Vaccines for Kittens & Cats

Vaccinations are heavily tested to ensure they’re not only safe but effective for your kitten and cat. While some vaccines are necessary for all cats (core), other are only recommended based on your cat’s risk of contracting certain diseases. If you’re interested in learning more about vaccines, please contact us at 905-571-3700.

What’s the science behind how vaccines work?

Vaccines work by introducing your kitten or cat’s immune system to an infectious organism it will be able to recognize and fight against. By stimulating this response, they’ll be able to fight against a particular virus if they come in contact with it. For some diseases, vaccines completely prevent infection whereas, with others, your kitten or cat will only experience mild symptoms. Both scenarios are less detrimental than if they were unvaccinated and contracted specific diseases, which are fatal in some cases.

Which diseases should my kitten/cat be vaccinated against?

While core vaccines are necessary for all kittens and cats, non-core ones are recommended based on their lifestyle and environment. For example, if you have a household with multiple cats, we could recommend the Bordetella vaccine to protect them against harmful upper respiratory infections. While the feline leukemia virus (FeLV) vaccine is a core vaccine for kittens since they are more susceptible to the disease, it is a non-core vaccine for adult cats. Core vaccines we recommend for all cats include:

• Feline panleukopenia virus
• Feline viral rhinotracheitis, also known as herpes virus type 1 (FHV-1)
• Feline caliciviruses
• Rabies virus
• Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) (kittens)