Distemper Shots For Cats Necessary. Feline distemper is a disease more appropriately known as feline panleukopenia virus (fpv), which is sometimes also referred to as feline parvovirus. Many cats pick up distemper in a shelter, kennel, or even at the groomer.
It works by introducing the inactive distemper virus to the cat so he can build immunity against it. This virus is similar to canine parvo virus and it’s very stable and opportunistic. That's a good thing, because cats who come down with it often die.
While there are certain mandatory, or core vaccines for cats, there are also noncore vaccines for different lifestyles or vaccines that are only recommended during the kitten years.
These ‘newer’ guidelines are based on doi (duration of immunity) studies showing that it is not necessary to vaccinate cats as frequently as they have been in the past. We had to euthanize all the cats in our stray area because it was so contagious. Rather, fpv causes serious disease in infected cats only. Adult cats (over 2 years of age) that live indoor only (with no exposure to other cats outside of their home) annual revaccination (booster shots) is recommended the first two years after the kitten shots;