At San Diego Bay Animal Hospital, our veterinarians believe prevention is crucial for ensuring your cat's long and healthy life. This is why our vets in San Diego recommend that all cats receive the FVRCP vaccine. Here's how the FVRCP vaccine helps protect your cat's health.
Core Vaccines to Protect Your Cat
The FVRCP vaccine and the Rabies vaccine are both core vaccines for cats. Core vaccines are strongly recommended for all cats, indoors or outdoors.
The Rabies vaccine is required by law in most states. Even if you have an indoor cat, it's important to understand that they can still be at risk of contracting infectious diseases.
The viruses that cause these serious feline conditions can survive on surfaces for up to a year. This means that if your indoor cat sneaks out for a short time, they could come into contact with these viruses and become seriously ill.
Conditions That The FVRCP Vaccine Protects Against
The FVRCP vaccine is an extremely effective way to protect your kitty against three highly contagious and life-threatening feline diseases: Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis (that's the FVR part of the vaccine name), Feline Calicivirus (represented by the C), and Feline Panleukopenia (the P at the end of the vaccine name).
Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis (FHV-1)
Feline viral rhinotracheitis (FVR), also known as feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1), is responsible for many infectious upper respiratory diseases in cats, accounting for 80-90% of cases. This disease affects a cat's nose and windpipe and can cause pregnancy complications.
Symptoms of FVR include fever, sneezing, inflamed eyes and nose, and discharge from the nose and eyes. These symptoms are typically mild in healthy adult cats and improve after five to ten days. However, in more severe cases, symptoms can last six weeks or even longer.
In kittens, senior cats, and cats with weakened immune systems, FHV-1 symptoms may persist and worsen, leading to depression, loss of appetite, severe weight loss, and sores inside the cat's mouth. Bacterial infections are also common in cats already affected by feline viral rhinotracheitis.
Even after the symptoms of FVR have cleared up, the virus remains dormant in the cat's body and can reoccur throughout the cat's lifetime.
Feline Calicivirus (FCV)
This virus is a major cause of cats' upper respiratory infections and oral disease.
Feline calicivirus (FCV) symptoms include nasal congestion, sneezing, eye inflammation, and clear or yellow discharge from the infected cat's nose or eyes. Some cats will also develop painful ulcers on their tongue, palate, lips, or nose due to FCV. Cats infected with feline calicivirus often suffer from loss of appetite, weight loss, fever, enlarged lymph nodes, squinting, and lethargy.
It's important to note that there are several strains of FCV; some produce fluid buildup in the lungs (pneumonia), and others lead to symptoms such as fever, joint pain, and lameness.
Feline Panleukopenia (FPL)
Feline Panleukopenia (FPL) is an extremely common and severe virus in cats that causes damage to bone marrow, lymph nodes, and the cells lining your cat's intestines. Symptoms of FPL include depression, loss of appetite, high fever, lethargy, vomiting, severe diarrhea, nasal discharge, and dehydration.
Due to their weakened immune systems, cats infected with FPL frequently develop secondary infections. Although this disease can attack cats of any age, it is often fatal in kittens.
There are currently no medications available to kill the virus that causes FPL. Hence, treating cats with feline panleukopenia involves symptoms such as dehydration and shock through intravenous fluid therapy and intensive nursing care.
How often should the vaccine should be received?
To provide your feline friend with the best possible protection against FHV, FCV, and FPL, your cat should receive its first FVRCP vaccination at around 6-8 weeks old, then have a booster shot every three or four weeks until it is about 16-20 weeks old. After that, your kitten will need another booster when it is just over a year old, then every three years throughout its lifetime.
For more information about when your cat should receive vaccines, visit our vaccination schedule.
Risk of Side Effects from The FVRCP Vaccine
Side effects from vaccines are unusual in cats, and when they do occur, they tend to be very mild. Most cats that do experience side effects will develop a slight fever and feel a little 'off' for a day or two. It is not unusual for a small amount of swelling at the injection site.
In some very rare cases, more extreme reactions can occur. In these cases, symptoms tend to appear before the cat has even left the vet's office, although they can appear up to 48 hours following the vaccination. The symptoms of a more severe reaction may include hives, swelling around the lips and eyes, itchiness, fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and breathing difficulties.
If your cat displays any more severe symptoms of the above reaction, contact your vet immediately or visit the nearest emergency animal hospital.
What is the cost of the FVRCP cat vaccine?
The cost of this vaccination will vary depending on the brand of vaccine your veterinarian uses and where you live. Your vet can provide a cost estimate.
Note: The advice provided in this post is intended for informational purposes and does not constitute medical advice regarding pets. For an accurate diagnosis of your pet's condition, please make an appointment with your vet.