The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
THE GOOD:
There is no doubt vaccination against infectious and potentially fatal viruses have played a vital role in the increased life expectancy of humans and their animal companions. Panleukopenia (feline distemper) is rarely diagnosed in the United States. Feline leukemia virus infections have drastically decreased since the release of a preventative vaccine. Rabies vaccination has made it safe for us to have pets, especially indoor/outdoor cats, in rabies endemic areas such as Virginia.THE BAD:
Vaccine reactions appear to be more common in the past few years. Multivalent vaccines (vaccines that immunize against multiple viruses) have played a role in this. Reactions may also be caused by adjuvants added to inactivated vaccines. An adjuvant is a substance that causes the body to develop an immune response to the inactivated virus.THE UGLY:
Since 1991, there have been increasing reports of vaccine-associated sarcomas. These are tumors that occur at vaccine sites 3 months to 3.5 years after vaccination. The prevalence has been reported to be any where from 1/1000 to 10/100,000 of vaccines given. Experts believe that these tumors are most likely associated with adjuvanted feline leukemia and rabies vaccines. We have only rarely detected any of these tumors.THE FUTURE:
There is no good solution to this problem. The value of vaccination is proven. Rabies vaccination of cats is required in the state of Virginia because of the risk of rabies to the human population. Cats living in multi-cat environments, those that come in contact with "rescue" cats and/or feline visitors, and cats that go outdoors are at far greater risk of being infected with feline leukemia than developing a vaccine-associated sarcoma. As of April 1999, we now recommend the PureVax rabies vaccine which is given yearly. PureVax uses the latest technology to provide your cat with pure, safe and effective rabies protection. It virtually eliminates the chronic injection site inflammation that can be associated with rabies vaccination.On the plus side, studies are in progress to determine the duration of immunity produced by the currently licensed vaccines. New vaccination guidelines have been published.
Drug companies are also in the process of developing genetically engineered, non-adjuvanted vaccines. Moreover, the doctors at Kingstowne Cat Clinic have been complying with the recommendations of the Vaccine-Associated Sarcoma Task Force. The one thing we do know is that a yearly physical examination (or possibly every 6 months for geriatric cats) is essential to the well-being of our feline patients. A year is a significant period of time in a cat’s life. They are unable to tell their caretakers that they have a tumor growing, heart murmur or arrhythmia, dental pain, high blood pressure, impending kidney failure, and so on. Again, we must work as a team to determine each individual cat’s risk factors and the need for vaccination.
Kingstowne Cat Clinic.
Copyright © 1999 by [Kingstowne Cat Clinic]. All rights reserved.