my cat never got her vaccinations. but now i want to introduce her to my new kitten?

[hj01]

hi
my mom got a cat three years ago. she only took her to the vet once to get her distemper, rhinotracheitis, calicivirus and pneumonitis. After that, she never got anything else done. She is three years old now.

however, i recently got a kitten which i found in my backyard 4 weeks ago. He was 6 weeks old and has been to the vet twice already for his vaccinations and tomorrow he is going to get tested for feline leukemia.

I havent introduced my cat and my kitten yet because i wanted to make sure my kitten was healthy and wouldnt pass anything on to my cat. however, i was just thinking since my cat only went to the vet once, is she gonna pass anything to my kitten? does she need to get tested for feline leukemia too?

sorry so long and TIA

 

[chzbrgr]

You definitely need to take your cat to the vet for her shots and for FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) + FeLV (Feline Leukemia Virus) testing. If she only got vaccinated once then she never got her boosters and is not protected. Since she is over 6 months old she also needs her rabies shot.

 

[Bob N]

Ask your vet this your question about the possibility of your cat passing something to the kitten. The vet is going to know more about that than anyone here.

As to introducing the cat and kitten, here is what I tell people -
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Cats need to be properly introduced to the new home, the new humans, and the existing cats if they are to get along well and not have problems.

Here's how we introduce new comers to our gang:

Cats need to be introduced very slowly.

First of all, we do not allow a new cat to have any contact with our other cats until a vet has given the new cat a clean bill of health. This includes tests for such things as FIP and Feline Leukemia.

Cats can be successfully introduced to each other regardless of their ages or sexes.

We have successfully added adult cats to our family containing both young and old cats as well as introducing very young kittens to the other cats.

It has to be done slowly. If you simply put them together, you will fail the vast majority of the time.

The new cat has to be given time to get used to you and the new environment.

The existing cat has to get used to the smell of the new cat.

We introduce cats by keeping the new cat in the back room for up to a month. My office is there as is my wife's sewing table. There is a sofa and bookshelves.

We spend a lot of time with the new cat to get them used to us, the new environment and the new smells.

After they accept us with no problems, we put a screen door on the back room door frame and let everyone see each other for a week or so.

It may take a lot less time than a month to get to this point but we just take it slow and easy.

Once we judge it safe to do so, we let the new cats out into the house and chaperon the first encounters.

We've only ever had one problem introducing cats like this and that problem was resolved in a couple of weeks.

We've had 26 cats over the past 22 years and many of them were adults - 12 and older - when they joined our family.

We've also introduced several kittens, ranging from ages of 7 weeks to 4 or 5 months, to the rest of the crew with no problems.

You have to take it slow.

If you can't put up a screen door, perhaps two baby gates, stacked one on top of the other, will close off the door but still allow the cats to see each other.

If you can't use a screen door or baby gates, try letting the existing cat into the room with the new cat for a few minutes while you chaperon.

If things get bad, take the cat out of the room.

You just have to introduce cats slowly

There are cats who could be thrown together and become pals but they are few and far between.

 

[Lou's wife]

It sounds like your cat has been an indoor cat and if this is so you are probably safe with her not passing anything on to the new kitten But,
I would get the new cat fixed before I introduced the two because of your new cat being a male the older cat may try to fix him herself. In other words she may not take to another cat in the house. So he won't try to scent all over everything in your house the fixing of him also may be another good idea. I also agree with getting her shots updated.

 

[Qatie]

Testing your older cat for FeLV and FIV is a good idea, especially if it has never been done before or if your cat goes outside, even occasionally.

You really should bring your older cat up to date on its shots - it very well could pass something to the kitten otherwise. The kittens immune system is still young - it may not have developed a perfect response to the vaccines yet, so it could still be at risk. It's better that every cat it meets be current on vaccines.

You also want to get your cat vaccinated for rabies (and your kitten too, when it is old enough). Rabies is becoming a bigger problem in cats because a growing number of people are deciding not to vaccinate.

Here are the FeLV and FIV testing guidelines: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=0+1275&aid=1286

When testing is done in very young kittens, sometimes they are too young for the disease to show up on the test. Since your kitten was an abandoned stray (at high risk for infection), you should consider repeating the test in a few months. Consider spaying/neutering at 5 months and retesting at that time.

 

[Ocimom]

If she had FELV, you'd know it by now. But she should be updated on her shots before you introduce her to another cat.

And be sure both are neutered/spayed before they get introduced.