Vaccination protects cats from several serious and potentially fatal diseases. Understanding which vaccines are needed, how often, and potential reactions helps owners make informed preventive health decisions.
Vaccination prevents diseases that cause significant suffering including panleucopenia mortality, severe respiratory infection, and FeLV-associated immunosuppression and malignancy. The rare risk of vaccine-associated sarcoma represents a genuine welfare trade-off that individual owners should discuss with vets based on their cat's lifestyle and risk profile. Over-vaccination with unnecessary annual boosters represents a welfare cost that current evidence suggests can be reduced without compromising immunity.