“To vaccinate as many cats as possible, but the individual cat only as often as necessary” is the motto, that has been established worldwide and is, and will remain, the philosophy of ABCD.
Although an annual vaccination schedule was adopted initially in cats, triennial vaccination (i.e.
Vaccination guidelines, as published by the ABCD, aim to support the practitioner in making an informed decision about a vaccination schedule for an individual animal and/or group of animals.
This guideline has the goal to help veterinarians in the decision making in how to vaccinate immunocompromised cats. So far, there are not much data available on vaccination of immunocompromised cats, and sometimes studies produce controversial results.
Vaccination is undoubtedly one of the most effective measures for the prevention of infectious diseases. However, as with other biologicals, vaccine-associated adverse events (VAAEs) may occur.
Cats have an endotheliochorial placenta that is a barrier for immunoglobulins, preventing their passage from the maternal serum into the fetal circulation.
Regardless of whether a pathogen is viral, bacterial, parasitic or fungal, or an emerging unknown, the mainstay of infectious disease prevention is hygiene, and the cornerstone of good hygiene is effective disinfection.
Blood transfusion in dogs and cats is more commonly done than in the past and fresh whole blood can be made available to clinicians because it is taken from in-house donor cats or “volunteer” feline blood donors.
In cats, invasive sarcomas (mostly fibrosarcomas), so called “feline injection-site sarcomas” (FISS), are the most serious adverse effects following vaccination. They develop at sites of vaccination or injection. They have characteristics that are distinct from those of fibrosarcomas in other areas and behave more aggressively.
Synopsis
In shelter situations, infectious diseases are difficult to prevent and control, thus, they spread quickly (Möstl et al., 2013). In addition, shelters are unstable biological environments;
