Cat Tales Rescue hosting free feline vaccination clinics

Cat owners looking to get their felines vaccinated or dewormed will have an avenue to do so. Through a grant from the Petco Foundation, Vacaville’s Cat Tales Rescue is offering free vaccines to cats over the next two Sundays.

Kris Knight-Cushing, president of Cat Tales Rescue, said the nonprofit has had a partnership with the Petco Foundation for a while and decided to apply for a grant to provide 450 vaccines to cats.

“There are so many diseases and viruses that live in the soil that are deadly to cats and kittens,” she said. “There are so much they can get from cats going outdoors or from cats that are not vaccinated. We want to reduce the chances of any cat getting those.”

As an added incentive, Knight-Cushing said the vaccines are free, with volunteers administering the shots and also offering free deworming.

“We also wanted to help the public that are finding it harder to afford things during these difficult past couple of years,” she said.

Cat Tales Rescue’s first vaccination clinic was held Sunday, with 16 felines getting vaccinated on site and an additional five vaccinated since.

The vaccines that are provided are the feline HCP vaccine, which protects cats against common viruses such as feline rhinotracheitis, calici, and panleukopenia viruses. KnightCushing said this is a core vaccine for adult cats and required for kittens three times when they are infants and again after they are a year old.

“Over 99 percent of kittens and cats do not have seem bothered by it at all,” she said. “It is very quick to administer it so by the time they would react in any way as far as pain, it is done.”

The kitties can be any age to receive the vaccines but must be pets or strays, as they are not available to rescues or shelters. Feral cats can be vaccinated as long as they have an appointment to be spayed or neutered so the vaccinations can be sent to the clinic to be administered.

Knight-Cushing said spaying and neutering cats was also important.

“One male and one female cat with their offspring in seven years can produce over 420,000 cats,” she said. “We want to make a difference in our community by finding all ways possible to assist in reducing the cat over population and to get cats vaccinated. Working together as a community, we can get stray cats vaccinated and spayed/neutered and pet cats spayed/neutered.”

The next vaccines will be administered 1 to 3 p.m. Dec. 5 and 12 at 375 Bowline Drive. All cats must be brought in carriers. People may sign up by emailing Catinfo@catalesrescue.org or direct messaging Cat Tales Rescue through its Facebook page at Facebook.com/ EveryLifeisaStory. Appointments are not required but are encouraged to ensure the proper amount of volunteers for each clinic. Additional clinics may be scheduled as time goes on.