Ruby's boosters are due next month and I relly don't know what to do. She gets so stressed out when we take her in the car, within 5 minutes she poos, wees and throws up several times in her basket. Her basket is one of those fro the vets where she can see all around, we drive really slowly and let plenty of fresh air in the car.

She very rarely goes out and when she does she doesn't go off the garden. Is it really worth me putting her through all the stress of taking her to the vets for the boosters?

Or is there anyway a vet would come to the house and if so how much would this cost, its heartbreaking to see how distressed she gets from the second she's in the basket.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Ruby's boosters are due next month and I relly don't know what to do. She gets so stressed out when we take her in the car, within 5 minutes she poos, wees and throws up several times in her basket. Her basket is one of those fro the vets where she can see all around, we drive really slowly and let plenty of fresh air in the car.

She very rarely goes out and when she does she doesn't go off the garden. Is it really worth me putting her through all the stress of taking her to the vets for the boosters?

Or is there anyway a vet would come to the house and if so how much would this cost, its heartbreaking to see how distressed she gets from the second she's in the basket.

Any advice would be appreciated.

hi, i frontline and drontal religiously but i dont bother with boosters, i dont think they beinift in any way and more of a vet money maker....

if im worng please someone tell me and ill have to change my ways!!

Well.... with kids they have one set of MMR followed by a boster , then OK for life
Tetanus every 10 years.

There is a school of thought that says booster every year = money making opportunity for the vets.

If the cat gets that stressful and you don't use catteries then I'd risk it.

what do the annual boosters protect against?

If one of them is FIV - I would not ever miss that one. It's highly contagious and is absolutely horrid when they get it. I could be wrong, but I don't think it's curable either :(

Many vets are now vaccinating against less each year, so when we took our dog he had specific jabs against certain things, but we're due a bigger collection next year as more coincide on their cycles

There's no vaccine against FIV or FIP, but there is a vaccine against FeLV.

The important thing to remember is that cat flu and enteritis are really much more of a risk for kittens than for adult cats if they happen to catch either of them. For adult cats they can be unpleasant but complications are very rare.

FIV, FIP and FeLV are all carried through infected cats. Direct contact is the only way for a cat to catch them and so Ruby's chances of catching any of these is when/if she meets other cats.

If she doesn't meet other cats (and you think that this is likely to apply permanently to her situation) then I'm not that sure that I'd carry on with yearly boosters.

I have my young ones vaccinated against everything including FeLV, but I don't put my two oldies through it any more (one's 16 and the other's 15) because they're pretty sedentary and only go out occasionally.

is your cat insured???
Im not sure but im sure i read inmy policy once that if they are not vacinated up to date then the insurance can be deemed void :huh:

Dont take that as gospel though but im 95% positive i read it somewhere. Its not something i would have thought of on my own :hihi:

The insurance policies usually don't state that you won't be covered at all if you don't vaccinate, but that you won't be covered for any vet bills that are as a result of not vaccinating (i.e. if they catch flu and need antibiotics etc). I wouldn't be covered for that when they are older anyway, because at their age the threshold for claiming vet fees back is well in excess of any normal consultations (over £100 and then only get back 75% of the fees).

But yes, I agree with you that it's important to read the small print of your insurance policy and be aware of the requirements that are placed on you- it usually also covers routine worm and flea treatments and excludes anything to do with having babies.

Thanks for all the advice, I don't take Ruby to the cattery mainly because of all the stress it causes her, I have my sister come round and look after her! As for insurance, I've not bothered I just pay when I do need to take her to the vets.

I don't think Im going to take her this time, maybe if she starts wanting to go out more in the future I will take her but at the moment she's happy to be mainly in the house.

There's no vaccine against FIV or FIP, but there is a vaccine against FeLV.Ah, that's the one :thumbsup:

Thanks for that Meds :)