Feline Vaccines & Preventive Care

Feline Vaccines & Preventive Care

Vaccines are an important part of keeping your cat healthy—even for indoor-only pets.

While cats may have fewer exposures than dogs, they are still at risk for contagious and sometimes serious diseases. Our goal is to keep things simple, appropriate, and tailored to your cat’s lifestyle.

Core Feline Vaccines

Rabies

Rabies is a fatal disease that affects both animals and people, and vaccination is required by law in most areas.

We offer two rabies vaccine options:

Imrab®

• A commonly used rabies vaccine for cats
• Provides reliable protection
• May contain adjuvants (added components that help boost immune response)

Purevax® Rabies (Preferred)

• Non-adjuvanted (no added immune stimulants)
• Specifically designed for cats
• Associated with a lower risk of vaccine-related injection site reactions

Our Recommendation

We prefer and recommend Purevax® rabies (especially Purevax® 3 when appropriate) for most cats because it is:

• Safer for cats long-term due to being non-adjuvanted
• Better tolerated at the injection site
• Designed specifically with feline immune response in mind

Purevax® is generally our first choice unless there is a specific reason to use an alternative such as Imrab®.

Duration:

• Purevax® 1 → 1-year protection
• Purevax® 3 → 3-year protection (after appropriate initial series and per guidelines)

Feline Distemper (FVRCP)

This combination vaccine protects against:

• Feline viral rhinotracheitis (herpesvirus)
• Calicivirus
• Panleukopenia (feline distemper)

We use Purevax® FVRCP, which is:

• Non-adjuvanted
• Designed specifically for cats
• Associated with a lower risk of vaccine reactions

Booster schedule:

• Kittens: every 3–4 weeks until ~16 weeks of age
• Booster at 1 year
• Then every 1–3 years depending on lifestyle and risk

FeLV (Feline Leukemia Virus) Vaccine

Feline leukemia is a contagious virus that can suppress the immune system and lead to chronic disease.

We recommend FeLV vaccination based on risk, especially for:

• Outdoor cats
• Cats exposed to unknown or new cats
• Multi-cat households with mixed exposure

Schedule:

• Initial series: 2 vaccines, 3–4 weeks apart
• Booster at 1 year
• Then annually if risk continues

FeLV Testing (Before Vaccination or Exposure Risk)

Before starting FeLV vaccination, we recommend testing to confirm your cat’s status.

FeLV testing helps us:

• Confirm whether vaccination is needed
• Identify existing infection
• Build a safe long-term prevention plan

👉 You can learn more about this on our Routine Labwork page

How We Decide What Your Cat Needs

We tailor vaccine recommendations based on:

• Indoor vs. outdoor lifestyle
• Exposure to other cats
• Age and health status
• Boarding or travel history

More Than Just Vaccines

Preventive care goes beyond vaccines.

We also strongly recommend:

• Year-round parasite prevention
• Routine labwork screening to monitor kidney, thyroid, and overall health changes early

👉 Visit our Preventatives page to learn more
👉 Visit our Routine Labwork page for screening recommendations

Our Approach

We focus on protecting cats in the safest, most appropriate way possible.

That means:

• Using modern, feline-specific vaccines like Purevax
• Minimizing unnecessary additives when possible
• Matching vaccine choices to individual risk, not a one-size-fits-all plan

If you ever have questions about vaccine options, we’re always happy to talk through what’s best for your cat.