Which Vaccines Does Your Own Cat Need?
📝 Summary
Indoor cats still need core FVRCP (panleukopenia, calicivirus, herpes); first shot is essential. Non-core vaccines are risk-based. AAFP siting: FVRCP right front, FeLV left front, rabies right hind. Two shots then yearly booster, ideally every three years. Avoid over-vaccination and never vaccinate sick/unweaned cats.
1 Core and Non-Core Vaccines
Core vaccines are essential: panleukopenia (acute, high-mortality), calicivirus (upper-airway, high incidence), and herpes rhinotracheitis (mostly upper-respiratory). The first shot must not be skipped even for indoor cats. Rabies is injected in the right hind leg per AAFP.
Non-core vaccines—FeLV (left front leg if negative-tested), FIV, FIP, chlamydia, Bordetella—are risk-based. FIV and chlamydia shots are often not recommended for low-exposure indoor cats because protection is incomplete and reaction risk exists.
2 Schedule and Cautions
First immunity: two shots about a month apart, starting after weaning (around 2.5–3 months), keeping the kitten off mother’s milk. A booster follows roughly a year later. Evidence shows long-lasting protection, so AAFP advises a booster every three years rather than yearly.
Do not vaccinate unweaned, sick, or parasitized cats, and avoid baths, deworming, or moving house within a week of a shot. Over-vaccination risks soreness, fever, allergic reaction, and injection-site sarcoma (VAS)—reduce unnecessary shots to lower that risk.
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