How Often Do Kittens Get Vaccines

When puppies kittens and kits are born they are usually protected from infections by their mother s milk providing she has been regularly vaccinated.

How often do kittens get vaccines. Kittens should be kept away from other cats and stay indoors for seven days after the second injection to ensure maximum protection. Your kitten should be vaccinated against the serious core diseases as soon as they are old enough. Kittens should start getting vaccinations when they are 6 to 8 weeks old until they are about 16 weeks old. Cat flu feline herpes virus and feline calicivirus feline infectious enteritis feline leukaemia virus.

Rabies is the other core kitten vaccination. Cat vaccinations can get confusing. This is given under the skin at the back of the neck and is well tolerated by the vast majority of cats. It s difficult for pet parents to understand their cat s vaccination schedule from which ones they need to how often they need them.

Kittens must be over 12 weeks old at the time of the second vaccination. Cats are commonly vaccinated against. The first injection can be given from nine weeks of age with the second three to four weeks after the first injection. Kittens can start their vaccinations from nine weeks old and will need a second set of injections usually 2 4 weeks after their initial set to complete their course.

However this protection only lasts a few weeks so they need regular vaccinations from an early age. Most vaccinations are best given to your kitten when they are young and your vet will help you put together a vaccination schedule. The exact vaccine will differ year on year depending on the vaccine schedule but all cats require vaccination against at least one disease annually. Not only are there different schedules and needed vaccines for cats and kittens but there are also some extra vaccines for different lifestyles.

Vaccines are combined into a single injection so your cat only has to have one needle. However older pets need protecting too as their immunity can decline. By getting them vaccinated you are reducing the risk of them falling seriously ill. However to avoid over vaccination most veterinarians will recommend starting the vaccine at 8 weeks of age followed by boosters at 12 weeks and 16 weeks old.

Kittens are vaccinated once every three to four weeks until they reach 16 weeks of age or older. After that cats should be taken for a vaccination appointment every year although not all vaccines will be given at every appointment as some jabs provide protection for longer than others.