Cats and Vaccine-Associated Sarcoma Understanding the Risks

Can Vaccinations Really Lead to Cancer in Cats???

Many people may have heard the saying, "a cat is not a small dog." Compared to each other, cats and dogs have many differences, whether in temperament, behavior, or physical characteristics.

This is why various products designed specifically for cats have been developed, including vaccines, since cats are more sensitive to injected vaccines than dogs. The vaccines used must therefore be highly effective and highly safe.

Generally, choosing a vaccine for cats requires considering both effectiveness -- the ability to stimulate the cat's body to build immunity against various diseases -- and safety, since a cat's skin can more easily become inflamed at the injection site than a dog's. In some cases, this inflammation can trigger the development of cancer, a condition known as Feline Injection Site Sarcoma (FISS), a type of skin and soft tissue cancer in cats that occurs as a result of an injection or vaccination. This group of cancers tends to grow quickly, has a long latency period, and can be severe.

There are several hypotheses about the causes of FISS. The most commonly cited causes may include:

• Vaccines: some studies have reported finding FISS after cats received adjuvanted killed vaccines, such as the rabies vaccine and the feline leukemia vaccine. This type of vaccine tends to cause inflammation under the skin, since the adjuvant in the vaccine may be a contributing cause.

• Injectable medications

• Non-absorbable suture material

• Microchip implantation

How to Prevent FISS

Treating FISS is complex and difficult, so preventing the disease from occurring in the first place may be the better option. Choosing a non-adjuvanted vaccine is another option that reduces the chance of FISS occurring.

✅ Rabies vaccine

✅ Feline leukemia vaccine

✅ Feline panleukopenia (feline distemper) vaccine

These vaccines are not only non-adjuvanted, but also use special technology called recombinant-vectored vaccine technology for cats, which stimulates immunity well, is safe, and also helps reduce the chance of FISS occurring.