Answer: New-born kittens receive ready-made antibodies from the blood of the mother which are transfer to them in the first milk, or colostrums, which they suckle. These antibodies are not digested, but are absorbed intact from the young kitten’s intestine into its blood stream during the first one to two days of life.
The transferred maternal antibodies provide protection for the young animals whilst its own immunity is developing on how much colostrums a particular kittens has consumed. It is valuable to boost the amount the antibodies in the colostrums by vaccinating females before mating or during pregnancy, though if the litter is done, only dead vaccines must be used to avoid the risk of the live virus damaging the developing kittens. In general, maternal antibodies against FIE and rabies persist longer then those against the respiratory diseases. However, the antibody level in any particular individual cannot, as a gnarl rule, be established.
If a kitten is vaccinated whilst these maternal antibodies are still present, the vaccine can react with the neutralize the antibodies, leaving the kitten with no protection. Therefore, it is usually recommended that where there is no particular urgency to have a kitten vaccinated, the first injection should no be given until its twelve weeks’ old, i.e. the longest period for which maternal antibodies normally persist. However, there is the possibility that the maternal antibodies might not last that long, and where there is a high risk of the kitten being exposed to infection during its early life e.g. if exposed to lost of strange cats acting as carries of infection, vaccination can be given earlier, though usually not before eight weeks of age. To overcome the eventually that there may, nonetheless, be persistent level of maternal antibody, all kittens vaccinated before, or at twelve weeks’ old should be re-vaccinated again four weeks later.
In breeding colonies where it is possible that a dam is carrier of FRD, kittens can either be weaned early (at four or five weeks’ old) or vaccinated against FRD much earlier. Vaccine should then be given by injection every three weeks from three to six weeks’ of age until twelve weeks’ old. Alternatively, vaccination can be given intra-nasally at one week old, three weeks’ old and at weaning. (Because there is less interference from maternal antibodies, intra-nasal vaccination can start much earlier.)
In general, rabies vaccine should not be given before three months of age. It can be injected on the same occasion as other vaccines, but it should be given independently, i.e. not mixed, and at a different site on the body.
