Vaccinations

Vaccinations
Information on Feline Vaccination Dangers and Concerns
By Michelle T. Bernard, Author of Raising Cats Naturally
Because of the length of this article, a printable version is available for your convenience.
Except for what's required by law (rabies), most of my cats are not vaccinated. I haven't vaccinated a cat in over
ten years. Now that I'm living in the country, my cats even spend some time outdoors and still that does not
compel me to vaccinate them. You may wonder why I am not afraid of horrible diseases my cats may catch
because they are not vaccinated. I'm more afraid of the potential of chronic disease caused by vaccines than I
am of the diseases the vaccines are supposed to prevent. Except for the panleukopenia vaccine, I am not
convinced vaccinations provide any protection at all.
Because I am a holistic breeder, I take the approach that if one of my cats gets sick, I'll deal with it. I do not go to
great effort to prevent disease. I do the best I can in feeding my cats a healthy diet and keeping their
environment healthy. I believe that alone will prevent most diseases cats suffer with today. So far, it has worked
very well.
I believe not only does vaccination make a cat more susceptible to chronic disease, it also may cause chronic
disease. Up until now I have not said a lot about my feelings about vaccination and left it to others to say.
Writing this piece has been a learning experience for me. When I first discovered homeopathy I learned that
vaccinating was contrary to homeopathic care. I did not question not vaccinating my adult cats. When I started
breeding and was exposed to the fear of disease that so plagues breeders, I thought I should vaccinate for
panleukopenia only, as that was the one deadly disease. As it turned out, the kittens I produced early on in my
breeding career had such problems with upper respiratory infections I was not able to vaccinate them because
they were too sick to vaccinate. Quite frankly, whenever I purchased a vial of vaccine, I was almost afraid to
open the vial. It seemed so darned toxic to me! A vial of deadly disease sitting in my refrigerator was probably
best left sealed or even better, thrown away. The best thing I did for my cats was throwing those vials of
vaccines away and never buying anymore.
At one time, I belonged to two large conventional cat-breeding lists, Fancier's Health and Feline Health. The only
benefit I got from these lists is to read about the diseases and problems my cats do not suffer with because of
how I raise them. This has further instilled my resolve not to vaccinate and to continue to feed them a raw diet. It
never fails to amaze me the drugs other breeders administer to their cats and their vaccination protocols.
Imagine vaccinating kittens before they open their eyes and vaccinating pregnant queens; how crazy can it get?
No wonder why purebred cats can be very unhealthy and have such a bad reputation with many veterinarians.
Dog breeders are well ahead of cat breeders in taking a more natural approach to raising their animals. There
are dog breeders who have been avoiding vaccinations for 20 or more years. These natural dog breeders have
found that their unvaccinated dogs have titers (a blood test that tests presence of antibodies) to parvo and other
diseases normally vaccinated against. The presence of antibodies does not mean the animal will not contract the
disease or is immune to it. It does tend to be sufficient evidence to convince caregivers and conventional
veterinarians that the animal does not need to be vaccinated against the disease. Then again, if the titer is low,
most caregivers and veterinarians will believe the animal needs to be vaccinated against the disease.
Unfortunately it is not that simple.
Think of antibodies as an alarm system. If the alarms are sounding (meaning a high titer) it only means the
animal may have been exposed to the particular disease. Just because the alarms are silent (meaning a low
titer) does not mean the alarm system is not armed and ready. A titer is like almost everything else surrounding
conventional medicine: a number or a measurement which in the grand scheme of things means little. Judge the
animal, not the numbers. If the animal is healthy, it should be able to survive exposure to disease.

---

Some natural dog breeders will vaccinate one puppy in a litter and allow that puppy to "vaccinate" the other
puppies. This is all fine and good, except for the poor puppy that was vaccinated who may suffer from chronic
disease from the vaccine. I'm not willing to risk any of my kittens in this manner nor do I feel it's necessary to
expose my cats to disease in this manner. Another method of "vaccination" for puppies and dogs is to take them
dog parks and obedience or handling classes. Because puppies and dogs who are vaccinated with modified live
vaccinations can "shed" the disease, exposure to vaccinated dogs can help build immunity in an unvaccinated
puppy or dog. Cats prefer to romp at home and certainly do not excel in obedience so "vaccination" in this
manner is not possible.
It's not the germs, viruses, bacteria or fungus that's the problem. It's the underlying susceptibility to these
organisms. My cats are healthy and my kittens are healthier with every successive generation. Even if they do
get sick they recover with supportive care. This doesn’t mean I do not sometimes lose kittens, I do and all
breeders do. I much prefer to take the risk of them getting sick than to use drugs and vaccinations to prevent
disease.
Vaccination is supposed to increase antibody levels against a specific disease that in turn will prevent the animal
from catching that particular disease. A vaccine tricks the body into thinking it has been exposed to the disease
without actually becoming ill.
As I stated above, presence of antibodies does not necessarily equate to immunity to a disease. The immune
system has two separate means of detecting and destroying disease that ideally work in a cooperative way, but
given the rise of autoimmune diseases in cats today (such as cancer), sometimes in an antagonistic way.
One part of the system is the humoral immune system that produces antibodies in the blood. The other part is
the cellular or cell-mediated immune system that primarily works against foreign antigens in the body through
the activity of its cells found in the thymus, adenoids, spleen, lymph nodes and lymph system. The work of the
cellular immune system is known as "the acute inflammatory response" and is often accompanied by the normal
signs of inflammation: fever, malaise and discharge of mucus, pus, skin rash or diarrhea.
If a cat is excessively vaccinated as most cats are, this could lead to over stimulation of the humoral part of
immune system and lack of stimulation of the cellular portion. Coupled with vaccination is the excessive use of
conventional medicine like antibiotics, steroids and many other drugs that are designed to suppress
inflammatory symptoms. Not many breeders or caregivers will allow their cats or kittens to express inflammatory
conditions without resorting to drugs that make the symptoms go away. When vaccinating, a disease agent (or
antigen) is introduced into the body without causing the disease. If the vaccine provoked both the humoral and
cellular immune systems, it would cause symptoms of the disease. That would certainly put a stop to most
vaccinations! Can you imagine the symptoms of disease if the conventional feline three-in-one vaccine caused
the symptoms of all three diseases? No one would ever vaccinate again!
The symptoms of disease are the acute inflammatory symptoms, something no one wants to see in their kittens
and cats. A vaccine works by excessively stimulating the antibody production and stimulating very little or not at
all the cellular immune system.
Given the above, you may see why vaccines really do not improve the immune system; they agitate one portion
of it (antibody production) and suppress the other. This practice is not preventing disease, it is instead
suppressing the ability of the immune system to respond to and overcome the disease. Add into this equation
the use of suppressive medicine and you have a very compromised immune system.
What vaccinations do is prevent the cat from expressing symptoms of a particular illness and modify the reaction
of the immune system, decreasing acute response and increasing the tendency for chronic allergies and
autoimmune disease. Vaccines do not make your cat healthier — good food, healthy environment and proper
breeding practices do.
One of the major problems with vaccination is that the viruses (most vaccines given to cats are combinations of
multiple viruses) are injected directly into the bloodstream, completely bypassing the body's normal defense
mechanisms. A two-pound kitten gets exactly the same dose as a 12-pound adult. There is no accounting for the
differences in weight, age, sex, breed, health status or susceptibility.

---

The most common feline vaccine combination, called a "three-in-one" contains feline viral rhinotracheitis
("rhino") also known as feline herpesvirus, feline calicivirus ("calici") and feline panleukopenia ("panleukopenia")
is commonly referred to as FVRCP. Rhino and calici are both upper respiratory infections ("URIs").
Panleukopenia, also called feline distemper, is a disease similar to canine parvovirus, which causes severe
vomiting and diarrhea.
The panleukopenia vaccine became first available in 1970. Up until the past five years or so, most companion
cats were vaccinated at least for panleukopenia, rhino, calici and rabies annually.
I am aware of the potential of a panleukopenia outbreak in my cattery, but the risk is extremely minimal. I do not
regularly rescue cats or bring unknown cats in contact with my cats and kittens. Even though they go outside, I
am not seeing feral cats dropping dead from panleukopenia on my property. My cats rarely step foot inside a
veterinary office, so there's little risk of exposure in that manner.
Young kittens and old cats are more susceptible to panleukopenia. I keep my kittens with me until they are at
least four months old and I do all I can to build their health from within, naturally. It makes more sense to me to
build the health of my cats so that should they be exposed to panleukopenia (or any other disease) they might
be able to recover. I see no sense in using vaccination as a means to prevent panleukopenia given the way I
raise my cats.
Whenever I tell anyone I do not vaccinate for panleukopenia I get reminded of a certain breeder who did not
vaccinate for panleukopenia and had an outbreak in her cattery. She lost a number of cats, some of them
vaccinated. Our catteries are very different and I do not think I'm in any danger of having a similar outbreak. I
realize I am taking a slight risk by not vaccinating my cats for panleukopenia, however, I am prepared for the
remote chance my kittens and cats may someday become sick.
Acute diseases tend to run their course and then die out. Pro-vaccination people would have you believe it is
because of vaccination that these diseases are no longer a problem. I do not think this is the case. Vaccination
for URIs has not wiped out URIs in cats. They still get them, vaccinated or not. Strong kittens survive and
become immune to the virus, weak kittens die. There was a time when panleukopenia killed a lot of cats.
Because it is an acute disease, panleukopenia strikes hard and fast. The cat survives or it does not. In the
natural order of things, the cats that survive an epidemic go on to reproduce. The immune system of each cat
exposed to the natural disease had the opportunity to work cooperatively. The cellular immune system
expressed itself in the vomiting and diarrhea while the humoral immune system produced antibodies. This is how
an immune system is strengthened, not by vaccination.
The cats that survive an epidemic breed and produce healthy offspring. This line of cats may go on reproducing
for years and then, be it due to inbreeding, insufficient food sources or shelter, another epidemic may strike and
take its toll. It's cruel, but this is how nature culls unhealthy individuals and keeps a population in check.
Granted, cats surviving in the wild have little in the way of supportive care available and have far less chance of
surviving than a cat under the care of a human — especially if that human is versed in using homeopathy. In the
face of a violent acute disease like panleukopenia, homeopathy truly shines. The symptoms are simple and
clear. They are not hidden under layers of symptoms like chronic disease.
There are two different kinds of disease: acute — those that attack suddenly and often violently; and chronic —
those that come on slow and insidious, beginning with mild symptoms (which are often suppressed with
conventional medicine) which progress to deadly conditions.
Today veterinarians rarely see a case of panleukopenia. Would panleukopenia have run its natural course
without a vaccine being developed? If the panleukopenia vaccine were not developed, would all domestic cats
have been killed? I doubt it. Cats have survived for too long to be wiped out by a virus. The unhealthy cats would
have died, but would the surviving cats have been so healthy that the cats today would fewer health problems
than they do?

---

Veterinarians do see many cases of cats with vague vomiting and diarrhea symptoms that they may initially
diagnose as a food allergy. If a prescription diet does not cure the symptoms (which frequently it does not), then
more tests will be run and the cat may be diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease ("IBD"). Then the cat will
be put on anti-diarrhea or anti-vomiting medicine and steroids to make the vomiting and diarrhea go away. This
may work for a while, but these drugs ultimately take their toll. The cat has vomiting and diarrhea symptoms for a
reason and simply making them go away using drugs is not the answer.
Look at the symptoms of the acute form of panleukopenia compared to symptoms the veterinarians commonly
see in cats today:
Acute Form of Feline Panleukopenia
Chronic/New Acute
Lassitude; indifference to owner or surroundings.
Lazy cats, not active, lie around most of the time.
Inappetance.
Appetite problems, finicky, not wanting to eat well.
Fever.
Chronic fever, for weeks, with few symptoms except for cervical gland enlargements.
Rough, unkempt coat.
Poor groomers (or cats that never groom).
Dehydration.
Chronic dehydration leading to cystitis and bladder calculus formation; chronic interstitial nephritis.
Rapid weight loss.
Emaciation; thin, "skeletal" cats. Hyperthyroidism.
Vomiting; profuse, watery, diarrhea (often blood-tinged).
Inflammatory bowel disease.
Mucopurulent discharges from the eyes and nose.
Chronic upper respiratory infections; sinusitis.
Chart from "A New Look at the Vaccine Question" by Richard H. Pitcairn, D.V.M., Ph.D., Animal Natural Health
Center, Eugene Oregon
Can you see the similarities? Have we traded an acute disease (panleukopenia) for chronic disease? Is this an
acceptable trade-off? Which is worst on the cat, a sudden acute disease which, given proper care he may
recover from, or long-term suffering from a disease which he may never truly recover from? Cats may not be
dying from panleukopenia, but they surely do die from IBD, hyperthyroidism, kidney disease and cancer all the
time.
Feline vaccines are commonly grown in Crandall-Reese Feline Kidney ("CRFK") cells. As a consequence, feline
vaccines contain CRFK proteins. A study conducted by Colorado State University showed that only one injection
of the common feline three-in-one vaccination (FVRCP) led to production of anti-kidney antibodies. This study
indicates that vaccination could be a cause for chronic renal failure in cats.1
Because giardia, a microscopic parasite, is very difficult to cure, the giardia vaccine (originally developed for

---

dogs) is the new rage among cat breeders. A study conducted again by the Colorado State University indicated
that the giardia vaccine had no impact on a group of cats infected with the parasite. The researcher thought
perhaps if the vaccine were used on cats that were naturally infected with giardia, it might be more effective.2
Bortedella, a respiratory disease also known as kennel cough is caused by Bordetella bronchiseptica ("B.
bronchiseptica") (a bacillus), is a disease common in dogs, especially those in a kennel or shelter environment.
Studies have concluded that although B. bronchiseptica can cause respiratory infection in cats, it is highly likely
that other factors are involved including stress and concurrent infection with other respiratory viruses.3 B.
bronchiseptica is usually carried by cats asymptomatically.4 Cats who are vaccinated against rhino and calici are
now succumbing to a new respiratory virus, Bortedella, which they are now getting vaccinated for. Does this
make any sense? Does it look like cats are getting healthier due to current vaccination protocols? It looks to me
like they are becoming susceptible to bacteria normally resident in their own systems.
A new vaccine for FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) was announced in March 2002. The problem with this
vaccine is that cats vaccinated with it test positive for the virus. Some people seem to think that's only a problem
if your cat gets lost and ends up in a shelter, is tested for FIV, tests positive and is euthanized. FIV infects only
2% of "at risk" cats in the United States! At risk cats are feral cats, not your regular household companion or cats
in a cattery! Why in the world does anyone think it is necessary to develop a vaccine for a disease that strikes
very few cats in the United States? Because they can and for as long as there are diseases, imagined or real,
vaccine manufacturers will continue to make vaccines.
I have been following an interesting discussion on one of the conventional cat lists about Feline Infectious
Peritonitis ("FIP"), a deadly disease associated with feline coronavirus. The common benign form of feline
coronavirus is referred to as FECV (feline enteric coronavirus) and is not a problem for most cats who will
remain healthy when exposed, but coronavirus are prone to mutation. It is the mutated form of FECV that
causes FIP.
FECV is spread primarily by the fecal-oral route and, to a lesser degree, through saliva or respiratory droplets.
While cats at a show will usually not come in contact with the litter boxes of other cats, at the end of a cat show,
while packing up to head home, exhibitors dump their litter boxes into trash receptacles throughout the show
hall. The dust from the cat litter could contain FECV, float through the air and land on your cat. During his normal
grooming, the cat could contract FECV. If it happens to be the mutated form of FECV, your cat could become ill
with FIP.
One interesting thing about FIP, a disease that is baffling veterinarians, vaccine manufacturers and breeders is
that the feline coronavirus operates differently from any other feline virus in several important ways: a) systemic
antibodies have no protective function for the cat and may play a role in the disease FIP itself b) antibody titers
are meaningless for diagnosis of FIP or prognosis.5 Could FIP, a relatively new disease, have made an
appearance because vaccinates have been over-stimulating antibody production, hence a disease appears that
antibodies cannot protect against or has the cellular immune system of cats become so suppressed that it no
longer works properly?
Susan Little, in her paper, Feline Infectious Peritonitis — updated information for breeders, suggests breeders
select for overall disease resistance. How can breeders select for disease resistance if they do not allow their
cats to get sick because they vaccinate for every disease they could possibly get (except, of course for FIP,
because there is no effective vaccination). Dr. Little believes the likely defect in immunity to FIP is in cell-
mediated immunity and cats that are susceptible to FIP are also likely susceptible to some other infections as
well, especially fungal and viral infections. Given what I read on the conventional cat lists, there are a lot of cats
susceptible to fungal and viral infections. Ringworm (a fungal infection) is a significant problem in many
catteries.
There are very few breeders who have been breeding for any length of time who have not experienced FIP in

---

their cattery. I borrowed a male from a cattery in the mid-West. When he came to me, I knew he wasn't right, but
I attributed his condition to years of living in a cage and eating commercial food. First he developed severe
upper respiratory symptoms. Not long after that, I found him in my closet collapsed with a hard swollen belly. I
brought him to a veterinarian who performed the various tests they do for FIP. He had a coronavirus titer of
1:800. Given that he had the classic symptoms of FIP and a high titer, his breeder requested that he be put to
sleep. This cat had been running loose with my cats and had bred one of my queens. She did not become
pregnant from this breeding, which is probably a good thing. This happened well over five years ago. My cats
and kittens have not shown any symptoms of FIP.
A very real danger of feline vaccination are Vaccine Associated Sarcomas ("VAS"). VAS is a cancer usually
called Fibrosarcoma which is believed to occur as a result of vaccines. Conventional veterinarian's solution to
VAS is not to administer vaccines between the shoulder blades, but to give them in parts of the body like the rear
legs that could be easily amputated if VAS occurs. That's very enlightened thinking if I do say so myself.
I predict in the very near future there will be as many vaccines used on cats as there are on dogs. Some puppies
are vaccinated with seven-in-one vaccines!! Seven different viruses (Distemper, Infectious Canine Hepatitis,
Leptospirosis, Canine Adenovirus Type 2, Parvovirus, Parainfluenza, and Coronavirus) injected into a puppy that
is not even two months old. How crazy can that be?
I understand why people vaccinate and I certainly do not think they are bad people because they vaccinate. I
wish more people would stop and really think about health and disease. Then, maybe, they would consider a
different approach.
It takes a lot of work to build and maintain a truly healthy cat. Vaccination, as a preventative, is a short-cut and
does not take into account the whole picture. Even vaccinated cats can succumb to the diseases they were
vaccinated against. Not so much with panleukopenia as that is one of the more effective vaccines, but you'll be
surprised to know how ineffective many of the other vaccines are.
Back to the vaccines contained in the three-in-one vaccine: both Rhino and Calici are upper respiratory viruses.
The vaccine does not necessarily prevent either virus. It may lessen the severity of the virus, but it may not
prevent it.
I have seen vaccinated cats and kittens suffer from far worse URIs than my unvaccinated cats and kittens. I
can't see vaccination as a means of preventing or lessening the symptoms of URIs. I believe kittens, like
children need to get sick before maturing into adulthood. A kitten catching a URI and then recovering will have
natural immunity to URIs and will have the beginnings of a competent immune system. This is so important,
especially given the types of diseases that are becoming common in cats today.
All the vaccines in the world are not preventing the progression of Amoxicillin (a relatively mild antibiotic) use to
the current use of Baytril and Zithromax (both very aggressive antibiotics) to treat URIs. If vaccines were indeed
working — then why are more aggressive antibiotics needed to nurse kittens (and cats) through URIs? These
poor cats often spend weeks and even months on antibiotics. Can this be doing them any good? The recent
increase of older kittens and young adults with IBD may very well be related to excessive antibiotic use in
kittens. URIs are viral in nature. Antibiotics are of no use in viral infections. Antibiotics are given to prevent
secondary bacterial infection.
Conventional medicine is misdirected in its approach to preventing disease. It makes more sense to me to
prevent disease by feeding a high quality (preferably raw meat) diet, common-sense sanitation, reducing the
number of cats housed together and providing plenty of fresh air, sunshine and exercise opportunities. Housing
a bunch of cats in a basement or garage with little or no natural light or fresh air is not conducive to good health.
Kittens can and do die from URIs, but given good supportive care, a healthy kitten should survive. I have found
they are more inclined to recover completely if antibiotics are not used. A kitten with a URI can be difficult to deal
with. Like anyone with a cold, they can get cranky. Sometimes it seems like it takes forever to get them through
their URI symptoms — but once you do it — without suppressive medicine — they are all the better for it.

---

There are those people who believe if a cat survives a URI it then may become a "carrier." The philosophy is that
a carrier cat that will continue to infect cats with URI and if stressed break with URI symptoms himself. I do not
buy that belief. If that were the case just about every cat in my household would be breaking with URI and
infecting everyone else. If moving 1,000 miles from a home many of them had lived in for five years to arrive at a
strange house that was itself a cattery (with its own sick cats and kittens) and a grooming shop (many of my cats
had never seen a dog before) to stay for two months and then move to another home is not stress to the max, I
do not know what stress is. Two of my cats (Olie and Tippy) got mild eye infections that may have been due to
URI or may have been nothing more than debris in their eyes causing irritation. I also had to have one young
kitten put to sleep because she had a badly infected eye. The remainder of my cats did not miss a beat.
I believe it is the vaccine manufacturers who invented the carrier definition as a means to sell their product. In
thinking about vaccination, maybe vaccinated cats do not appear to be carriers. Since a vaccine stimulates
antibodies and suppresses the acute inflammatory symptoms of the disease, a vaccinated cat may never
express URI symptoms and infect other cats.
I have found in the years I've been treating URIs in kittens with homeopathy that it may take longer for the
symptoms to go away and the kitten may relapse, but the relapse is usually less severe. With antibiotics, the
URI symptoms often disappear almost immediately, but once the antibiotic is finished, they come back just as
severe as they were originally. Caregivers want the symptoms to go away quickly, therefore, they may love
antibiotics, but they usually do not offer a complete cure. When the symptoms come back, the kitten is often put
on a different antibiotic. There is not much else a conventional veterinarian can offer for treatment of a URI. With
homeopathy there are upwards of twenty, thirty, maybe more, different remedies for treatment of URI symptoms.
Even if the antibiotic is doing what it is supposed to do — kill bacteria, it is not necessarily improving the health
of the kitten, it is killing the bacteria that may be making the kitten sick. It is also killing healthy bacteria in the
kitten's system. If the kitten is exposed to the same type of bacteria later on in life, will he be able to remain
healthy? Probably not because his immune system did not work against the bacteria the first time around, the
antibiotic did.
These antibiotics are not curing the kitten, they are not helping to build the kitten's immune system, they are
killing the healthy bacteria and the kitten eventually starts to run from you because he's sick of having nasty
tasting medicine shoved down his throat. I love homeopathy for that reason. Usually a remedy is administered
once and unless the kitten does not recover with the first dose, you do not give it again. If given dry, the pellets
are tiny and have little taste. I usually recommend that they be administered in water so all you're giving the
kitten is a bit of water.
Nasty tasting medicine is never administered to Blakkatz kittens and cats.
I'm not sure why kittens and cats seem to improve while taking antibiotics. Maybe, in the case of URIs, they
have some antihistamine effect. Maybe the antibiotic action sets up some secondary disease state that
temporarily offsets the URI symptoms. Once the antibiotic is ceased, the URI disease state (with its symptoms)
returns.
A final note on kittens and URIs: given supportive care — namely nourishing food, a warm bed, force feeding
liquid food, if necessary, and keeping the nasal passages and eyes open and clear of dried mucus, the kitten
should survive. If not, then in my opinion, the kitten is weak and should be allowed to pass on to his next life. I
am not a fan of using heroic methods to pull a kitten through a URI. Survival of the fittest is an important rule and
practiced by too few breeders. A kitten nursed through a URI with every drug known to veterinarians does not
make for a healthy adult. The unfortunate truth is that it is almost always the pick kitten in the litter that gets the
most sick. I don't know why that is. Nature seems to pick the ugliest kittens to be the healthiest. These coddled
babies often go on to become part of a breeding program. This does not make for healthy offspring — especially
if this kitten ends up getting vaccinated again and again on top of all the drug therapy used to "save" him from a
URI.

---

Most kittens in a multi-cat environment will succumb to at least one URI. If they catch a URI and survive are they
not immune to the virus? The catch-22 here is that most kittens are not allowed to recover without use of
suppressive medicine so maybe they never become truly immune to the virus. In addition, many breeders will
have 10 or 20 kittens on the ground at one time. No one wants to nurse that many kittens through URIs.
You can bet a kitten coming from Blakkatz will have had at least one URI episode and that the kitten was treated
using homeopathy or was simply supported through his illness. I do not shield my kittens from URIs or anything
else for that matter. If one kitten in the litter starts exhibiting symptoms of URI, I do not segregate him — heck
no! I let him infect the whole lot of them. I do not keep kittens separate from the other cats in the household
either. I know most breeders keep their kittens in a room apart from all the other cats except their mother until
they receive their first shots. Some breeders even wean the kittens and pull the mother away for fear of infection
from the mother. If the mother is so unhealthy, why then is she in a breeding program? Some breeders literally
raise their kittens "under glass" and do not even allow potential buyers to handle them. What do they think they
are raising — hot house flowers? Kittens-in-a-bubble? They count on vaccination to "prepare" them for the world
of disease. In my opinion, that is very poor preparation.
How anyone can think it necessary or desirable to inject an eight week old (or even younger) kitten with three
(and sometimes more) viruses at once and then do it again in two or three weeks and then again! That poor
kitten's immune system must get so confused. There is no way a kitten would ever be exposed to rhino, calici
and panleukopenia all at the same time. How can an immature immune system handle this onslaught? Some
breeders actually vaccinate kittens before they even open their eyes and they vaccinate pregnant queens. This
is absolute craziness!
An eight-week-old kitten is just beginning to wean, which is very stressful for the kitten. They are also teething.
Their immune systems are weaning off maternal immunity and developing on their own. How can it be
advantageous to vaccinate a kitten going through so much stress with several difference disease-causing agents
and stimulate more antibody production? Many breeders will vaccinate a kitten right before he goes to his new
home. That is a dangerous practice. Uprooting a kitten from an environment he was born into and thrusting him
into a completely new situation with strangers is a very frightening experience for many kittens. Adding the
additional stress of vaccination into the mixture is a recipe for potential disaster.
I know these breeders think they are doing the best thing for their cats and kittens, but it is not an approach I
care to take. I want my kittens exposed to normal germs, bacteria and viruses while they are in my care so I can
nurse them through any illnesses my way. My way is not the easiest way by any means, which is why most
breeders will not do it. It is why I keep my breeding program small and breed only a few litters a year.
Although I do not recommend it, nor think it is necessary, my kitten sale contract allows for vaccination of the
kitten, ONCE, with a conventional three-in-one vaccine. I know many veterinarians will not spay or neuter a cat
without some shot records. My contract also allows for rabies vaccination, as required by law, but a rabies
vaccination is not to be given on the same day as a three-in-one vaccination. Should the caregiver desire to
boost the three-in-one vaccination when the kitten is one year old, that is permitted under my contract, but not
recommended. Continuing to vaccinate the cat on an annual basis or with any other vaccine such as feline
leukemia, feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), chlamydia, ringworm, bordetella or any other newly developed
vaccine will invalidate my health guaranty and make me come after you with a club! No vaccine should ever be
given on the same day as or within thirty days of any surgery, nor should a vaccine be administered to an
unhealthy cat, no matter how minor the illness.
As far as I'm concerned, once you get a four-month-old kitten from Blakkatz, there will be no need to vaccinate
the kitten for anything other than rabies, if required by law.
I know vaccination is not necessary to raise a healthy cat. I have raised generations of vibrantly healthy cats
without vaccination, except for what is required by law.

---

Cats are cats. They thrive on a minimally processed, properly balanced raw meat diet. Homeopathy is a
wonderful healing method to treat any illness because it is noninvasive, has no side effects (if used properly) and
offers a cure. Cats hate to be messed with! They hate to be restrained and have medicine forcibly shoved down
their throat, in their eyes or nose. They hate to be transported to a veterinarian's office with all its strange smells
and noises. My approach to cat care is simple, but effective. It takes into account a cat's particular needs and
desires.
Vaccination does bring in a substantial income for veterinarians. The new protocol of vaccination every three
years has to be taking a financial toll on many veterinarians. I am sorry for that, but it's time the truth was told.
Nosodes
Nosodes are often referred to as "homeopathic vaccination" or suggested as a safe alternative to conventional
vaccination. There is nothing homeopathic about vaccination and nosodes are not necessarily harmless. The
only alternative to vaccination is to build the health of your cat via a raw diet, a healthy and clean environment
and avoidance of most conventional medicine
Hahnemann did not use nosodes; it was Hering who performed the first proving of a nosode. The homeopaths,
Boennninghausen and Wolf were the first&