FELINE VACCINES Kathy O’Malley spoke with Steve Dale a few weeks back about her cats’ vaccines, thinking she may have over-vaccinated her kitties. She may be right. Read on for more, direct from a veterinary conference Steve attended: By Steve Dale Denver. CO. Dr. Richard Ford knows how to begin a talk. He flat out told his veterinary colleagues, "Instead of treatment for vaccine-associated sarcoma (a cancer in cats caused by vaccines), how about us worry about the prevention." He means that preventing this kind of aggressive cancer in the first place is far more likely by eliminating some specific vaccines given to some cats, If you prevent the cancer, you will obviously never be required to treat it. Vaccine related cancer became an issue, in part, because of public outcry. In 1996, the Vaccine Associated Feline Sarcoma Task Force estimated that one to four of every 10,000 cats may be diagnosed with vaccine-associated sarcoma. However, loose knit groups of cat owners organized on the Internet, and through breed clubs continued to insist vaccine related cancers occur more often. Ford, speaking at the 19th Annual American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum (on May 23) revealed the latest research may confirm what those cat owners have been saying. He says it’s more likely that closer to one in every 1,000 cats may be contracting cancer related to vaccines. Ford is professor of medicine at the College of Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina State University - Raleigh, and he’s on the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) Advisory Panel on Feline Vaccines. "You bet I’m concerned. The vaccine market is thriving, and today 20 per cent of all vaccines are now purchased over-the- counter (meaning through catalogs and over the Internet)," he says. "Meanwhile research continues to show that we’re vaccinating our cats too often with too many vaccines." Dr. Jim Richards director of the Cornell Feline Heath Center at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University - Ithaca, NY is on the Vaccine Associated Feline Sarcoma Task Force and the Advisory Panel of the AAFP. He helped to develop new procedures for vets to give vaccines to cats back in 1996. The hope was to accumulate a national data bank to determine which vaccines were responsible for causing the vaccine-related sarcoma. Veterinarians were asked to vaccinate specific vaccines in specific places. For example, on the left rear leg for feline leukemia, and the right rear leg for rabies. The entire issue of vaccines remains controversial, and Richards himself concedes he is anxious to see more research (expected to be released sometime this year). Still he AAFP Advisory Panel on Feline Vaccines has enough ammunition to take a stand. Put simply, it seems the vaccines most responsible for vaccine related cancer are the feline leukemia and rabies vaccines. Also adjuvant vaccines, in general, are problematic. Ford says kittens under a year old are most susceptible to feline leukemia, and should be vaccinated. Adult cats who may get outdoors, and can interact with cats infected with feline leukemia should also be vaccinated. However, when it comes to vaccinating indoor adult cats for feline leukemia, he says, "No way should those cats continue to receive vaccinations." Ford explains adjuvants - used in several vaccines - contain a chemical such as aluminum - to boost the immune system, and the vaccine’s long term effectiveness. These vaccines have also been associated with vaccine-associated cancer, and Ford says consumers can ask vets for alternative vaccines (so an adjuvant vaccine is not used). The rabies vaccine is a more complicated issue. By law, half the states and many individual counties and municipalities require the rabies vaccine. And for good reason. After all, rabies kills pets and potentially people. What’s more, rabies is on the rise in many parts of the country. However, does a cat who lives on the 45th story of a high rise, and can never get outdoors, really need a rabies vaccine? No veterinarian will go on record telling clients to break the law. However, Ford winks and says, "Talk with your own vet, let’s just say I wouldn’t turn that person on the 45th floor into authorities." Richards adds, "This isn’t an easy decision because there’s a potential for serious a threat to human health. If my cat gets outside one time and encounters a rabid animal, or a rabid bat flies inside, there’s potential for exposure. All it takes is one time." Both Richards and Ford concur that outdoor cats should absolutely have the rabies vaccine, to protect their own health as well as human health. However, Richards adds, "I certainly do think the laws (in various individual counties and states) that mandate the three year rabies vaccine be given every year makes no scientific sense." His position is that the three-year rabies vaccines offers good protection for three years, and an annual revaccination is overkill. "That’s just the point," says Ford, "Not only are we in some cases vaccinating with too many vaccines, we’re vaccinating too often." The AAFP, and Ford and Richards strongly recommend as core vaccines for kittens the combination three-way for Panleukopenia (feline parvo), the herpes virus (rhinotracheitis) and calicivirus. This is followed by a booster a year later, and then instead of annual boosters continuing through the cat’s life, which were previously suggested - the booster shot comes every three years. "In truth there was little science behind that annual booster recommendation," Richards says. He concedes along the way, economics also played a role in veterinarians encouraging clients to have yearly vaccines - but mostly as a way to get clients into the office at a time when people otherwise might not have taken kitties for annual exams. He says, today attitudes about pets has changed. Vets have begun to market annual physicals or wellness exams, just as human physicians do. The issue about too many vaccines isn’t only about the threat of cancer. For example, as far as anyone knows the vaccine for feline kennel cough (Bordetella) isn’t harmful but some veterinarians or clients seem to think more is better when it comes to vaccines. However, a cat that is never kenneled, and isn’t exposed to other cats isn’t likely to need this vaccine. Ford adds, "Vaccinations prevent diseases - the message is certainly not to discourage vaccinating pets. There are more vaccines available than ever before with more on the way. Discuss each vaccine with your veterinarian to determine which are a good idea for your cat - some will be, many may not be."
|
