You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

Recently there have been calls from various quarters for the interval between cat booster vaccinations to be increased from one year to 3 years....but "the Jury" is still out about whether this is a good idea or not .

In 1997 a report was published in the USA which suggested that some cat vaccines need only be given every 3 years. The conclusion in the study was based on analysis of blood samples for antibodies against feline infectious enteritis (also called feline panleukopenia), feline herpesvirus and feline calicivirus following vaccination. However, since the report was produced several objections have been raised criticising it's recommendations, including  :

• The current system of annual booster vaccinations works very well - why change it and risk an increase in disease in animals for which 3 yearly vaccination may be inadequate to maintain protection ?
• For various technical reasons the measurement of antibody concentrations in blood is not always a reliable measure of immunity 
• Only low numbers of cats were tested in the study, and the findings may not be the same across a larger population of cats
• Increasing the time interval between vaccines may increase the "drop out rate" of owner compliance (which is already high) ...in other words owners may be less likely to return for booster vaccines when they are due.
• Although tumours (called sarcomas) at the site of some vaccinations  are seen occasionally, they are very infrequent compared to the number of cats currently being vaccinated.

As a result, most veterinarians are unconvinced by the scientific arguments for extending the interval between cat vaccinations, and few have adopted the Reports recommendations -  but the results of further studies are keenly awaited.