It depends on where the cat lives and what vaccines they've had prior to that, and the age they are. So let's say your cat got vaccinated at 10 weeks and again at 14 weeks, and maybe your veterinarian wants to do one more at 18 weeks. You're close. Can that cat go outside? I'll answer it this way. I usually err on the side of caution, so I would rather that your cat not be exposed until I can be more certain and you can be certain that they are protected.

If in my previously mentioned scenario, would I expected them to contract something that they were vaccinated for? No, I would not expect, but vaccines are not 100% foolproof. So when in doubt, keep them indoors until they are fully vaccinated.

The most truthful answer is people that don't handle vaccines for a living don't always know how you're supposed to handle a vaccine. The biggest example of this are feed stores—that's what we run into here. They deal with feed, with all due respect. They have a very important role, but their job is not to vaccinate animals. So when they get a shipment in, they don't know to look to see if that thing was stored below X degrees. The vaccines have to be refrigerated. They have to be stored under refrigeration without fail. Sometimes those things are not there when the vaccines are not from a veterinarian. On the veterinary side, we are ordering from veterinary specific vendors that ship and package them properly. They arrive refrigerated and at the proper temperature, we immediately know how to handle those things. And if ever there's a situation where that shipping process was not satisfactory, we send it back and we get the right shipment to us. So there's no way to get around that. I would never imply that the vaccines from a feed store are ineffective. It's just, I personally want the reassurance and peace of mind to know that they were handled by animal healthcare professionals.

It kind of depends on the age of the kitten, number one, as well as how long of a gap there is. So first off, what do I mean by the age of the kitten? I like all animals, dog or cat, to have at least 2 sets of vaccines after they are 10 weeks of age. I also said earlier that I like to vaccinate every 3-4 weeks. So what happens if one time you're late and you can't come in for six weeks? Not a problem. Get them in when you can. It just can't be any closer together than three weeks, as you won't get the right immunologic response.

There are always risks with vaccinations, let's be honest. I mean, you're putting a foreign substance into the body, whether it's human, dog, cat, any of those things. There can be allergic reactions to those ingredients. So yes, there always is that possibility. The way I look at things like this is, does the potential benefit outweigh the potential risk? And I'm a big vaccine guy, so I don't even have to think about it. I think that the benefit of those vaccines far, far, far outweighs the risk of a potential reaction or a side effect from those vaccines.