It kind of depends on the age of the kitten, number one, as well as how long of a gap there is. So first off, what do I mean by the age of the kitten? I like all animals, dog or cat, to have at least 2 sets of vaccines after they are 10 weeks of age. I also said earlier that I like to vaccinate every 3-4 weeks. So what happens if one time you're late and you can't come in for six weeks? Not a problem. Get them in when you can. It just can't be any closer together than three weeks, as you won't get the right immunologic response.

There are always risks with vaccinations, let's be honest. I mean, you're putting a foreign substance into the body, whether it's human, dog, cat, any of those things. There can be allergic reactions to those ingredients. So yes, there always is that possibility. The way I look at things like this is, does the potential benefit outweigh the potential risk? And I'm a big vaccine guy, so I don't even have to think about it. I think that the benefit of those vaccines far, far, far outweighs the risk of a potential reaction or a side effect from those vaccines.

Typically at their first visit, depending on when that visit is. I typically recommend the first visit be at 6-8 weeks, which is usually right after the time of acquisition of the kitten. And then those vaccines are boostered approximately every 3-4 weeks after that until about 4 months of age.

Non-core vaccines are the opposite of what I just described. There are vaccines that may not be necessary in every cat and your cat may not need them if that's the case. So, first off, if you have an indoor cat, is he going to need things like FIV, feline immunodeficiency? Yeah, probably not. He has to get that through the bite wound of an infected cat. How's that going to happen if he lives indoors 24/7? So, that's a non-core vaccine.

Might it fit the lifestyle of a barn cat living out in the country who's with 20 other barn cats and likely to be getting into fights? Absolutely, it would be recommended there. So it depends on the cat's lifestyle. Other non-core vaccines are things like feline bordetella, calici, and chlamydia. Those are about the only three I can think of right now, but those are non-cores.

Some are public health concerns. Rabies. I know that your cat is only going to get rabies by being exposed to a rabid animal. It's probably not going to happen indoors, but what happens if your window pops open, or your window is open and the screen pops out and your cat wants to take off? You can't afford to risk those types of things. A disease like rabies, for example, is a human threat. If, by some chance, your cat gets out, gets bitten by a rabid animal, and comes back home, they will likely act fine for quite a while. But then on about day 9 or 10, your cat is not acting quite so fine. You see where I'm going with that? There's no point in allowing that to even be a possibility.

So for certain public health concerns, there's that. And again, even other viruses that I didn't mention in that scenario could involve the same exact thing happening. Say your cat's indoors and you think to yourself, "Oh, I don't want to do feline leukemia." What happens if he gets out? What happens if it's a pretty fall day and there's another cat that comes nose to nose with him at the screen. They didn't even come into direct contact, but can it be transmitted that way? You bet it can. So that's the reason why it's still important.