[HN Gopher] Tail vaccination in cats: a pilot study (2014)
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       Tail vaccination in cats: a pilot study (2014)
        
       Author : hammock
       Score  : 35 points
       Date   : 2023-07-09 20:41 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
 (TXT) w3m dump (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
        
       | tguvot wrote:
       | we discovered "injection site-associated sarcoma" on our cat year
       | ago. it took 6 months till the end. meds didn't help
        
         | kelnos wrote:
         | I'm so sorry to hear that :'(
         | 
         | Ever since I read about VAS/FISS last year, I've been re-
         | evaluating our cat's vaccination needs, especially since he's
         | indoor-only and doesn't interact with other cats. I'll continue
         | to get him the three-year FVRCP and rabies vaccines, since
         | they're pretty terrible diseases, and the former three are
         | super contagious, but FeLV and FIV seem unnecessary considering
         | his circumstances.
        
           | tguvot wrote:
           | I'll suggest every now and then (couple of weeks) to feel
           | your cat through the skin in order to early discover any
           | growth.
           | 
           | When we discovered tumor it was too big to remove (it went
           | from his neck to hind leg on one side of backbone)
        
         | leeoniya wrote:
         | same, but in 2016 :(
         | 
         | at least we suspected that's what the cause was since it was in
         | the upper hind leg / near base of tail. cat was healthy for
         | 9yrs before this.
        
           | tguvot wrote:
           | Our was 14. Never got this official diagnosis, but given
           | location of tumor....
           | 
           | Well, Israeli street cat average lifespan is 1-2 years. You
           | can say that he got 9 lifes
        
       | firstlink wrote:
       | [flagged]
        
         | lisper wrote:
         | If there's evidence it's not disinformation. Not all false
         | claims are disinformation. And if the evidence is mistaken, you
         | need to provide evidence for that claim. You can't just assume
         | a priori that any claim about a link between vaccines and
         | cancer must be false.
        
           | firstlink wrote:
           | [flagged]
        
             | tekla wrote:
             | Its really hard to take seriously calling others stupid
             | while saying "I believe science" with a straight face.
        
             | sfteus wrote:
             | This isn't anti-vaccine propaganda. This is a real issue
             | that specifically affects cats, and is extremely well
             | documented.
             | 
             | In addition, this paper investigates alternative injection
             | sites that reduce occurence while still providing the
             | benefits of vaccination, not avoiding vaccination entirely.
             | 
             | It would be extremely bad anti-vaccine propaganda if that
             | was the intent.
        
         | tekla wrote:
         | This isn't disinformation, its a well known issue. How does it
         | feel to propagate disinfo yourself?
        
         | kelnos wrote:
         | If you're going to claim this is misinformation, please provide
         | sources to back up this claim, since you seem to be presenting
         | a claim that is contrary to the available scientific evidence
         | that I've read about, at least. (Also consider that we're
         | talking about cats here, not humans; I don't think anyone
         | credible is claiming that there's a link between vaccines and
         | cancer in humans.)
         | 
         | Also note that this isn't about vaccines, specifically. The
         | term used now is "injection site-associated sarcoma", as any
         | kind of injection (antibiotics, sedatives, fluids, etc.) can
         | potentially cause this. It's not about the vaccine and has
         | nothing to do with anti-vaxxers; the mechanism is still poorly
         | understood, and the simple act of injecting _anything_ may
         | trigger it.
         | 
         | Edit: based on your other responses you sound like you're just
         | trolling. Downvoted and flagged; moving on with my life.
        
         | brianleb wrote:
         | From the American Association of Feline Practitioners Feline
         | Vaccination Guidelines
         | (https://catvets.com/guidelines/practice-guidelines/aafp-
         | aaha...):
         | 
         | >>Distal limb injection is recommended to facilitate amputation
         | with 5 cm margins in two fascial planes in the case of
         | injection-site sarcoma.
         | 
         | >>Tail vaccination has also been reported as well tolerated and
         | elicited acceptable serological responses to vaccination in the
         | distal limbs.
         | 
         | >>The 2013 AAFP Feline Vaccination Advisory Panel Report
         | included recommendations for specific vaccine antigens to be
         | administered at specific anatomical locations in the distal
         | limbs. This technique has helped facilitate the identification
         | of the vaccine antigen used if a sarcoma developed subsequently
         | at the injection site. Since this technique has been widely
         | adopted, these injection-site recommendations have also led to
         | a shift in the site of tumor formation to the distal limbs,
         | thus facilitating potentially life-saving surgery for patients
         | suffering from these invasive tumors.
         | 
         | -------------
         | 
         | If you have better information, please provide it. This has
         | nothing to do with the concept that vaccines are bad, and
         | everything to do with the concept that evidence-based (vet)
         | medicine saves (animal) lives.
        
           | firstlink wrote:
           | [flagged]
        
       | PAPPPmAc wrote:
       | The vet my cats get their routine care at has switched to
       | suggesting intranasal for most routine vaccines in cats. The
       | evidence seems to be that intranasal conveys a slightly better
       | immunity (possibly by specifically sensitizing the mucous
       | membranes) and avoids the small but well-characterized injection-
       | site sarcoma risk, at the cost of a 30% chance of some minor
       | cold-like side effects for a few days.
        
         | kelnos wrote:
         | Is this available for the rabies vaccine too, or just for
         | FVRCP?
        
           | PAPPPmAc wrote:
           | I don't think there is an intranasal feline rabies vaccine
           | available, but the booster schedule is now out to 3 years.
        
       | kelnos wrote:
       | Cats seem to be a bit over-vaccinated these days. The FeLV
       | (feline leukemia) and FIV (cat HIV) vaccines are pretty silly to
       | administer outside of high-risk situations. Indoor-only cats
       | who've tested negative and don't interact with other cats really
       | don't need them. Despite this (with guidance along these lines
       | provided over 10 years ago), many vets still push at least the
       | FeLV vaccine. I got our cat his latest FeLV shot last fall after
       | he turned two, but I don't think I'll be continuing it in the
       | future.
       | 
       | There are now three-year versions of the FVRCP and rabies
       | vaccines that can be given once the cat is no longer a kitten,
       | which should cut the risk of injection site sarcoma by quite a
       | bit. I probably wouldn't recommend against rabies vaccination,
       | since contracting it is a death sentence. The three diseases
       | FVRCP protects against are all super contagious and pretty
       | dangerous, so same deal there.
       | 
       | I was reading about vaccine-associated sarcoma / injection site-
       | associated sarcoma last year, and it seems pretty scary. You have
       | to notice and recognize it pretty much immediately, and perform
       | surgery. Often removing the tumor isn't enough, and you have to
       | amputate the limb, assuming you get to it quickly enough, before
       | it spreads to the rest of the body. This is why current guidance
       | is to give cats the shots as far away from the main body as
       | possible, as doing so makes it easier to remove any tumors that
       | might result. (And even then, there's still often recurrence,
       | even when "successful".)
       | 
       | If vaccinating via the tail is just as effective as the hind leg,
       | this seems like a win. Amputation sucks no matter how you dice
       | it, but I think a cat will recover better and more fully after a
       | partial tail amputation, over a limb (even partial) amputation. I
       | do wonder how widespread tail vaccination is, though. I've never
       | heard of it, even though this paper was published nine years ago.
       | Our vet definitely doesn't do it.
        
         | tguvot wrote:
         | this kind of over-vaccination is required by most boarding
         | facilities.
        
         | jemmyw wrote:
         | I've read a few articles over the years about the vaccination
         | schedule for cats and how its not necessarily driven by medical
         | reasons. Given that information, and that I live in a rabies
         | free country, my cats got the first vaccinations and the follow
         | up boosters when they were kittens, and then at 4 years old. I
         | would look to getting them vaccinated again at 10 unless
         | there's a good reason for doing it earlier. Good reasons would
         | include travel, a new disease/vaccination is available -
         | basically the same reasons for getting a vaccination myself.
        
       | gus_massa wrote:
       | Relevant information about this cancer in cats
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine-associated_sarcoma
        
       | fanatic2pope wrote:
       | "Vaccine site-associated sarcomas were renamed as injection site-
       | associated sarcomas as an acknowledgement that they can occur
       | after injection of a variety of medications, including
       | antibiotics, long-acting corticosteroids and insulin."
       | 
       | https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1098612X13483239?ur...
        
         | hammock wrote:
         | Great clarification. People ought to know that a lot of vaccine
         | skepticism is related to excipients and not the actual vaccine.
         | All types of injectable preparations tend to contain
         | preservatives, for example, some of which (like thimerosal)
         | have been controversial in the past
        
       | 015UUZn8aEvW wrote:
       | 1-10 per 10,000 seems like a fairly high number if it's
       | "associated with high mortality".
        
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       (page generated 2023-07-09 23:02 UTC)