When it's time for your cat to get his/her routine vaccinations against common infectious feline diseases, what typically happens? Your verterinarian gives your pet an injection (or two ). Indeed, the shot which simply means a hypodermic injection is usually synonymous with vaccination in both human and animal medicine.But as a result of increasing concerns about tumors (causes as yet unknown) at feline leukemia virus and rabies vaccinations sites, the animal medical profession is currently reviewing how best to vaccinate cats.Not that you should stop vaccinating your cat,unquestionably for most cats, vaccination is sage and effective. moreover, vaccination has been instrumental in protecting cats from the scourges of once devastating diseases. But veterinary science continues to seek ways to improve vaccination and a number of alternate approaches are now available. So don't be surprised if your veterinarian brings up the other vaccination options such as alternate sites and different methods for administering some vaccines.

The Intranasal Option: Altough injection is the usual method for immunizing against infectious diseases, it isn't the only method. For instance, protection against feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) an untreatable but fortunately uncommon disease is provded solely by a vaccine that veterinarians administer intranasally {through the nose). And now the Heska Corporation of Fort Collins, Colorado, is offering the only two intranasal vaccines to immunize cats against the most common infectious feline diseases-two upper respiratory diseases, feline calicivirus and feline herpesvirus 1 (also known as rhinotacheitis virus}, and feline panleukopenia (also known as distemper}, the disease caused by a feline parvovirus that attacks the gastrointestinal tract. All three diseases are highly contagious, but the upper respiratory diseases with their flu like signs of sneezing, coughting and runny eyes are not usually deadly unlike many cases of panleukopenia.

How do Intranasal Vaccines Work? Vaccines of any kind are preparations of a weakened or killed disease causing agent designed to stimulate teh body's ever vigilant immune system to mount a defense against a foreign invader. Injectable systemic vaccines create antibodies in the blood that parol the entire body. Intranasal vaccines initally stimulate a local reaction at the viral entyr point and then go on to provide systemic immunity.An injectablew is not inherently better than an intranasal vaccine or vice versa.Injectable and intranasals reach the same end, but by different routes.