Question:

We are experiencing a panleuk outbreak in our shelter, and in doing risk assessments, we are wondering how soon we should booster kittens who are considered high risk.  Is there any benefit in vaccinating sooner than 14 days (since the last vaccine)?  If so, how short/long of a window is recommended? 

We were also discussing using injections with serum taken from healthy adult cats to help aid with exposed kittens' protection.  We would appreciate any thoughts you have about this as well.

Response:

For high risk kittens, immediately vaccinate anyone who has not been vaccinated in the past 2 weeks. Otherwise, wait for that 2 week interval to re-vaccinate. Vaccines that are given less than 10 days apart may interfere with one another and result in reduced immune system response.   

For kittens without immunity (e.g. non-vaccinated), who have been exposed but are non-clinical, providing antiserum from a protected cat can be of benefit to prevent infection. The recommended dose is 2mL per kitten given subcutaneously or intraperitoneally.  If this is done, the kitten’s vaccination series should be delayed by 2-4 weeks and then continued 2-4 weeks longer than usual.

It is best to reserve use of antiserum for kittens that you know have been closely exposed (e.g. in a foster home with a litter that broke with panleukopenia; a kitten that was co-housed or adjacent to a kitten that broke with panleukopenia where proper precaution between groups were not in place). For kittens previously vaccinated and casually exposed (e.g. in the shelter at the time of the case, but not housed close by or housed close but handled with proper precautions between groups) - the use of antiserum is usually not necessary. It is not bad to use it, but if time and serum are limited, target the antiserum to those who are most at risk.

MOST important is doing a really good quarantine with absolutely no cross contamination between exposed kittens/litters for the full two weeks. That include separate gowns/gloves per litter or kitten.
 

Please let us know if you have other questions or need additional assistance. We are here to help.

Chumkee Aziz, DVM
Resident, Koret Shelter Medicine Program
Center for Companion Animal Health
UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine

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