A special cat deserves special care — and all cats are special to our team at Snow Animal Health Care. You can be confident that your Eaton Rapids veterinarian can provide all the necessary care to help ensure a long and happy life — including vaccinations. Feline vaccinations can literally mean the difference between life and death, and that’s why we urge cat owners to schedule them as directed, from early kittenhood through a cat’s senior years.
The Importance of Cat Vaccinations
If cats’ bodies produced all the disease immunity they needed from birth, there would be no need for vaccinations. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. The mother cat transfers some disease protection to her kittens, but after a few weeks that second-hand protection vanishes and the kittens are left vulnerable to some extremely dangerous diseases. To “jump-start” the body into creating antibodies against these diseases, we administer a vaccine. A vaccine is a killed or inert sample of the disease organism that still bears enough resemblance to the live disease to fool the body into producing antibodies to fight it.
Core Vaccinations from your Veterinarian
Your veterinarian can provide essential or “core” vaccinations when your kitten is just a few weeks of age. These core vaccinations are required protection against some of the worst disease threats commonly faced by the cat community. Chief among these killers is rabies, a neurological infection that always kills its host and is easily transferred by the bite of a rapid animal. Your cat also needs core vaccinations against rhinotracheitis, panleukopenia and feline calici virus. Some cats also benefit from optional vaccinations against disease such as Bordatella or feline leukemia. We can discuss whether your cat might need such elective vaccinations.
Scheduling Cat Vaccinations
Several rounds of core cat vaccinations administered during the first year of life provide solid disease protection — but don’t assume that you’re finished scheduling cat vaccinations! Vaccines eventually lose their potency, which means that your cat will lose his immunity. That’s why your Eaton Rapids veterinarian will recommend a schedule of booster shots to help keep your cat as safe and healthy as possible, year after year. It’s a reflection of the compassionate care and attention to detail that we work to provide for every patient at our clinic.