Vaccines

Maternal Antibodies and Vaccines

Our kittens leave us with their first core vaccine.  The point of the 3 series kitten vaccines is in hope to find the right time when the Maternal Antibodies wear off on kittens.  Maine Coon kittens nurse much longer than a regular kitten.  I use to vaccinate starting at a younger age.  I have noticed by doing this their immune system was not ready.  Kittens are being over vaccinated just in hopes to find the right time.  Maine Coons do best with the first core vaccine if I wait till 8-10 weeks old or even older. ​

Maternally Derived Antibodies (MDA)​

For both breeders and pet owners who purchase a kitten, one of the first issues to be decided are the kitten series vaccinations. What ones, when and why. By far, the most common reason for vaccines not immunizing is the presence of Maternally Derived Antibodies (MDA - this is a standard abbreviation used by immunologists).
Unlike many other species, kittens receive little if any antibody protection before birth (in utero). The critical time for a kitten is the first 18 to 24 hours after birth. I've heard most suggest the first 18 hours but some suggest 24 hours and recently I heard an immunologist suggest 2-3 days, particularly when blood incompatibility is an issue. During those first hours after birth the kitten's intestines are very porous. When the kitten nurses and consumes the milk that queens produce after birth called colostrum which is full of antibodies, the kitten's intestines allow the large antibody molecules to pass through the intestinal wall and directly into the blood stream. These are the antibodies that will protect the kitten until it's own immune system matures enough to provide immunity. After those first hours after birth the kitten undergoes what is called "gut closure". At that point the intestines are no longer porous and the antibodies can no longer pass through. This also protects the kitten from other disease causing pathogens also passing through the gut into the blood stream. Once a kitten undergoes gut closure, continued nursing will not increase the kitten's amount of antibodies. Any antibodies consumed then will merely pass through the gut and out through the feces. Thus, continued nursing even after the kitten begins to receive vaccinations, will not increase the MDA interference. All depends on those first hours after birth. There are two factors in how much antibody a kitten receives.
1. The amount of antibodies the queen has in her colostrum during those first hours.
2. The amount of colostrum each individual kitten consumes before gut closure Since those two variables are unknown, each kitten in a litter may have a different amount of MDA. Also, there may be different amounts of antibodies for each disease, e.g. Panleukopenia, Herpesvirus, Calicivirus, etc. During the first 2-4 months of life, the MDA will gradually lower, generally by about half every two weeks. ​​

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