Thanks to
http://www.critteradvocacy.org/Feline%20Vaccination%20Guidlines.htm
Vaccine Associated Sarcomas (VAS) or Injection Site Fibrosarcomas - are a type of cancer caused by vaccines. Vaccines containing adjuvant, a component to stimulate the immune system, are at least 5 times more likely to cause a VAS.
VAS is 100% fatal if the tumor is between the shoulder blades. With surgical removal, radiation therapy and chemotherapy survival time is less than 3 years. If the tumor is in the distal part of the rear leg, amputation, plus radiation, & chemo may be curative in 20% of cases.
Non - Adjuvanted vaccines are available for cats for all preventable diseases including Rabies, Distemper, Rhinotracheitis, Calici virus and Feline Leukemia, and are considered safer.
Intranasal Vaccines are safer.
The AVMA VAS Task Force recommends, to reduce the risk of VAS:
#1. reduced vaccination schedules,
#2. vaccination in the distal hind limb, and
#3 intranasal and non-adjuvanted vaccines.
|
Vaccine |
Initial series |
>12 weeks |
1st Annual |
Interval |
Comments |
|
Rabies Purevac Merial *non- adjuvanted |
16 weeks |
|
Yes |
Every 3 years |
* 3 year license pending |
|
PLP Distemper MLV |
8, 12, 16 weeks |
2 injections 3 – 4 weeks apart |
Yes Provides lifetime immunity |
Not recommended |
|
|
Rhinotracheitis Calicivirus |
8, 12, 16 weeks |
2 injections 3 – 4 weeks apart |
Yes |
Every three years with intranasal |
Vaccination only reduces severity of symptoms, & not carrier state |
 |
For comments on DOI and the 3- year compromise see the dog vaccinations.
Non-core vaccines recommended only for at risk cats.*Since the future exposure of a kitten is hard to determine, vaccination of all kittens is recommended.
|
*Testing and avoiding exposure of cats less than 1 year of age is more effective in elimination of FeLv than vaccination.
Not Recommended by the American Association of Feline Practitioners and 22 Schools of Veterinary Medicine
FIV Feline immuno- suppressive virus – the vaccine is adjuvanted and an initial 3 dose series is recommended. The vaccine contains Clades A & D of the FIV virus. The predominate Clade causing disease in the US is Clade B. Cross protection is poor. The AAFP asked the USDA CVM not to license this vaccine. Vaccination will result in false positive testing.
Cats with FIV can live many years without symptoms, cats with VAS don’t.
Kittens can show a false positive test due to maternal antibodies up to 6 months of age.
FIP Feline Infectious Peritonitis FIP is a very rare disease. 85% of cats have the non- pathogenic Enteric corona virus. Rarely this virus mutates to cause FIP. Every mutation is a unique virus. The vaccine only contains the vicinal virus and cross protection to each mutation is poor. There is a theory of vaccine-enhanced disease.
Independent studies have shown no efficacy for this vaccine.
*There is no test that is specific for FIP. Enteric corona virus will cause a
+ test in 85% of cats
High titers do not correlate with FIP disease.
Bordetella This is primarily a disease of kittens, found in shelters and associated with poor sanitation. The vaccine is recommended only in shelters with a problem and where Bordetella has been shown to be a causative agent. Bordetella has been shown to be normal flora in adult cats.
Dr Michael Lappin at Colorado State, an expert in Feline respiratory disease, has not seen a case in 10 years.
Side effects, including sneezing affect 5%of cats vaccinated.
Chlamydia or Pnuemonitis- This is a rare disease, and is easily treated. Vaccination only provides 2 months protection. Vaccination can be useful to stop an outbreak in a cattery.
Feline Dermatophyte Infection, or Ringworm – Independent studies have demonstrated no efficacy in the prevention or as an aid in elimination of ringworm.
http://www.rasekatter.no/artikler/group_g_streptococcus_bacteria.php
Buy or borrow a secure pet carrier for transporting your Cat home. It is quite unsafe to travel with a Cat loose in your car (although they would love nothing better than to sit on your lap and watch what is going on).
ARRIVAL DAY
Before you bring your new Cat home make sure that you have prepared either a room or a confined area, especially for him/her. Check that all the doors and windows are closed securely, fireplaces are covered and the area is quiet, warm and safe. Place a litter tray, a cosy bed (a cardboard box with a blanket is fine) or the cage he came in, some toys, food dish and water bowl in the room for him so that they know that this is their safe place.
Arrange a time for pick up that allows you at least a few hours with your new Cat before your go to bed.
On arrival, take him to his ‘safe place’ and show him where everything is. Let him explore his new surroundings without feeling threatened. Even a Cat who is normally self assured can be upset by car journeys and will need some time to calm down and adjust to new surroundings. Your cat may disappear under a chair and will ignore the prepared bed until he feels a little more secure. If this is the reaction leave him in peace to examine his new surroundings in his own time. Even if the cat is outgoing and friendly, it is important to give him time to get used to a small area of the house at first, as you want him to be quite sure about where his litter tray is. Don't be tempted to give him the run of the house until he is well settled.
Talk to him frequently so that he gets used to the sound of your voice. If he/she appears ok you can stay in the room but sit quietly. After a little while, put your hand out to him and call his name, letting him come to you. If he decides to hide, whether it be for a few hours or a few days, do not attempt to force him out. Just continue to visit his ‘safe place’ and gently gain his trust. Offering some tasty treats will help or by giving him her first meal which also helps settle them into their new home. This way your new Cat will learn to depend on you.
For the first few hours most cats will be ready to explore and be happy to be cuddled and carried around but some do take longer so you will have to be mindful of this and wait and see how your new addition adjusts – if he is still a little shy leave him in the safe quiet place and slowly introduce him to the other rooms in your house over time. Like people all kittens/cats are individuals so some will adjust very quickly whilst others do take a few days up to a few weeks to adjust to their new family and home.
If there are children or other pets in the house, it is best not to introduce them until he has gained his confidence and they are fully settled in. With some gentle persuasion and patience, your new addition will soon be purring and enjoying a kiss and cuddle.
It is absolutely crucial that your new Cat be kept indoors for at least two weeks and preferably three weeks before he is allowed out at all. This really does mean not going out at all.
A walled garden is not going to stop your Cat getting lost in unfamiliar territory. Do not let him out into the garden until you are quite sure that he is happy and secure in his new home and will respond to your voice or to your banging a spoon on the dinner plate or tin. During his settling in period, get him used to associating food with banging the food tin or his dinner plate or your own particular call or whistle. Most cats are very intelligent and will learn that this noise means food (and they love their tucker!) and they will come running. Make sure you do reward them every time you use this call, noise or whistle.
Cats, like people, are individuals. Each Cat will react differently when the training begins. Your Cat may ignore you when you begin to train him, or he may be very curious and eager.
Whatever your Cat's personality, here are some pointers that will make the process easier and more enjoyable for both of you:
Ø Train your Cat before he has his regular meal; a food reward won't be very enticing to your Cat if he has just finished dinner. Do not withhold food from your Cat to make him eager to learn. An overly hungry Cat will be an annoyed Cat and Cats, like people on a diet, often lose their appetite when their food is cut back.
Ø Use your Cat's favorite food as a reward. This could be a little bit of his regular food or a special flavor or treat. I find small pieces of dried liver or dried white bait work wonders. Don’t’ forget to count in the training treats when you are measuring how much to feed your Cat in a day.
Ø In the beginning train your Cat in a quiet environment which is free from distractions. Training your Cat in the living room with the radio or the television set on will make the process difficult, if not impossible.
Ø Keep the training sessions short. End them before your Cat gets bored or tired and he will be more eager for the next session. We recommend 5 to 15-minute training sessions.
Ø Keep the training sessions the same—same trainer, same behaviours, same commands and signals and the same reward.
Ø Keep your behaviour focused and consistent. Your Cat will be confused if your behaviour or commands change during training.
Ø Stay with it. Training your Cat once a week won't provide results. Once you begin, try to spend 5 to 15 minutes every day training your Cat.
We Cat lovers know that Cats are exquisitely intelligent animals andtraining your Cats can be useful and even fun both for us and for our fabulous felines. Before we start training our Cats to do something or to stop doing something we need to look at how they learn. They don't understand English (although sometimes it definitely might appear that they do), they can't read books or attend lectures. They learn by experience. If the experience is good they will naturally try to repeat it. If the experience is unpleasant they will try to avoid it in the future. Mists do have a lot of common sense which does make them a lot easier than most cats to train. They may find raking the furniture with their claws enjoyable so naturally they continue to do it whereas it is quite a shock when they stick their nose in a candle flame or hot cup of coffee so they won't do that again.
The key to training is to make sure that whatever you want your Cat to do is exceedingly rewarding and pleasurable. Whatever you don't want your Cat to indulge in must never be rewarding or fun, in fact, it must be unpleasant.
Sometimes we unintentionally reward our Cats for obnoxious behavior. A common complaint is that the kitten pounces on the owner at five in the morning, meowing up a storm and generally being a pest. What do the owners do? They get up and feed the kitten, play with him or give him cuddles. Your Mist has now learnt by this reaction to his behaviour that it gets him exactly what he wants.
What kinds of tasks can Cats learn? Almost anything, as long as they are physically capable and they are motivated. Each animal can learn to do what it was designed, by nature and evolution, to do. For example, Cats are agile creatures that can learn to jump onto high surfaces ie an Cat may be strongly motivated to jump onto kitchen counters when food is occasionally found there. Dogs, on the other hand, are more likely than cats to lie down in front of their higher-ranking owners and can therefore be trained easily to lie down on command. (Cats are certainly social animals but they do not form highly structured dominance hierarchies the way dogs do.) If you are determined to teach your Cat to lie down on command, it can be done—but the reward had better be exceptional from a feline point of view.
To teach an animal any task, the specific behavior must be reinforced or rewarded. Cats because they love their food will usually work for food, if the food is appetizing. Experiment with your own Cat to find an appealing food reward. What has compelled him to jump up onto your dinner table in the past? Possibilities might include the Cat's own dry food, dired liver, bits of cheese, bits of tuna or something of the like.
It is most efficient to teach your Cat an association between the food and a quick word or sound, such as a word “yes”, clicker or bell. Using a word or clicker eliminates the need for perfect timing of the food reward. Once such an association is learned, the word, clicker (or bell, or other sound) can be used to quickly reinforce a desired behavior while the Cat is then slowly offered and accepts, the food reward. You start the association by simply using the word “yes” or clicking the clicker and offering the Cat a treat. Word/Click, treat and repeat. After a few repetitions, your Cat will understand that sound of this word or clicker means "food is coming."
A simple rule of training is that newly learned tasks are rewarded each time the task is performed correctly and then, once learned, rewarded only randomly. There is no need to have food constantly available. As long as it is periodically offered to him your star performer will continue to do what you've asked.
So what kinds of behaviors or tasks might you teach your Cat? Cats are very quick to learn tricks such as fetching a toy, jumping through a hoop or simply sitting on command. Training can be useful, however, for reasons other than simple fun. Even young children enjoy having a "vocabulary" with their feline pets and such purposeful activity is better for the Cat than simply being carried from place to place. Playfully aggressive Cats or those who exhibit status-related irritable behavior also benefit from learning tricks—again, it provides a way to interact with humans that distracts the Cat from his conflicted social behavior. Cats learn quickly for example that their humans will accept only appropriate behavior (such as sitting) at certain times. Humans learn quickly, as well, that reward-based training results in much less irritability or play-biting than prolonged petting might.