutilation, pain relief, tube feeding because cats do not wish to eat as it hurts (i.e. facial movement by chewing brings it on), tranquilisers?, possible euthanasia if the cat is in continual severe pain.

This page will tell you more (opens in a new window). I don't know if FOPS only affects American Burmese cats. There are different breeding processes and standards between the USA, UK and Europe. Breeding practices may have had a role to play in the creation of this disease in Burmese cats.