If you are a cat owner and you keep your cat indoors, you may be wondering what vaccinations, if any, your cat really needs. Get to know more about some of the vaccinations that are needed for your indoor cat. Then, you can be sure you are putting your cat's health first now and in the future. 

Rabies Vaccines Are Generally Required By Law

If you were to do nothing else for your indoor cat when it comes to vaccines, you should at least get them a rabies vaccine. This is generally a legal requirement to owning and licensing a cat, anyway. 

Rabies is a serious and highly contagious viral disease that can be spread across several species of animals and can even be spread to humans. It can cause numerous symptoms including hyper-aggressive behavior, excessive salivation (often referred to as foaming at the mouth), loss of appetite, paralysis, and sudden death, among others. 

Once a cat shows symptoms of rabies, the disease is almost always fatal. As such, it is very important that you keep up with your cat's rabies vaccine. Their safety and yours are at stake. 

The Feline Trivalent Vaccine Is Highly Recommended

Another vaccine that is recommended for all cats, indoor cats included, is commonly referred to as the feline trivalent vaccine. The feline trivalent vaccine protects cats against panleukopenia virus, calicivirus, and feline herpes virus. All three of these viruses are highly contagious and can cause severe symptoms.

Panleukopenia virus is the cat equivalent to parvovirus in dogs, which causes severe diarrhea and often results in death. The other two are upper respiratory viruses that cause severe coughing and other such symptoms. 

You may be wondering how your cat would even contract these viruses if they do not have direct contact with the outside world. However, they might come into contact with these viruses through you if you pet or play with a cat that has the viruses. If your cat ever has to be boarded, they may come into contact with the viruses. And, of course, if they ever need emergency vet care or vet care in general that keeps them at the clinic overnight, there is a chance of coming into contact with one or all of these viral infections. 

For these reasons alone, you cat should be vaccinated, at least against these core viral diseases and infections. Now that you know more about these vaccines, you can schedule your cat's vaccination appointment as soon as possible. Contact a veterinarian to learn more about pet vaccinations.

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