Table 4.

WSAVA Guidelines on Feline Vaccination for the Shelter Environment

Vaccine	Kittens (≤ 16 weeks)	Adult and Adolescent (> 16 weeks)	Comments
Panleukopenia Virus (FPV)	Administer a single dose at the time of admission as early as 4 to 6 weeks of age; then, every 2‐4 weeks until 16 weeks of age if still in the facility	Administer a single dose at the time of admission; repeat in 2‐4 weeks	MLV preparations are preferable. Use of intranasal FPV vaccines is generally not recommended in the shelter environment. Use of intranasal FCV/FHV‐1 MLV vaccines may be preferable when rapid onset (48 hrs) of immunity is important. Post‐vaccinal sneezing, more commonly seen following administration of intranasal FCV/FHV‐1 vaccine, may be impossible to distinguish from active infection
Feline Herpesvirus‐1 (FHV‐1)
Feline Calicivirus (FCV)
	The earlier recommended age (4 weeks) and short end of the interval (2 weeks) should be used in very high risk environments or during outbreaks
Rabies	If at all, a single dose should be administered at the time of discharge from the facility	If at all, a single dose should be administered at the time of discharge from the facility	The administration of rabies vaccine will be determined by whether the shelter is in a country in which the disease is endemic, and by local statute

The VGG does not recommend the use of other feline vaccines in the shelter situation