Healthy adult cats and kittens should be regularly vaccinated intramuscularly (IM) or subcutaneously (SC) for the following diseases:
- Panleukopenia: viral disease caused by a Parvovirus which causes vomiting, diarrhea, intestinal bleeding, depression, anorexia. Some animals may exhibit a mild form without presenting obvious symptoms, while others may exhibit more severe forms with fever, septic shock and even death;
- Rhinotracheitis: disease caused by the Felid Herpesvirus manifested by depression, discharge (discharge) from the nose and eyes, possible onset of dyspnoea (difficulty in breathing), cough, drooling (abundant saliva production) and conjunctivitis;
- Infection with Calicivirus: this virus causes a disease limited to the upper airways or extended to the lungs. Symptoms are represented by fever, nasal discharge, depression, dyspnoea and possible presence of blisters and ulcers on the tongue and / or nostrils. In severe cases there may be pneumonia which causes death of the animal in 20-30% of cases.
The vaccine used against these diseases is generally called a vaccine "trivalent"(FVRCP, Felin Vaccines for Rhinotrachetis, Calici, Panleukopenia) precisely because it contains in a single product all three viral agents (or parts of them) against which the animal is to be protected.
When to carry out FVRCP vaccination
Kittens older than 6-8 weeks of age and healthy adults of unknown vaccination history should be vaccinated with a live-modified or extinguished FVRCP trivalent vaccine with a booster after 21 days.
Subsequently, an annual vaccination should be given starting from the year of age of the animal, or in any case after one year from the last vaccination.
or who have the possibility of coming into contact with other cats whose health status is unknown, it is advisable to carry out vaccination against the feline leukemia virus (FeLV: Feline Leukemia virus).
When to vaccinate
In healthy kittens, the first vaccination should be performed at the 12th week of age, with a subsequent booster after 3 weeks; in adult cats, a check for FeLV positivity should be performed before vaccination. Then, only if the animal is negative, the booster vaccination is performed after 21 days.
Many authors argue that vaccines are especially useful in young cats, as, with aging, there is acquired resistance to feline leukemia virus infection. In fact, it is believed that vaccination against FeLV in cats (regularly vaccinated from an early age) after 7-8 years of life is of limited use.
and the FeLV.
Later, it was found that vaccines (including those against infectious rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, panleukopenia and chlamydia) are not the only cause of sarcomas at the injection site. In theory, any agent that locally causes an inflammatory reaction may be responsible for the onset of sarcomas at the injection site in sensitive individuals.
However, the only products administered in the majority of the cat population, with a frequency such as to allow a good cause-effect correlation, are vaccines. The risk of onset increases with the inoculation of two or more vaccines at the same site.
Postvaccinal sarcomas are found in most cases at the point chosen for the inoculation of the drug or vaccine, mainly affecting the subcutis, sometimes the muscle and, although rarely, the dermis of cats of all breeds, regardless of sex. , with an average age of 7-8 years.
Postvaccinal cancer generally appears in a period ranging from 3 months to 3 years after vaccination, and is characterized by the fact of presenting a "highly invasive local (that is, it tends to invade the surrounding tissues). After surgical removal" in addition, it also has a "high tendency to relapse (reappear)."
Metastases (the ability of the tumor to affect structures distant from it) are rare and when they appear they are late. The main organs affected in different series seem to be represented by the lungs and eyes.
Signs and Symptoms
Inoculation sarcomas generally present as a newly formed (newly appearing) mass of soft tissue, which can be superficial or deep, rapidly growing, in correspondence with the interscapular region (between the two shoulder blades) or the thigh, which are then the locations where vaccine injections are most commonly given.
Diagnosis
Due to their conformation, it is difficult to trace a definitive diagnosis by means of fine needle aspiration (fine needle aspiration technique) so often a surgical biopsy is used to reach it.
Treatment
The treatment of choice is represented by the surgical removal of the tumor which must be performed as soon as possible after reaching the diagnosis and only if the presence of metastases has been ruled out.
See also: Dog Vaccination - Dog Vaccines
