What Shots Does My Cat Need

​The vaccine schedule for your cat will vary depending on what vaccines, how many doses your cat needs, and how it is administered. If you have adopted an older cat with a history of unfamiliar vaccinations, the best vaccination schedule is something that will be decided by your veterinarian.
Your vet will always conduct a medical examination prior to administering vaccinations, ensuring that your kitten or cat is healthy enough for vaccination. Your vet will evaluate your kittens lifestyle and talk to you about these vaccinations to help you decide which is best for your kitten. At the kittens first vet visit, your veterinarian will discuss the vaccine schedule, along with other treatments, like deworming, and start you on the path to preventing parasites.
Each booster/vaccine given to indoor cats has a schedule, at your vets appointment, you will be informed of the time it is time for the next round of booster shots to be given to your furry companion. Your cat gets booster shots to help keep her immune after the first kitten shots, as these are worn out. Regular booster shots increase your cats protection from several cat diseases once the effects from the first kitten vaccination have worn off.
It is also really important to keep your cats on a schedule of cat booster shots so they are protected beyond the time they receive their first vaccination as a kitten. Adult cats who are past due for a vaccination must be given a booster, no matter how long it is been since their last vaccination.
Afterward, any adult cats who are at risk for exposure to outdoor cats or cats with FEV infection should continue to receive vaccinations. Along with rabies and FVRCP, outdoor cats should receive Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) vaccination. The most frequently recommended non-core vaccine is feline feline leukemia virus (FeLV), particularly for kittens and cats younger than a year, who are more susceptible.
Feline leukemia virus vaccine (FeLV) is recommended for any kittens exposed to outdoor cats, so if your kitten goes outdoors or lives with another cat who goes inside and out, the feline leukemia vaccine can be added to the regimen. Your veterinarian can evaluate your cats risk for exposure to the feline leukemia virus and determine the proper vaccination schedule. To ensure that your cat stays happy & healthy, we recommend the 3 basic feline vaccinations: Rabies, the FVRCP vaccine, and FeLV (Feline Leukemia) rabies The FVRCP vaccine The FeLV (Feline Leukemia) vaccine.

Known as lifestyle vaccinations, your vet will recommend non-core vaccinations for some cats, but not others. Vets recommend these shots based on things such as how much time your cat spends outside, if he or she is often around other animals, and which diseases are most common in your local area. Non-core shots are not given to every kitten, but are recommended in some areas for cats who have a particular lifestyle.
An adult cat that has received the core vaccine schedule will need core shots every 1 to 3 years, depending on how long immunity is provided by the vaccine used by your veterinarian and the cats individual circumstances. To maintain a cats immunity throughout adulthood, the vaccines are repeated every 1 -3 years, depending on the individuals circumstances and vaccine types.
The initial vaccination series is two doses, spaced three or four weeks apart, followed one year later with booster shots for all adult cats. Feline distemper (panleukopenia) is included in a combined vaccine given every three to four weeks until kittens are 16 weeks old. Kittens are given a series of vaccines over a period of eight to 12 weeks starting between six to eight weeks of age.
Adult cats whose vaccination status is not known should be treated as if they are not immunized, and they should be given the complete vaccine series described for kittens.
The vaccines that we recommend for cats as routine are for panleukopenia (also known as feline infectious enteritis), feline flu (feline calicivirus and feline herpesvirus), and feline leukemia (FeLV).
The primary vaccinations are the ones that should be given to all unvaccinated cats and cats with unknown vaccination histories in order to protect against the major diseases, including Enteritis (Feline Panleukopaenia). According to the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP), the core vaccines (those recommended for all cats) are feline panleukopenia virus (FPV), feline herpesvirus-1 (FHV-1), and feline calicivirus (FCV), along with rabies. The FVRCP and Rabies vaccines are highly dangerous for young cats, and these vaccines are considered to offer good protection at minimal risk.
A cat may require further vaccinations depending on his or her risk for exposure to infectious organisms from exposure outdoors, living in a shelter, or being in a home with infected cats. In general, expert panels that specialize in feline vaccinations suggest that cats staying at boarding cattery facilities should have annual vaccine schedules (or booster shots prior to boarding facility entry, if the cat has not been vaccinated during the previous year) because it may be a higher-risk environment compared with normal home environments [1, 2]. Feline Immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and Feline Leukemia virus (Felv) -- These vaccines are generally recommended only for cats who are frequently outside, and they protect against viral infections contracted through close contact.
Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis, Calicivirus, and Panleukopenia (FVRCP) - Commonly called a "distemper shot, Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis is a combined vaccine which protects cats from panleukopenia, rhinotracheitis, and calicivirus.