Are pet vaccines a legal requirement in France?
Certain vaccinations are mandatory before animals can travel
The most important vaccines for cats, even if living indoors, are considered to be against feline panleukopenia and feline calicivirus
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Reader Question: My cat is an indoor one and never goes outside, except into the garden but never leaves the property. Do I need to vaccinate her?
Vaccination of household pets in France such as cats and dogs is heavily encouraged in France.
However, there is no legal requirement to ensure they are vaccinated.
Undertaking vaccination is strongly advised, and vets will recommend you to vaccinate your pet if you have not yet done so, but cannot require you to do so.
Despite this, there are specific cases where vaccines are required.
If you want to travel with your pet in the EU, you need to obtain an EU pet passport, which requires a recent rabies jab (the exception is if a cat is under three-months old, it has never been in contact with wild animals and you have obtained authorisation from the country you are visiting).
This includes for plane travel and international trains.
This is also standard for travel to other countries around the world.
What vaccines are most important?
Even though living indoors greatly reduces infection risks, it does not reduce them to zero and viruses can enter the home in a number of ways.
The most important vaccines for cats, even if living indoors, are considered to be against feline panleukopenia (also called feline distemper), known in French as typhus félin or panleucopénie; and feline calicivirus (coryza or calicivirose).
The former can cause severe and potentially lethal gastric problems and is very infectious, and the second is like a flu, but can cause issues including ulcers and respiratory complications..
Vaccines against both diseases are offered at eight, 12, and 16 weeks, with a booster at one. Further top-ups are offered annually for coryza or every three years for typhus.
Otherwise, vaccines for feline leukemia and certain infectious eye disease are also possible.
These diseases are more common for cats that spend time outdoors with other cats, so are not usually needed for indoor pets.
A rabies vaccination is unnecessary if not travelling abroad with your pet.
