After a long study a veterinary  vaccine associated sarcoma task force was unable to identify a specific reason why cats get  soft tissue sarcomas following vaccinations. Dogs do not get them. It is probably a genetic problem with an individual cat responding to a vaccination more than it is a problem with the vaccine itself.  One in 10,000 vaccinated cats get such a reaction. Some vets, myself included, believe that anything injected under the skin could cause such a reaction. One in 10,000 cases is too many for me so we have tailored our vaccine recommendations to our patient's lifestyles.

At Los Altos Veterinary Clinic we altered our feline vaccine regimen  to conform to the conclusions put forward by the vaccine associated sarcoma task force . They created a list of core vaccines as well as a list of non-core vaccines that are optional to keep your cat healthy.

 My personal recommendations to cat owners on which vaccines to give their cat are based on a number of questions having to do with the cat's lifestyle-

All of these are valid reasons to vaccinate indoor cats for rabies.

In general for indoor adult cats I recommend  intranasal vaccination (nose drops, no injection- pretty cool, eh?) be given every third year to adult cats for FVRCP ( short for rhinotracheitis, calici and panleukopenia ). That's it.

Indoor cats cannot get rabies, it requires contact with the rabid animal. Here is the problem.  Some indoor cats will need to be vaccinated for rabies. Most municipalities require vaccinations for rabies for all dogs and cats and they do not discriminate between indoor and outdoor cats. Cats that go to boarding kennels, groomers or travel on airlines should be vaccinated for rabies as most all kennels, groomers and airlines require these shots.

For outdoor cats the risk of coming in contact with viruses is higher so I recommend vaccinations be given for leukemia, rabies and the three-in-one FVRCP intranasal vaccine . I prefer all  these vaccinations to be non-adjuvenated. An adjuvant is something added to the vaccine that makes a better immune response. It has not been proven that adjuvants increase the risk of sarcoma formation but I'm very suspicious that it contributes to the overall risk. I prefer the transdermal spray by Meriel for feline leukemia vaccination be given every three years an adult cats. I recommend the nonadjuvenated Merial rabies vaccinations for cats annually .For cats travelling overseas it is important to check with the country they are travelling to, many countries are not OK with nonadjuvenated rabies vaccines- don't ask me how I know this.

Confused? The simplest approach is just ask a vet what shot your cat needs.   That should trigger a series of questions, not a series of shots. Be wary of veterinarians at vaccination clinics who vaccinate every cat every year for everything.