Cats, whether they stay strictly indoors, or go in-and-outdoors, can pick up certain infectious bugs that can make them ill. They can get these viruses from other cats, your shoes or clothing, from the lawn, litter boxes and from food.

Cats should be vaccinated, at the very least, for these life-threatening, infectious diseases:

• Feline Leukemia (FeLV) – This disease lowers a cat’s natural immunity and can produce cancers. It is spread in feline saliva (whether from licking or biting)
• Feline Infectious Enteritis (FIE)– This highly contagious disease is spread by clothing, shoes, litter boxes and food dishes. One in ten cats infected will die from this. Watch for loss of appetite, vomiting and diarrhea and exhaustion.
• Cat Flu – This very infectious disease is the result of two viruses combining for a nasty illness, though not usually deadly. Symptoms include coughing, sneezing, runny eyes, runny nose, fever exhaustion and listlessness.
• Rabies - Rabies is deadly and affects the central nervous system resulting in initial brief depression, followed by furious aggression and total paralysis. Rabies is not curable and can be transmitted to humans, so prevention is a must.

Kittens should have their first vaccination between nine weeks and 12 weeks of age. With a follow-up shot two weeks later.

After that, a yearly booster is all that’s needed. The above vaccinations can usually be combined into one or two shots to cover all four diseases.

Other vaccines you may want to look into are for: