What precautions should I take before getting a 3rd cat?
Tony V asked:
I have 2 healthy indoor cats. I want to get a 3rd cat from a shelter.
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I have 2 healthy indoor cats. I want to get a 3rd cat from a shelter.
1. Which vaccinations should I give my current cats before getting the new cat?
2. How long should I wait after vaccinating my current cats before getting the new cat?
3. Should I test the cat TWICE for feline leukemia before I introduce it to my other cats? Or is ONE test good enough? I ask because if the new cat recently caught leukemia, it will not show up on the test yet.
January 13th, 2009 at 8:01 am
hi
1.FPV &FCV &FRV &anti parasit tablets.
2. two week but it is Depend on your vet doctor.
3.IT IS NOT BAD but it is beter to use FELV vaccin
and you shold quarantine new cat for three week
DONT FORGET RABIS VACCIN.
January 14th, 2009 at 4:50 am
It can depend on the shelter. Most pets put up for adoption have had the necessary tests to rule out contagious, fatal diseases they might have come in with. So just check that out.
You do not need to re-vaccinate your current cats. You will want to keep the new one separate for a while. Go to: and read Dr. Jean Hovfe’s article titled “Cat to Cat Introductions” for great instructions about making the introduction. She also has an article titled “Vaccinations” which you should read to allay any issues you may have about the new cat bringing in “diseases” which may affect your other cats. Be aware that it is VERY common for a shelter cat to have an upper respiratory infection (airbourne and difficult to control in shelters) when you bring it home.
So keep the cats separate until you are sure that is cleared up or not going to develop. Aside from the viral infection stress adds a lot to getting the illness. The new cat and your cat will be under some stress until they have made their adjustment to one another.
You can also go to Dr. Hovfe’s site: and read about using them with cats. Dr. Hovfe has a combination of essences called “New Beginnings”. I feel a $20 bottle of that (mailed to you from CO) is a great investment to make when introducing a new cat to an established household.
January 15th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
I work at a vet. what you need to do is make sure your own cats are vaccinated with FELV ( which is feline leukemia), FVR-CP( Stands for Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis-Calicivirus Panleukopenia ) , and Rabies. it takes 2 weeks for the vaccines to take full effect. You’ll also want to make sure you have flea medication on your cats… We see tons of shelter cats that come into the vet that have flea dirt ( Flea poop) and fleas still on them and thats never a good thing to bring home to your old pets… fleas are what spread disease…. they land on an unhealthy animal and then jump to a health animal and bite them… then your healthy animal can get sick.I reccomend using Revolution it’s about $80 bucks for Six months or 3 months for each cat.. which is about the same price as frontline but it does ALOT more. Revolution Kills Fleas, ticks, flea eggs, heart worm, hook worm, round worm and is COMPLETELY water proof because it seeps into the blood stream. Frontline and advantage are not completely water proof and only kill fleas and ticks… advantage doesn’t even kill flea eggs. As far as testing the cat twice for feline luekemia ( FELV) I would definitally test the cat agian since you say that it currently was exposed to the virus… before introducing it to the rest of your cats… you can never be to safe. I hope I answered your question.