Accepted Answer

Hi,
If your cat has been vaccinated at least every 3 years for upper respiratory infections (the "distemper" or PCVR vaccine) he likely is well-protected and doesn't need it anymore. He certainly doesn't need a feline leukemia vaccine since he has no exposure to stray cats. The only vaccine I definitely recommend for him is the rabies vaccine. One, it is required by law, but two, rabid animals could get in your house, particularly bats. I had an old cat that hadn't been vaccinated in many years. The owner was giving it some medication at home and got bit. Had he gone to the doctor for antibiotics, animal control would have required him to quarantine the cat for 10 days to make sure it didn't have rabies. The dilemma was that the cat wasn't doing well anyway and the owner ended up euthanizing the cat. By law, we should have removed the head and sent it off for testing. So these things happen and it is just better to keep the cat vaccinated for rabies.

All that being said, many vets require yearly vaccines. Not because they necessarily think the cat needs them, but so that owners will bring the cat in for a yearly exam. If you would still take your cat in at least yearly for an exam, then discuss the vaccines with your regular vet and see what they say.

Hope that helps,
Dr. Scarlett

Expert:	Dr. Scarlett
Pos. Feedback:	100.0 %
Accepts:
Answered:	2/6/2009

Cat Veterinarian

I am a practicing small animal veterinarian with 13 years experience.