What shots do my formerly-outdoor-now-100%-indoor cats now need? (If any?)

In My Humble Opinion
1

Three months ago (can it be so long already?) I moved from a house to an apartment. Discussed thoroughly here.

At the house where I lived for 10 years, my two 10-year-old cats used to go in and out at will, all over the yard and under the house. There were possums, raccoons, and skunks around and under the house. A couple of baby possums even got into the house one time. My cats would also occasionally bring birds inside-- usually alive-- and I’d catch the birds and put them outside. There were other cats in the neighborhood, and at least once one of my cats went to the hospital for a week with a bad infection from a fight.

Now I am in a second-floor apartment with no direct access to the outside, i.e., no patio, no balcony. The door to my apartment opens to a carpeted hallway, and the only way out is the elevator or the door to the stairway (and there’s another door at the bottom of the stairs). In short, these cats will never go outside again. They will never be exposed to other animals, even mice, birds, or other cats.

Question: do they still need their annual shots? If so, which ones?

When I’ve searched this topic on the interwebs (and on a 2004 thread from this board) the answers usually say something like, “Even indoor cats can get out accidentally,” and “Occasionally an animal from outside will get in.” That really isn’t the case at my new digs. This is a hermetically sealed environment where nothing can get in. Not even flies or mosquitoes (thank goodness, because mosquitoes were a plague at the house). Nothing can get out unless a human being facilitates it by punching an elevator button and then opening multiple doors.

There are three windows in the apartment, but only two open, and of course, they have screens. The house had 21 windows and neither cat ever tried to go out through any screen, even though some of those screens didn’t latch properly. I’m on the second floor now, and there are no trees nearby.

I don’t plan to board them ever. I never go anywhere and if I had to (like to a hospital), I’d have one of my wonderful neighbors come in and feed them. If I did have to take the cats out, in would only be in their carriers. In short, the only way they would ever get out loose and be exposed to wild animals and diseases is if the Armageddon/Apocalypse happens, in which case we’re all fucked doomed anyway.

I don’t mind the expense of the shots and I’m not an anti-vaxxer-- I’m just thinking that if the conditions that necessitated shots in the past no longer exist, why get them? Am I missing something?

2

My state requires rabies shots for cats even if they live inside. Ursala Kitteh get rabies shots because of this. Vets can refuse to treat if your pet is not current with vaccines.

So I say it depends on state law. If your kitties are always inside and the state doesn’t mandate it, IMHO kitties don’t need rabies or distemper vaccines.

3

MN requires rabies shots for all cats. That said, our vet didn’t push the issue, given our apartment situation. It is literally impossible for the cat to escape to the outside and there’s no reason to subject her to a vax.

4

Hmmm… I’ll have to research that… thanks.

I’ve been going to this feline specialist for 30+years, and he has seen at least 20 of my cats over the years. Some of them for their final visit. I’ve always had inside-outside cats until now.

5

I think the best thing to do is call your vet and ask. You will be getting expert medical advice.

6

Agreeing with Jasmine: talk to your vet. The recommendation may vary depending on what’s prevalent in your area.

Rabies vaccination is legally required in NYState. I don’t know whether that’s true everywhere.

Bear in mind also that some diseases can be carried by humans on their clothing. If anybody, you included, who might have touched another cat or gone into a place frequented by other cats ever comes into your apartment: you should continue to vaccinate against any of those common in your area.

Also bear in mind that people sometimes have to evacuate buildings for reasons drastic locally but far short of general societal collapse – and that some places may only accept for temporary shelter, with or without you, cats (etc.) who have had particular vaccinations.

7

Rabies vaccination should be kept current for a number of reasons. Bats can and do get inside dwellings. And if you have a worker in your apartment and he steps on a cat’s tail accidentally and the cat bites him, that could turn into a nightmare. If the workman goes to a doctor they will report the bite to the health department which will demand proof of rabies vaccination. Fines follow. Worst case scenario the workman could demand a rabies test on the animal, which requires euthanasia.

8

My vet will not treat unvaccinated cats either. I doubt they will turn an emergency case away, but they will put the cat in quarantine and make the poor owner pay for it.
Not American, though.

9

And it’s several months quarantine isolation. Utterly miserable for the cat. Some of them will probably never get over it.

10

Your cats may not be able to get out, but someone can bring an infected animal or pest in. I would not treat any ‘indoor’ animal different than one that routinely goes outdoors with respect to vaccination and other preventative measures.

Stranger

11

Definitely talk to your veterinarian about required and highly-suggested vaccination for your moggies.

Second, as pointed out, rabies vaccination is seemingly universally required by state law in evidently every state in the Union. It certainly is required in Texas.

https://www.dshs.texas.gov/rabies/rabies-vaccine/pets

12

Rabies, definitely, as I do for my indoor-only cats. They get a couple more, I forget what, but my vets know they’re indoor only and vax accordingly, after discussing it with me. I figure the vets know way more than I do what’s necessary, given it’s possible for me to bring something in from outside.

13

Actually…it seems a surprising number of states do not require a rabies vaccine for cats (for dogs it does seem required).

But really, everyone should have their pet vaccinated for rabies. If they do not, and their pet bites someone, it may not go well for the pet (and I’d think the owner is open to more liability). Plus, rabies is so universally awful I can’t imagine why someone wouldn’t want them vaccinated.

14

This link reminded me that not only are rabies shots required in New Hampshire for cats as well as dogs, they’re required for ferrets too. We had our ferrets the year they became legal and it was already ammended into the rabies law.

OP, someone mentioned boarding, and it’s a good point. Poe’s litter got sick so he ended up not being ready to go home for weeks, which threw off my assumption that I would get him before Linden. Linden was only 11 weeks old when Poe was finally well enough to retrieve, and way too young to spend 12 hours alone (nor did I want him along for 12 hours given he already hated car rides), and the covid vaccine hadn’t come out yet so I wasn’t seeing friends in person let alone asking them to petsit, so I boarded him the night before and picked him up on the long trip back from central Maine.

The owner was reluctant to take him even though he was vaccinated through everything an 11 week old should have, but couldn’t get his rabies vaccination early because the vet said he didn’t weigh enough. I had to sign a waiver to the effect that if a rabid bat got into the boarding place, I understood that it was not their fault given his unvaccinated status. So yeah, if you unexpectedly need to board them, vaccines are definitely something checked up on.

15

From my experience with having cats vaccinated, it doesn’t involve the horrible life-altering trauma you’re suggesting.

16

I don’t think so, just isolating the cat from other animals and sterilising anything that may have touched the cat. The other is when you bring an unvaccinated cat into another country. This will just be to ensure that the other animals don’t catch anything.
I’d still recommend letting the vet decide what vaccinations should be given.

17

Got it.

18

There’s enough trauma for her just to be hauled to the vet, let alone for no good reason.

19

Some ideas in this video:

20

Following an exposure to rabies, dogs, cats, and ferrets that have never been vaccinated against rabies should be euthanized immediately by an animal health professional because there are no USDA-licensed biologics for postexposure prophylaxis in previously unvaccinated domestic animal. The vaccine alone will not reliably prevent the disease in these animals.

If the owner is unwilling to have the animal euthanized, the animal should be placed in strict quarantine for 4 (dogs and cats) or 6 (ferrets) months.

The “strict quarantine”, from information I’ve been given by a vet., doesn’t mean that you get to keep them at home; it means a double-layer cage at animal control or maybe at a vet’s, with food, water and waste cleanup provided, with great caution, by one designated professional vet. or animal control person.

There does seem to be some leeway for animals “overdue” for their boosters; but it’s not entirely clear to me what “under the owner’s control” entails:

Dogs, cats, and ferrets that are overdue for a booster vaccination and that have appropriate documentation of having received a USDA-licensed rabies vaccine at least once previously can be revaccinated, kept under the owner’s control, and observed for 45 days. Any illness in an animal under observation should be evaluated by a veterinarian and reported immediately to the local health department. If the animal under observation develops signs suggestive of rabies, the animal should be euthanized by an animal health professional and its head submitted to a diagnostic laboratory for testing.

And, as others have pointed out, if the cat ever bites somebody, for whatever reason, and the vaccinations aren’t up to date: the cat’s human is likely to, at an absolute minimum, be on the hook to pay for the bitten person’s medical treatment, which they won’t wait 45 days to start; and might get sued for that person’s pain and trouble, because while those shots aren’t as bad as they used to be, they’re still no fun at all.

Having an annual vet. check is a good reason in itself. I’ve often had a vet. pick up on something I hadn’t noticed, especially if it was very gradual changes over time.

If the vet.'s good at it, the cats often don’t even seem to notice the shot; only that they’re being held in position for it. Some injections are painful in themselves, but the routine inoculations don’t seem to be.