Abstract
On pages 813–830 of this issue we present the 2020 AAHA/AAFP Feline Vaccination Guidelines. Once again, a Task Force of experts has been convened; the plan being to update the existing 2013 AAFP Feline Vaccination Advisory Panel Report and utilize similar recommendations from the 2016 WSAVA Guidelines for the Vaccination of Dogs and Cats.1,2 The 2020 Task Force (see box below) is composed of a diverse group of veterinary professionals who challenged each other to create guidelines that will help practitioners determine the best infectious disease prevention strategy for each of their feline patients from the most current evidence available.
Pet owners nowadays expect a more customized and positive veterinary experience, and cat ownership may vary by each situation. Our feline clients might bring in a household pet that is considered a family member, or a neighborhood stray or a barn cat, and they expect their veterinary professionals to be able to determine the most appropriate (effective, safe, economical) vaccine plan for the cat after analyzing the individual risk. The Task Force incorporated some perspectives that have not previously been addressed by the existing guidelines, while keeping the tools that practitioners rely upon (reference tables on vaccines and serology testing, plus frequently asked questions available at catvets.com/vaccination and aaha.org/felinevaccination).
In the 2020 feline vaccination guidelines we delve into disease susceptibility variation based on the levels of maternally derived antibodies in kittens; discuss when to use the types of feline vaccines that are available; and give more clarity on how veterinarians establish environmental risk. Gone are the days of just asking the question about indoor vs outdoor status, with more consideration now being given to multi-cat households as well as other exposure risks. The Task Force has further defined patient populations based on their lifestyle and environment to give veterinary professionals more precision about infectious disease risk. In addition, there is an update on feline injection-site sarcomas, including observations, recommendations and an analysis of the current research to allow practitioners to factor this adverse event into their vaccine decisions.
There are resources for the entire veterinary team including the client. The Task Force has described the roles and responsibilities of the veterinary team as well as providing some resources to use for success. This section includes vaccine talking points for clients and instruction on how to document vaccine use for client-service personnel. Client handouts are also available at the above-mentioned websites.
The Task Force would like to thank Ed Kanara, who made it possible for a group of strong-opinioned people to come to a consensus. We also thank Laurel Krause, who was our scribe and put up with great amounts of grief. These folks made it possible for these guidelines to solidify. Many hours were devoted to this endeavor by all our Task Force members, responding to questions across many different time zones. In a quote by the French critic, Hippolyte Taine: ‘I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior.’ We certainly think so and hope you do too.