Accepted Answer

Hi,

There are a couple of questions here, so I'll try to address each in turn. Please let me know if you need more information when I'm done.

As far as vaccinations, this is the hot topic with vets, vet schools, etc. If there was a solid answer, there would be a general consensus. For certain types of vaccines, like FVRCP, which is a modified live virus, they SHOULD get protective immunity early in their lives. The problem is that each individual cat mounts a different response. Some will mount an initial full lifelong response, and some cats won't mount any response at all. They can be vaccinated over and over, and never show titers. Because there are cats like that, vets will always want to play it safe, saying that you want to protect the most vulnerable. The wild card in all this is that there were a lot of cancers developing from vaccines, which have since been linked to the adjuvant, or carrier, that the vaccines were delivered in. The incidence of this cancer has spiralled downward, though it is not gone completely.

Many vets have changed their protocols to every three years now, because the vaccine manufacturers have finally labelled them to last that long. Everyone worries about liability. There is a good chance that your cats have their full immunity, but without doing titers, there is no way to know. I know many vets who won't vaccinate past the age of 10, and many who still do 16-18 yr olds. And, as opposed to what those who are against vaccines say, these vets still do it because they can't guarantee immunity, not "just for the money". As far as rabies, is concerned, in many states it is illegal for your vet to work on your cat if it is not current.

The trouble you are facing, I have seen before, and it is why I still recommend vaccinations, even for indoor cats. You can carry in a virus, cats can go into a hospital when they are sick and pick something up, another cat can be adopted and bring something home, etc. They are still vulnerable, though less so.

For your situation now, I'd find it hard to believe that the virus has been going back and forth between your cats as carriers all this time, but it is possible. If that is so, it is now becoming symptomatic. The problem is that they can continue to pass it back and forth as carriers unless they are ALL treated. Unfortunately, this could also simply be an allergic response, and you may be dealing with dust, molds, fungi, or other allergens that have affected two of your cats.

Sometimes your vet can auscult, or listen to, the lungs and determine if it is asthma or the like, or if there is evidence of pneumonia. Most often they would want to run an x-ray to determine what type of airway disease, or they might just opt to treat all the cats for an upper respiratory infection.

If it is an URI, they will need antibiotics. Again, if you are treating for this, you need to treat ALL the cats. If you have a relationship with your vet, they may prescribe antibiotics for all of them without being seen. Or they might be legally obligated to see them all if they haven't been examined within a year, or if their rabies is overdue. But, if it is respiratory, then again, they all need to be treated.

Let me know if there are more questions.

James

Expert:	Doc James
Pos. Feedback:	100.0 %
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Answered:	9/4/2009

Cat Veterinarian

10 years small animal veterinarian, acupuncturist