If you have a kitten between 6-8 weeks, it is highly recommended that you read Dr. Gilad Factor's article, Veterinarian in Herzliya About the vaccines that can save the little puppy.
In the past, medicine focused on the effort to cure diseases, but today medicine focuses enormous efforts on trying to prevent infection with diseases. Beyond maintaining proper hygiene, nutrition, and activity, vaccination is one of the most important factors in preventing diseases in both animals and humans.
What exactly is a vaccine? This is a weakened or inactivated pathogen (virus or bacteria) that is injected into the body and stimulates the immune system to create antibodies that remember the cause of the disease. When meeting the real cause of the disease, the antibodies will "treat" the cause of the disease and prevent the formation of a disease by the bacteria or virus.
Kittens should be vaccinated at 6-8 weeks of age for the first time and about three weeks later they should be vaccinated with another vaccine. It is a twice-dose vaccine with the same vaccine called the quadrivalent vaccine. Why square? Because it creates antibodies against four different diseases:
- Kitten (phenleukopenia): This is a virus (virus in Hebrew) that causes severe morbidity in kittens. The virus is from the parvo family (known as a cause of severe illness in puppies) and severely damages the intestines, bone marrow and lymph nodes. As a result, the cat's immune system collapses and severe signs of illness appear, including: depression, acute diarrhea, vomiting, fever, discharge from the nose and eyes, and of course, loss of appetite. Since this is a viral disease, there is no cure for the disease and kittens who are infected with it will die in most cases. Intensive supportive therapy will not help either.
- Rhinotracheitis: A virus of the herpes family (not people's herpes) that causes disease of the upper respiratory tract and eyes. Cats that have been infected may even go blind. Cats will usually be able to overcome the disease, but will remain carriers for the rest of their lives. Throughout their lives, the virus will break out in stressful situations and appear in the form of conjunctivitis, corneal ulcers, runny nose, hoarseness, fever, loss of appetite, and more. The disease is especially dangerous in kittens.
- Kalitzi: A virus as well. It causes damage to the upper respiratory system and eyes, as well as ulcers in the tongue and mouth. Cats infected with the virus will sneeze, secrete a lot of secretions from their eyes and nose, and even stop eating due to mouth ulcers. Some cats may limp from contracting the virus. Most cats will overcome the virus and will not remain carriers, a small minority may remain carriers for the rest of their lives.
- Chlamydia: This is a bacterium that causes acute eye infections and upper respiratory tract infections in cats. This disease, unlike the three diseases described above, may, in exceptional cases, infect people and cause conjunctivitis. This is a bacterial disease that can be treated with antibiotics.
Another disease that cats can be vaccinated against is rabies. This is a virus that can attack all mammals. Although cats in our area are not at high risk of contracting rabies, some recommend vaccinating cats against this disease as well.
The quadrivalent vaccine should be performed once a year in order to maintain an appropriate level of antibodies in our cats' bodies.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me:
Dr. Gilad Factor, 42 Nordau St., Herzliya, Tel: 09-7609930, 052-2931718