Vaccination prevents infectious diseases that cause significant welfare harm in cats, and appropriate vaccination programs are a cornerstone of preventive cat welfare.
Vaccination prevents diseases that cause significant acute and chronic suffering in cats. Feline panleukopenia causes severe gastrointestinal disease with high mortality in unvaccinated cats. Cat flu causes chronic herpesvirus infection with recurrent respiratory disease. Feline leukemia virus causes immunosuppression and malignancy in susceptible cats. The welfare benefit of preventing these diseases substantially outweighs the minor discomfort of vaccination. Vaccine-associated sarcoma is a rare but serious welfare concern that has driven changes in vaccine formulation and injection site recommendations. Appropriate vaccination schedules based on individual cat lifestyle and risk factors balance protection against disease with minimizing vaccination burden.