I don't know the technical answer to your question, however, when got my boy at 4 mos (now 2) he had already gotten all his shots by the people who found him. I had him neutered and microchipped.

He is indoor, no collar, and after two years, I would be surprised if he would run out an open door. He is pretty afraid of when any door in the house opens.

I have never heard of any medical problem associated with micro-chipping. I think it has minimal benefits -- only because I think my cat would be so terrified outside no one would catch him to even get to read his micro-chip! But... for peace of mind, I did it anyway.

In cats, the FeLV and 3 year (adjuvented) rabies vaccines are associated with the development of cancer. Indoor cats have no need for the FeLV vaccine. You should check with local laws regarding the requirements for Rabies in cats- here in NC it is required by law regardless of indoor/outdoor status.

The 1 year non-adjuvented Rabies vaccine is safer for kitties. New kittens should have FVRCP (feline upper respiratory diseases) vaccines every 4 weeks until they are 20+ weeks old, and rabies as required. NEVER have your cat vaccinated by an adjuvented vaccine. All killed vaccines are adjuvented, so avoid them like the plague. Modified Live (MLV) are safer. After that, it gets very fuzzy with widely differing opinions on the frequency of vaccines. I personally am a minimal vaccine type person, based on the cat's risk. If you are in habit of fostering kittens or keeping strays or adopting cats from the shelter I would be more inclined to vaccinate than if this is your only cat ever. I would also vaccinate prior to boarding the cat. Beyond that, I personally don't see much need for vaccinating except for Rabies as required by law (and I'd do the 1 year vaccine as opposed to the 3 year one).

I'll refer you to this website which has the vaccine guidelines for both dogs and cats. I'd recommend reading everything though. Dr. Ford was on both vaccine guideline committees, and he has some differing opinions from what the guidelines recommend. So read all of his comments and footnotes.

As for the microchip, I don't have any information on the frequency of cancer (if any). I would definitely get him chipped though, because weird things happen. In any case, I'm sure the odds are that he will get lost vs. cancer from the chip. Though neither is very likely, since he will be indoors only.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vaccine protocols and comments

Thanks for the info, Stir Fryi and Meghane.
Hope the practice is going well, Meghane!

From an e mail I got from the Veterinary Cancer Society:

"Implanted Microchips Cause Cancer

By Jane Williams GFN contributing writer---
(For Publication in the January 2007 "American Family Voice")

At the National ID Expo in Kansas City, Arkansas Animal Producer's Association President Michael Steenbergen asked, "What safety studies have been conducted on the chips that are inserted into animals?"

His question was met with total silence. Did these manufacturers not know, or were they unwilling to admit that research has confirmed that implanted microchips cause cancer?

Melvin T. Massey, DVM (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine)
from Brownsboro,Texas, brought this to the attention of the American Horse Council when he wrote, "I am a retired Equine Veterinarian and still breed a few horses. Because of migration-infection s-increased risk of sarcoids I will not want to have microchips in my horses."

The Institute of Experimental Pathology at Hannover Medical School in Germany reported , "An experiment using 4279 CBA/J mice of two generations was carried out to investigate the influence of parental preconceptual exposure to X-ray radiation or to chemical carcinogens. Microchips were implanted subcutaneously in the dorsolateral back for
unique identification of each animal. The animals were kept for lifespan under standard laboratory conditions. In 36 mice a circumscribed neoplasm occurred in the area of the implanted microchip.

Macroscopically, firm, pale white nodules up to 25 mm in diameter with the microchip in its center were found. Macroscopically, soft tissue tumors such as fibrosarcoma and malignant fibrous histiocytoma were detected."

Ecole Nationale Veterinaire of Unite d'Anatomie Pathologique in Nantes, France, reported, "Fifty-two subcutaneous tumors associated with microchip were collected from three carcinigenicity B6C3F1 micestudies. Two of these 52 tumors were adenocarcinoma of the mammary gland located on the dorsal region forming around the chip. All the other 50 were
mesenchymal in ori! gin and were difficult to classify on morphologicalgrounds with haematoxylin-eosin."

Marta Vascellari of Instituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie at Viale dell'Universita in Legnaro, Italy reported examining a 9-year-old male French Bulldog for a subcutaneous mass located at the site of a microchip implant. "The mass was confirmed as a high-grade infiltrative fibrosarcoma, with multifocal necrosis and peripheral lymphoid aggregates."

The Toxicology Department of Bayer Corporation in Stillwell, Kansas reported, "Tumors surrounding implanted microchip animal identification devices were noted in two separate chronic toxicity/oncogenicity studies using F344 rats. The tumors occurred at a low incidence rate (approximately 1%), but did result in the early sacrifice of most affected animals, due to tumor size and occasional metastases. No
sex-related trends were noted.

All tumors occurred during the second year of the studies, were located in the subcutaneous dorsal thoracic area (the site of microchip implantation) and contained embedded microchip devices. All were mesenchymal in origin and consisted of the following types, listed on order of frequency: malignant schwannoma, fibrosarcoma, anaplastic
sarcoma, and histiocytic sarcoma.

The following diagnostic techniques were employed: light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and immunohistochemistry. The mechanism of carcinogenicity appeared to be that of foreign body induced tumorigenesis. "

Additional studies related to cancer tumors at the site of microchip implants have been conduced in China; however, at this time these studies are not available in English. At this time, no long term studies are available covering more than two years. It only seems logical to conclude that if carcinogenic tumors occur within one percent of animals
implanted within two years of the implant that the percentage would increase with the passage of time. Additional studies need to be conducted, but don't hold your breath for the manufacturers of microchips to conduct such research and be leery of any such "research" they may conduct. Even the limited research available clearly indicates that implantation of microchips within an animal is gambling with the animal's well being.

For additional Information:
www.vetpathology.org
also
National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, or just google for "sarcomas associated with implanted microchips"."

~~> Also be aware not every shelter or animal hospital has a chip scanner or if they do have one they may not bother to scan an animal to find a chip.

Can't say anything about cancer and chips--I do know that not all chips are 'read' the same, and not all pounds routinely check for chipping. Might not be worth the risk/cost.

Now as to which vaccines. I'm pretty sure most states require rabies regardless of indoor status. If your unvaccinated cat should bite someone, you're either going to have to pay for 3 months quarrentine (and no, you can't do it yourself) or have the animal put down. Why risk it? Personally, I've never heard of cancer/rabies shot correlation. I choose not to have leukemia or hiv shots. My cats are strictly indoor and were tested for these diseases before ever coming in with the rest of the crew. My vet says there is a minor cancer risk. He recommended those vaccines just for the first few round of shots to provide some basic immunity and then we quit. Last year we added a calici virus (spelled wrong, I know). This stuff is scary--it can be carried home on your clothes or hands and is extremely fatal. NOte--if you choose to go hiv or fel leu free, you'll probably need to request a special vaccine, as most of those come premixed with something else.