Should cats be vaccinated in the tail instead of the leg?
Cats used to be vaccinated in the shoulder area, until concerns over treating rare but deadly injection site sarcomas caused veterinarians to shift those injections to the hind legs. The logic behind this recommendation was to make treatment easier, as a limb can easily be amputated, while surgery in the shoulder area is more difficult and less successful.
Dr. Julie Levy, Director of Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida, recently conducted a study looking at the tail as a possible feline vaccination site, reasoning amputation was even easier if a tumor developed in that area.
Surprisingly, she told attendees at the 2013 University of Florida’s Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Program Conference, the cats in the study tolerated the injection well.
You can view the presentation, download an audio file, and a take a quiz to receive a Certificate of Participation, here.