Routine vaccinations are recommended for all pets, including even those that rarely go out of the home. There are of number of good reasons for making this recommendation. To begin with, an outdoor cat that receives annual vaccines receives antibody protection not only from the vaccines, but also from daily exposure to bacteria and viruses that it encounters during its contacts with other cats and the environment.

By contrast, the level of protection of your indoor cat against the most common diseases will decline if vaccines are not boostered regularly. As a result, your cat will be completely helpless and unprotected should he or she encounter infectious diseases.

Why is maintaining an adequate level of protection so important to an indoor cat? The answer is that, in reality, few indoor cats actually remain indoors 100 per cent of the time. Some pets may escape outdoors or be locked out accidentally. Others may need to be boarded in a kennel at some future date, and no kennel will accept boarders without current vaccinations. Still others may go visiting when their owners do, or be introduced to new animals when visitors to their homes bring their pets with them.

The occasion will arise when you will need to take your cat to the veterinary hospital, for some medical problem or for a health check. If your cat has not received its vaccines, the visit to the hospital could prove risky since there is an increased risk of being exposed to an ill pet at a veterinary hospital.As well, should your pet ever require hospitalization, there would be an added risk if he or she was unvaccinated.

Routine vaccinations are recommended because of the increased level of protection they provide to pets and also because they allow your pet to receive a thorough health examination by your veterinarian once yearly. Without that annual check-up, minor medical problems could turn into serious illnesses. To determine which vaccines your pet should receive, talk to your veterinarian.