Since the quantity of proposed feline inoculations multiplies, the entire uncertainty of whether or not to vaccinate your feline has come to be progressively more controversial. A few decades ago, the majority of felines were exclusively vaccinated against one or two infectious illnesses and people endorsed that these vaccines were necessary to be able to safeguard their cats and eradicate the disease.

However currently, since vaccines are created for more and more diseases, it is becoming apparent that in a few cases vaccines can be more harmful than the illness which they were developed to protect against. Therefore should you vaccination your feline at all, and if so, which vaccinations should you select?

There are five basic inoculations which are recommended for virtually all cats. These are:

• Distemper (Panleukopenia virus) - Rabies - FIE (Feline infectious enteritis) - FHV (Feline herpes virus, rhinotracheitis, 'cat flu') - FCV (Feline calicvirus, another type of 'cat flu')

Beyond those, several additional vaccines are available and may be offered to your cat. These include:

• FIV (Feline immunodeficiency virus, or 'feline AIDS'): encouraged for aggressive felines, or felines living with an aggressive cat. However this virus is not always effective.

• FeLV (Feline leukemia virus): recommended for cats who spend time outdoors and mix with other cats, or who have contact with a cat known to have FeLV.

• Feline chlamydiosis: perhaps only necessary if the cat is known to be in contact with another cat who has the disease, although it may be given routinely in some geographical locations where there are many affected cats.

All of these vaccines can have side effects in some cases. The most common side effect is irritation at the site of the vaccine or minor health problems such as flu-like symptoms or cystitis, but occasionally felines experience additional severe side effects that can be fatal. These include anaphylactic shock and fibrosarcoma, a type of cancer that occurs rarely (approximately 4 in 10,000 cases).

If you decide to administer cat inoculations yourself, it is very critical to study the instructions and abide by them closely. A badly prepared or administered vaccine can be dangerous and might actually cause the disease that it was designed to prevent.

The vaccine companies recommend annual booster injections of many vaccines. Even if you decide to have your cat vaccinated once against a certain disease, you might decide not to follow up with annual boosters. Often, vaccines will protect a cat for life. Even if not, a vaccine should give protection for more than one year. Boosters of vaccines for either cats or people increase the risk of side effects and may not be as necessary as the medical profession used to believe.

Before making decisions regarding vaccination, check out your cat health insurance policy. You may find that certain vaccinations are required in order for the insurance to remain valid. If you find that the policy requires vaccines that you are not comfortable with, you have a difficult decision to make. It may be time to change your pet health insurance company.

In the end, whether to vaccinate your cat is your own decision. Your vet will have recommendations and if you trust your vet you will want to follow them, but keep in mind that cat vaccinations are a subject on which nobody can be 100% certain.