Is it safe to vaccinate cats with heart failure or a heart murmur?

Hello. There is no reason that a cat that previously blocked should not receive vaccinations. At the very least, the rabies vaccine should be kept up to date. For feline distemper/leukemia, as long as Ray has received the kitten series, & 1 booster one year later, then I am OK with boosting this vaccine every 2-3 years. Cats can slip outdoors so it is best to try & keep immunity up. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Jimmy. I do recommend that he is current on all his vaccines before bringing a new kitten into the home. Personally, I have not seen vaccines cause kidney problems in cats. So I do not believe this is a reason not to vaccinate him. However, his veterinarian will know his complete medical history and can give you more detailed advice. I hope this information helps!

Vaccines are not age dependent but health dependent. Your vet should do blood work first due to her age to make sure there are no underlying health issues prior to a vaccine. If she is healthy and at risk and has not had one in the last 3 years, then I would reccomend getting the vaccine If there are other problems, then I would wait on any vaccines and address the other problems

Good questions. After your vet examines your pet and deems them healthy for vaccines, then its ok to proceed. There is no way to predict if a pet is going to have a reaction, and the fact that the pet never had vaccines before does not increase their chances of having a reaction. The best thing to do is to monitor Princess accordingly for 24 hrs after her vaccines for signs of a reaction, which include: vomiting, diarrhea and facial swelling. A heart murmur is detected with a stethoscope used by your veterinarian in certain locations on the chest. I am unsure of what was going on with the other pet that received vaccines. However if it took several months for the pet to perish, then this certainly was not caused by the vaccinations and likely was an unrelated underlying condition. Vaccine complications occur within 1-7 days at the most, if they are going to occur. Therefore if my pet were unvaccinated at the age of 6, I would proceed with going forward with the necessary vaccinations based on his/her exposure, so discuss with your vet to determine which vaccines are absolutely necessary for your pet Princess. I hope this helps!

Hello, and thanks for your question. The ultimate decision will need to be made by your primary vet - but I would absolutely keep them both current on their rabies vaccinations, even if they have chronic health concerns. The rabies virus is 100% fatal, and can be spread to people, so it's just not worth the risk of letting their vaccine status lapse. In many states the law requires a current rabies vaccine. The rabies vaccine is very safe, so it is very rare that I will stop keeping a patient of mine current on the vaccine. Hope this helps! I can tell you're trying to make the best decisions for your dogs!

Hello, and thank you for your question. Regarding the heart murmur, I would monitor him for any signs of coughing, lethargy, exercise intolerance or difficulty breathing. These would be signs of heart failure. If you notice these signs, I would encourage you to take Lucky to the vet as soon as possible. Otherwise, it would be reasonable to monitor him. Many dogs with heart murmurs live out many healthy years without problems, so I would not worry until you notice these signs. As far as vaccinations, there are several that are required by law, depending on the state you live in. 3 year vaccines are available, which mean that he doesn't need to be vaccinated more than once every 3 years, but a yearly checkup is still advised to ensure he is healthy. I hope this helps, and that Lucky is doing well!

I have attached the most recent recommendations from the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) below. https://www.catvets.com/guidelines/practice-guidelines/feline-vaccination Their general recommendation is to repeat the FVRCP vaccination every 3-4 weeks until a kitten reaches 16 weeks of age, then booster it 1 year later, then every 3 years after that. Unfortunately, we do not have enough data to give better recommendations than that. Injection site sarcomas have dramatically decreased over the last 15 years since we have made some changes to our vaccinations and vaccination schedules. The kidney issues are more likely due to chronic mild dehydration. There is some concern that the FVRCP vaccinations are grown on renal cell cultures, but I am unaware of any good research in that area. As far as FeLV vaccination, the AAFP generally does not recommend continuing to vaccinate indoor only cats who do not have a risk of exposure with FeLV vaccination. And Rabies vaccination is dictated by local or state laws, so if you live in an area that legally requires Rabies every year, you should comply with that. The bottom line is that we try to protect all cats from as many infectious diseases as possible, but try to use the most recent research and the lifestyle of the cat to help determine which vaccines to give and how frequently to give them. I hope that was helpful and answers your questions. Thanks for using PetCoach.