Topic: FIV and live vaccines? (Read 7289 times)

JenGeorgieBob · « **Reply #26 on:** February 18, 2011, 08:24:56 AM »

it is booked for April the 5th, she said it wasn't urgent but needed to be in the next couple of months, no doubt I will be on here again then worrying about it!
I bet I get my hospital appointment for then too to have my wisdom teeth removed

we could both be having dentals!
thanks for the help everyone!

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #25 on:** February 18, 2011, 00:47:00 AM »

Glad you got the vaccinations sorted

When is his dental booked for? Will need to send him some positive Purrs vibes for a speedy recovery and nice shiny teeth

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #24 on:** February 18, 2011, 00:33:08 AM »

So pleased Benji is sorted now

Fire Fox · « **Reply #23 on:** February 17, 2011, 22:17:03 PM »

Quote from: Gill (sneakiefeline) on February 17, 2011, 18:17:14 PM

Afraid at my chemist they dont check dates either and have been issued with very short dated stuff that takes me a year to use and that has been ordered in specially for me!

IMO they should: I have worked in retail as well as hospital pharmacy. Dispensed items may be short-dated, it's a grey area with PRN, if you know the customer there is no excuse for accepting short dates.

JenGeorgieBob · « **Reply #22 on:** February 17, 2011, 21:52:14 PM »

well my old vet phoned today, they didn't need to order the vaccine in, they had it in stock, so Benji is vaccinated! will stick with this vets from now on...
only thing is Benji needs a dental, so he is booked in for that now....oh the worry they bring.

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #21 on:** February 17, 2011, 18:17:14 PM »

Afraid at my chemist they dont check dates either and have been issued with very short dated stuff that takes me a year to use and that has been ordered in specially for me!

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #20 on:** February 17, 2011, 09:55:46 AM »

Quote from: Gillian (Ambercat) on February 16, 2011, 16:20:28 PM

You'll be fine for a lot longer than a month, so don't worry. There has long been thinking that certain vaccines don't need to be boosted annually anyway - never mind on the exact date the last one runs out.

Phew.... Thanks for that Gillian. It was my understanding that up to 3 months was fine and I left it just over 2 months with Billy Whiz coz couldn't handle stress of work in busy period AND taking the looney to vet for his booster

Fire Fox · « **Reply #19 on:** February 17, 2011, 01:09:12 AM »

Quote from: Gill (sneakiefeline) on February 16, 2011, 19:04:36 PM

I had a discusion with a very young vet concerning using slightly out of date flea treatment yesterday, she waffled and shuffled and in the end said she had no experience with out of date meds....................not true cos she was the one who had to order in indate meds for Frantas seizures cos one of her senior colleagues injected him and gave me 6 days injections of an out of date med! Easily seen cos the colour changes to orange!

IMO that is unforgivable.

Human medicine has procedures in place to ensure this simply does not happen so there is no reason a veterinary practice cannot adopt the same methods. Each pharmacy I have worked in date checks the entire stock on a rota, then anything short dated is recorded then removed each month. When dispensed a pharmacist again checks the date, short expiry dates should be clearly recorded on the packaging. Certain items (e.g. injectables, fresh items) are date checked AGAIN by the doctor or nurse who administers.

Ellen2010 · « **Reply #18 on:** February 16, 2011, 22:14:26 PM »

With my vets they give me the option on whether I have live or not vaccines as they stock both all the times so clients can have a personal preference without having to wait, also my vet allows a maximum of 18 months between boosters before insisting that you have to start from scratch again

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #17 on:** February 16, 2011, 19:04:36 PM »

I think some vets are blinded by science and dont look at the picture in front of them, and also I am finding that often they have less experience than many on this forum.

I had a discusion with a very young vet concerning using slightly out of date flea treatment yesterday, she waffled and shuffled and in the end said she had no experience with out of date meds....................not true cos she was the one who had to order in indate meds for Frantas seizures cos one of her senior colleagues injected him and gave me 6 days injections of an out of date med! Easily seen cos the colour changes to orange!

They are not it seems willing to look outside the box and use common sense at all, I was told I would have to ring the stronghold drug company! How on earth do they learn if they dont speak to the drug company!

Well done for going back to your original vets

JenGeorgieBob · « **Reply #16 on:** February 16, 2011, 18:06:34 PM »

well, confusing chat with vet...
she said there was risk with both types of vaccines, but the risk was higher with the live ones. Also that because they were licensed for use with healthy cats technically using them on Benji would be using them unlicensed.
She was a bit confusing to be honest and quite technical, she seemed to be trying to persuade me not to bother getting him vaccinated and when I mentioned that I volunteer at the RSPCA she suggested changing before coming home and the risk to him would be minimal, but then agreed it would be safer having him vaccinated.
I asked if she could order in the vaccine and she said she would look into it, so I phoned up my old vets and they said they will order in the vaccine and phone me when it arrives in and then for me to take Benji in....much easier and less stressful!!!
The original vet then phoned back and said she could get the vaccine as they have it in stock for Cats Protection, so she could just swap and give them live vaccine instead (but surely Cats Protection have the dead ones in for a reason?) I don't think she was very happy when I said I had found another vets, but i have not been happy with their attitude that they have taken towards it and the lack of consultation with me...
Just need to wait for his vaccines to arrive at the other vets and then pop Benji down there...

kerfuffle I did not need right now...nevermind eh?

clarenmax · « **Reply #15 on:** February 16, 2011, 17:02:01 PM »

Personally I've never vaccinated with FIV, but do understand that with your volunteering, its more important for sure.

When I last looked into vaccinations, my vet initially advised that the dead form of vaccine should be used. However, when I checked how safe that would be, they checked with the manufacturer, who then said not to vaccinate at all as there are still some risk, but guess it depends on the overall health of the cat in question.

sorry, not that helpful a response after all

Gillian Harvey · « **Reply #14 on:** February 16, 2011, 16:20:28 PM »

You'll be fine for a lot longer than a month, so don't worry. There has long been thinking that certain vaccines don't need to be boosted annually anyway - never mind on the exact date the last one runs out.

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #13 on:** February 16, 2011, 15:40:34 PM »

Quote from: JenGeorgieBob on February 16, 2011, 15:34:28 PM

a month? thank you!!! I think I will just phone up my old vets and book him in....what a palavar!

When you ring your vet tell them the date that Benji 'expired' - some vets may have a policy of 2 or 3 weeks after (rather than a month) otherwise you have to start from scratch. That way you know for definite they will do it as a booster rather than having to start the course again.

Pinkbear (Julie) · « **Reply #12 on:** February 16, 2011, 15:39:27 PM »

Yep, you're safe for a month. At CP we always struggle to get cats there on the exact date because of transport issues but the vets always tell us there's no panic. If it's any later than a month past the due date they advise starting the course afresh... so a couple of weeks or so either way and you're perfectly safe. So don't panic.

JenGeorgieBob · « **Reply #11 on:** February 16, 2011, 15:34:28 PM »

a month? thank you!!! I think I will just phone up my old vets and book him in....what a palavar!

Pinkbear (Julie) · « **Reply #10 on:** February 16, 2011, 15:32:33 PM »

You are safe to leave it up til a month after the due date.

JenGeorgieBob · « **Reply #9 on:** February 16, 2011, 15:30:54 PM »

no, I mean Benji's vaccine booster is due by the 19th, so I was worried that he would need to have them as close to that date as possible, as I do not want him to be unprotected and get sick.
sorry if it wasn't clear, I'm ill, irritated and rambling, lol...

Pinkbear (Julie) · « **Reply #8 on:** February 16, 2011, 15:27:34 PM »

I take it you are talking about standard combination vaccines FIP, FeLV etc? Leucofeligen has a shelf life of 48 months. Don't understand why your vet is saying it's got to be used by 19th Feb unless he's buying short dated meds to cut costs.

JenGeorgieBob · « **Reply #7 on:** February 16, 2011, 15:12:21 PM »

well, I phoned them and was told that they forgot to phone me back and the lady who was dealing with it was on her lunch break

and would phone me back asap

I think they realised how annoyed I was though and phoned back within 10 minutes or so to let me know that the woman dealing with it is waiting for the manufacturers to get back to her and let her know what vaccine to use (hmmm...perhaps just order the one I want and then look into it for next time?

)
now just waiting to hear what the manufacturers say about the vaccine...doesn't look like Benji will get his jabs tomorrow (although I somehow don't think he is disappointed).
Thank you Tiggy's Mum, that is a relief...why does everything happen all at once?!? (wedding, tooth, sickness, essays, booster problems...)
If they can't get the vaccines Benji needs by tomorrow (or can't convince me that the live ones are 100% safe) then I will go back to the original vets....
what has annoyed me though is that THEY decided the live vaccine was fine without looking into it or consulting me...at the end of the day he is my responsibility, not theirs!!! grrr

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #6 on:** February 16, 2011, 15:00:28 PM »

No idea about the live/dead vaccines but that's a pretty poor show from the vets considering you gave them a months notice to obtain the vaccine of choice

I wouldn't be worried about getting him done on the exact anniversary, I think most vets allow a grace period of a few weeks for the boosters so if you're happier waiting for the 'dead' vaccine then it shouldn't make any difference to Benji being a a week or so late.

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #5 on:** February 16, 2011, 14:23:08 PM »

Yes I agree with you over the theoretical risk grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

One of the probs with trying to reduce the costs , which most of us do, is that one gets what one pays for!

I guess at least my vet was up front and he is not cheap and I do still use him but am gradually becoming happier with the vet who looks after Franta but thats a very big practice and the other is smaller.

Hope by now you have sorted this out one vet or another

JenGeorgieBob · « **Reply #4 on:** February 16, 2011, 13:44:29 PM »

thanks, I will phone them up at 2 and ask again if I haven't heard anything by then.
It is all very well saying it is a theoretical risk, but it is my baby boy Benji they are risking!!!
I so wish I had stayed with my old vet, they said when I took him in for a check-up that they would order in the vaccine for me no problems when he was due for his boosters and that they understood my worry
why oh why did I listen to other peoples recommendations....

Even my fiance is not happy with them now, I sent him a text at work letting him know and he was not impressed!

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #3 on:** February 16, 2011, 13:37:33 PM »

Afraid I had the same discussion with one of my vets and its not they have any problem getting them its just he point blank refused!

I think if a cat has a comprimised immune systen then why not use the killed vaccines and a vet cant tell you what to do, you can walk with your feet . He cannot go against your instructions.

It only takes them 24 hours to get medicine!

Kocka my late cat had a killed vaccine in London, thats how I knew about them but Richard one of my vets here says they are completely useless, all I know was that Kocka reacted to that vaccine too and one was all she had, she wasnt a well cat.

I suspect you may have to go back to your original vet but think you need to get on the phone and pester!

JenGeorgieBob · « **Reply #2 on:** February 16, 2011, 13:08:34 PM »

and I know I should have phoned to double check the vaccines were in sooner but have been swamped with uni work and have just had an impacted and infected wisdom tooth which has been excruciatingly painful, and then the antibiotics didn't agree with me, pah! and stupidly I had assumed they would be organised...

JenGeorgieBob · « **Reply #1 on:** February 16, 2011, 13:05:49 PM »

Just put this on here as it is a quick question and thought more people might view it.
I booked Benji in for his vaccination 1 month ago and asked that they order in the dead vaccines due to him being FIV+ Just decided to ring them to double check the vaccines had arrived and was informed that the vets had decided it was ok to give him the live vaccine?!?!
without bothering to contact me!?!

I explained that I was not happy as it is my understanding that because his immune system is compromised, there is a theoretical risk that he would catch it from the vaccines.
The appointment is for tomorrow morning and his vaccines run out on the 19th of February so he really needs them soon, especially as we are away on the 19th going to a family wedding in essex!
I know he is an indoor only cat but I do not like the idea of him remaining un-vaccinated especially as I volunteer at the local RSPCA, and so could potentially bring something home with me.
After I said I was not happy and could I talk to a vet, they said they would contact the company that makes the vaccine for advice and phone me back...just not impressed, I phoned them over a month ago about his appointment!
So, it looks like Benji has the option of having no vaccines until they get in the dead ones (and the vet nurse did not seem to think that they could get hold of them?) or giving him the live vaccine....any help or opinions?
This vets has been recommended to me and they are cheaper than some of the other clinics nearby, but what with this and Ginger's spay wound getting infected I am tempted to go back to the more expensive vets that I never had any problems with (although admittedly I only used them a couple of times)
blah! am all annoyed and kerfuddled

Author Topic: FIV and live vaccines? (Read 7289 times)