The Cat Practice utilizes the Merial™ PUREVAX® Feline Rabies vaccine in cats 12 weeks of age or older.
PUREVAX® Feline Rabies contains a nonadjuvanted lyophilized suspension of a recombinant vectored rabies vaccine plus a sterile water diluent. A canarypox vector has been modified, using recombinant technology, to produce expression of desired antigens capable of stimulating a protective immune response to rabies. Safety and immunogenicity of this product have been demonstrated by vaccination and challenge studies in susceptible cats.
PUREVAX® Feline Rabies is recommended for the vaccination of healthy cats 8 weeks of age or older for prevention of disease due to rabies virus. An injection of 1 mL (1 dose) is administered subcutaneously into healthy cats. Revaccinate annually with a single 1 mL dose.
In rare instances, administration of vaccines may cause lethargy, fever, and inflammatory or hypersensitivity types of reactions. Treatment may include antihistamines, anti-inflammatories, and/or epinephrine.
>> 2005 Michigan Rabies Map - Michigan Department of Agriculture
>> 2005 Michigan Rabies Report - Michigan Department of Agriculture
Rabies Vaccine Protocol Change - Effective 5/19/06
As of 5/19/06, The Cat Practice’s rabies vaccine protocol will be a little different.
Previous to this, we have been using a 3 year injectable killed feline rabies vaccine, the Pfizer Defensor 3™ vaccine. We have switched vaccine products to the Merial PUREVAX® live canarypox injectable feline rabies vaccine. The PUREVAX® vaccine is an annual vaccine, and is not yet licensed for 3 years, although studies are in progress currently to prove immunity for 3 years.
The Merial PUREVAX® feline rabies vaccine is currently the safest feline rabies vaccines on the market.
This is because the PureVax™ vaccine does not contain adjuvants, as all other rabies vaccines do. Adjuvants are substances added to a killed vaccine to increase the body’s immune response to the vaccine (since the virus is killed and doesn’t stimulate an adequate response on its own).
Adjuvants have been linked to vaccine-related fibrosarcomas in cats (i.e. cancerous tumors at the site of the vaccine). Although this is rare (about 1 in 10,000 cats), it is a major concern of veterinarians since this type cancer is extremely malignant, fast-growing, and will spread quickly to other parts of the body.
Adjuvants contain several different substances to enhance the immune response, including aluminum salts. Fibrosarcomas have been vigorously tested and studied by scientists – they found that aluminum was present in up to 42% of the cells in the tumor itself. This suggests that adjuvants may play a big role in vaccine-related fibrosarcomas.
The Merial PUREVAX® feline rabies vaccine
does not contain any adjuvants. Through an extremely complex process of DNA engineering, researchers have developed this vaccine by using a live canarypox vector. There is no chance of this vaccine actually causing disease we are vaccinating for since the rabies virus DNA chains have been changed and combined with this canarypox virus. Therefore, the term that is used for this type of engineering is called recombinant vaccine engineering.
The Cat Practice is already using the recombinant PUREVAX® feline leukemia vaccine.
This vaccine is administered without an injection at all, cutting out another possible cause of vaccine-related fibrosarcomas. Also, our distemper vaccine of choice is completely injection-free. However, since the rabies vaccines are still being manufactured in an injectable form, the safest choice is the one that doesn’t contain adjuvants, the Merial PUREVAX® vaccine, which is safe enough to be used in kittens as young as 8 weeks of age, as opposed to 12 weeks.
We understand that changing your cat’s vaccination program for rabies from every 3 years to yearly may concern some people. However, vaccinating annually with this new PUREVAX® vaccine is actually safer than vaccinating every 3 years with the vaccine containing adjuvants. Also, we recommend yearly physicals for your cat anyway, so really nothing should change.
After learning about vaccine-related fibrosarcomas in cats, some people may wonder why do we vaccinate at all? Disturbing as this issue may be, there is great concern that cat owners, attempting to keep their cats from harm, may forego vaccination entirely. The result? Though well intentioned, these owners may be placing their cats at far greater risk of acquiring a fatal infection than any risk the vaccine poses. And in the case of rabies, human health is at risk as well.
Many cities and municipalities require rabies vaccines for all cats, and we must follow the laws set by the State of Michigan.
If a cat that is not current on the rabies vaccine bites someone (the owner, a neighbor, or veterinary professional), proper protocol set by the State of Michigan must be followed (i.e. police reports, and a mandatory quarantine period of at least 10 days at a shelter or hospital). Rabies is not a disease to be taken lightly – most human cases have been caused by domestic animals as carriers.
Most people will then wonder why vaccinate an indoor-only cat for rabies?
There have been documented cases of wildlife carrying the virus entering homes (bats and mice) and biting the family pet. Though this may seem unlikely, protecting yourself and your cat from the legal ramifications is prudent.
Together with you, your veterinarian can devise an appropriate vaccination program for your cat and its current lifestyle.
We do not over-vaccinate cats. Indoor-only cats will not be given a feline leukemia vaccine; older cats tend to retain immunity for longer so most times vaccinations are discontinued after reaching a certain age; and any cat suspected of having a reaction to the vaccine will not be re-vaccinated with that particular vaccine (or other measures will be taken to prevent a reaction in the future). The risks of keeping an unvaccinated cat are substantially greater than the risk the vaccine poses (due to fatal infections, and human health risks).
Please feel free to contact your veterinarian or technician if you have any questions.
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