Cat vaccination schedule for India: core vaccines, kitten timing and cost

Which vaccines a cat in India needs

A cat in India needs three core vaccines under WSAVA 2024, against feline panleukopenia virus (FPV), feline herpesvirus-1 (FHV-1) and feline calicivirus (FCV), plus the rabies vaccine, because rabies is endemic across India and WSAVA makes rabies core wherever the disease is endemic. Indian clinics sell the first three as one injection, written on the vaccination card as CRP, Tricat, FVRCP or 3-in-1, and give rabies as a separate injection.

WSAVA's executive summary states that core vaccines for cats in all parts of the world are those that protect against feline parvovirus (FPV), feline calicivirus (FCV) and feline herpesvirus-1 (FHV), and that where rabies is endemic, vaccination against rabies should be considered essential for both dogs and cats, i.e. rabies vaccines are core in those places, even if there is no legal requirement for this. WSAVA publishes a one-page cat table beside the full guideline.

India is the place that sentence describes. The National Rabies Control Programme says the disease is endemic throughout the country, with human cases reported from everywhere except the Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands, and that cats, wolf, jackal, mongoose and monkeys are other important reservoirs of rabies in India.

The 2024 guideline also made feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) vaccines core for young cats under 1 year of age and for adult cats with outdoor access or that live with other cats that have outdoor access, where FeLV disease is endemic. Non-core vaccines are those against Chlamydia felis, Bordetella bronchiseptica and FIV, the last sold only in Japan, Australia and New Zealand; the FIP, Giardia and Microsporum canis vaccines are not recommended anywhere. The table sets that list against what Indian pages sell.

The table is the finding. MSD India's complete vaccine list carries two feline products against seven for dogs; the three feline vaccines on Tata 1mg are the same trivalent, each prescription-only and cold-stored Tata 1mg, Felocell 3 For Cat Vaccine Tata 1mg, Feligen Vaccine For Cats; and the manufacturer's Indian page for Tricat Trio gives immunity as 1 year for the calicivirus and rhinotracheitis components and 3 years for panleukopenia, the split the booster section is built on.

Kitten vaccination schedule: WSAVA timing against what Indian clinics book

The kitten vaccination schedule under WSAVA 2024 starts the trivalent at 6 to 8 weeks, repeats it every 2 to 4 weeks until 16 weeks of age or older, and adds one more dose at 26 weeks of age or older. Indian clinic schedules stop at 16 to 18 weeks and jump to the first annual booster, so the 26-week dose is the one to ask for by name.

WSAVA's own words: the VGG recommends an initial trivalent kitten core vaccine at 6 to 8 weeks of age, then every 2 to 4 weeks until 16 weeks of age or older, with a subsequent dose given at 26 weeks of age or older, by which time MDA is likely to have waned sufficiently so that all kittens can respond to vaccination. MDA are maternally derived antibodies, absorbed from colostrum in the first 24 hours; they neutralise a vaccine before the kitten's immune system sees it, and they fade at a different age in every litter. Where money allows one injection only, WSAVA says make it the core vaccines at 16 weeks or older.

The 26-week dose rests on one number: the 2020 AAHA/AAFP guidelines adopted it because studies suggest up to one-third of kittens may fail to respond to a final core vaccine at 16 weeks and may have blocking MDA at 20 weeks. The 2021 life stage guidelines repeat the advice to revaccinate against FPV, FHV-1 and FCV at 6 months to narrow that window.

Two chains, two day counts, one gap. Vetic books day 60, 90 and 120 and prints do not socialise your kitten before all 3 vaccines and boosters are complete; Supertails books CRP at 7 to 8, 12 and 16 weeks with rabies at 14 and 18 weeks and calls the 16-week dose the most important, which matches the guideline. Neither schedule contains the 26-week dose.

Why both chains give kittens two rabies doses

The double rabies dose both chains give kittens is explained by the leaflet of the rabies vaccine MSD sells in India. Nobivac Rabies lists the primary dose for dogs and cats after 3 months of age, then footnotes that primary vaccination can be administered at an earlier age, but then a repeat vaccination must be given at the age of 3 or 6 months depending on the species. WSAVA's cat table says follow local regulations first and, where there are none, the product leaflet. Day 90 is the leaflet's 3-month line; day 120 or 18 weeks is the clinic following the footnote. The steps for the series in an Indian clinic are listed below.

1. Deworm before the first vaccine visit. Vetic asks for it and Supertails does it at the 6-week wellness visit.
2. Book the first trivalent at 6 to 8 weeks. Day 60 on a Vetic card is 8.5 weeks, inside the window; a kitten adopted later starts the day it arrives.
3. Keep the gaps at 2 to 4 weeks, never under 2. Intervals under 2 weeks can interfere with immunisation, especially with live vaccines.
4. Make sure the last kitten dose lands at 16 weeks or later, then ask for the 26-week dose by name. No Indian clinic page we opened lists it.
5. Give the first rabies dose at or after 3 months, and repeat it if it went in earlier. That is the leaflet on the vaccine sold here.

Adult boosters: every year or every three years?

Adult cats at low risk need the trivalent no more often than every 3 years under WSAVA 2024, higher-risk cats can need the FHV-1 and FCV protection every year, and rabies follows the leaflet, which for the vaccine MSD sells in India says every 3 years with annual revaccination recommended in endemic areas. Indian clinic pages book an annual booster for every adult cat, so this is a disagreement to take to your vet with the guideline open.

The guideline draws the line by lifestyle. The VGG recommendation for adult low-risk cats (solitary, indoor animals that do not visit boarding catteries) is for revaccination with MLV core vaccines at intervals of 3 years or longer. For higher-risk cats, cats that board or meet other cats, revaccination against FCV and FHV up to annually may be warranted, and a cat that boards can get a dose 1 to 2 weeks before the cattery. The Indian datasheet splits the product the same way, 1 year for FCV and FVR, 3 years for FPV. Where no bivalent FHV-1 and FCV vaccine is sold, and MSD India lists none, higher-risk cats receive the whole trivalent annually MSD Animal Health India.

The clinic pages read differently, and both positions stand here. Vetic's national page says your cat should be vaccinated with CRP (Tricat/Feligen) and anti-rabies each year, indoor or outdoor; Supertails starts adults on an annual booster and lets low-risk indoor cats move to every three years on the vet's advice. The guideline governs the interval and the clinic governs the visit: WSAVA wants the annual health check every year whether or not a vaccine is due.

Rabies keeps its own clock. The Nobivac Rabies page gives 3 years for dogs and cats and adds annual revaccination is recommended in endemic areas; India is endemic throughout by the programme's own description, so the leaflet's recommendation for an Indian cat is the annual one, which is what both chains book. Regulation would override the leaflet, and we found no Indian regulation that sets a rabies interval for cats.

An adult with no history, which is most adopted Indian street cats, has a short protocol. WSAVA's FAQ: for an adult cat that may never have been vaccinated, the VGG recommends vaccination with two doses of core MLV vaccine (FPV, FCV, FHV), 2 to 4 weeks apart, plus one dose of rabies vaccine in endemic areas. Vetic's blog books the same two doses 30 days apart with rabies at the second. Age changes the check-up, not the vaccine: the 2021 AAHA/AAFP guidelines define kitten to 1 year, young adult 1 through 6, mature adult 7 to 10 and senior over 10, and keep vaccination among the items to manage at every stage.

The 3-in-1 and the 4-in-1: what the numbers mean and how many times

The 3-in-1 is FPV, FHV-1 and FCV in one injection, the 4-in-1 adds Chlamydia felis, and under WSAVA 2024 that fourth component is non-core: two doses 2 to 4 weeks apart, then an annual booster only for cats at sustained risk in a multi-cat household where Chlamydia disease has been confirmed. No Indian manufacturer or pharmacy page we opened lists a 4-in-1 at all.

WSAVA is cautious about the fourth antigen: vaccines against C. felis provide incomplete protection against infection and disease. They can be recommended for use in cats that live in multi-cat households where this pathogen is known to have previously caused disease. First dose from 8 to 9 weeks, second 2 to 4 weeks later, annual booster for adults at continuing risk, and inadvertent conjunctival inoculation of the live vaccine has caused clinical illness.

So the count for a 4-in-1 follows the 3-in-1 it rides on: three or four kitten doses between 6 to 8 weeks and 16 weeks or older, the 26-week dose, then annually for an adult at sustained risk and never for the Chlamydia fraction in a low-risk cat, whose trivalent runs every 3 years. WSAVA asks manufacturers in countries that sell only mixed core and non-core products to keep a core-only combination available. India has the opposite: MSD India lists Tricat Trio and Rabies and nothing with a fourth antigen, the three Tata 1mg feline vaccines are all trivalent, and Vetic's menu is CRP plus anti-rabies. A clinic quoting a 4-in-1 should show the vial and name the fourth antigen first.

There is no 9-in-1 for cats; that is a dog product, distemper, adenovirus, parvovirus, parainfluenza and Leptospira, listed by MSD India beside the two feline ones, and the dog vaccination schedule for India covers it. The meaning of each number on an Indian vaccination card is listed below.

• 3-in-1, CRP, Tricat, FVRCP: panleukopenia, herpesvirus-1 and calicivirus; core for every cat.
• 4-in-1: the same three plus Chlamydia felis; non-core; not found on Indian lists.
• 5-in-1: the 4-in-1 plus feline leukaemia virus; sold abroad, not found here.
• ARV, anti-rabies: a separate inactivated injection, core in India, from 3 months on the leaflet.
• 7-in-1, 9-in-1, DHPPiL: dog products; a cat card carrying them needs a second look.

Rabies: core for every cat in India, and what the law and licence portals actually say

Rabies vaccination is core for every cat in India because the National Rabies Control Programme describes the disease as endemic throughout the country and names cats among its reservoirs, while every legal instrument and municipal licence page we opened is written for dogs. The obligation is medical and public-health first; whether it is legally required is a city question, and for cats the honest answer is that we found no rule naming them.

WHO's India office, citing ICMR and National Institute of Epidemiology estimates published in 2024, puts it at 9.1 million animal bites a year, over three-quarters by dogs, and 5,726 human rabies deaths a year, down from about 20,000 two decades ago. The national programme attributes about 96 percent of mortality to dog bites, lists cats first among the other reservoirs, and on the day we read it its news feed carried a report of two women in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, dead of rabies after a cat bite.

India's plan is a dog plan. NAPRE, the National Action Plan for Dog Mediated Rabies Elimination by 2030, unveiled on 28 September 2023, works through sustained mass dog vaccinations, prophylaxis and public education and vaccinates no pet cats. WSAVA closes the gap: in regions where rabies is endemic, the VGG recommends that all cats should be vaccinated against rabies for the protection of both pets and humans, even if legislation does not require this for cats.

What the Delhi and Chennai portals say about cats

The two municipal portals we could read say this. Delhi's Municipal Corporation registers pet dogs under section 399 of the DMC Act 1957: Rs 500 new, Rs 500 renewal, a Rs 100 monthly late fee from one month after the anti-rabies certificate expires, validity of at most one year subject to the vaccination date, and 19,024 certificates issued since 2021; the portal has no cat form. Greater Chennai Corporation's page is headed Licensing of Pet Dogs, but its text says pet animal owners should obtain Pet License from Greater Chennai Corporation for keeping their pet animals at their house for Rs 50, records 9,115 licences in 2024, and says its six pet clinics provide all the treatment and anti-rabies vaccination free of cost for pet animals. The dog registration guide for India and the GCC pet licence guide walk through both.

Two ranking pages say rabies vaccination is mandatory by law in India; neither names the law. We found no statute that makes a cat's rabies vaccination legally required, and the only official page that says pet animals rather than dogs is Chennai's. What a housing society, cattery, groomer or airline asks for is a contract term, and the vaccination card satisfies it.

FeLV and Indian housing: the indoor flat, the balcony, the terrace and the semi-outdoor cat

FeLV vaccination is core under WSAVA 2024 for every cat under one year and for any adult with outdoor access or living with a cat that has outdoor access, where FeLV disease occurs. In India the vaccine appeared on no manufacturer or pharmacy list we opened and no Indian prevalence study exists in PubMed, so the actionable step for a balcony or terrace cat is exposure control and a test, not a booking.

The guideline's reasoning is bites and age: older cats need protection if they are allowed to go outdoors unsupervised: bites are an increasingly recognised mode of FeLV transmission in adult cats; only FeLV-negative cats should be vaccinated, tested first; and avoiding exposure is the best way to prevent FeLV infection. Where the vaccine exists the schedule is a dose from 8 weeks, a second 3 to 4 weeks later, one a year after the series, then annually for high-risk cats. The 2021 AAHA/AAFP guidelines call it core for kittens and young cats owing to age-related susceptibility.

Is the FeLV vaccine sold in India?

Supply is where the Indian pages disagree. MSD India lists two feline vaccines, neither FeLV; Tata 1mg's three are all the trivalent core; Vetic's blog of 12 June 2023 says in India, we currently get CRP vaccines and anti-rabies vaccines for cats and we don't yet get the vaccines necessary for feline leukaemia virus (FeLV); Animeal's 2026 guide prints an FeLV vaccine at about Rs 400 to Rs 800 with no product and no clinic. The manufacturer and pharmacy lists govern today, and they show no FeLV product; a clinic offering one should show the vial and leaflet, and test first.

The prevalence half of WSAVA's condition cannot be settled either way. A PubMed search for feline leukemia virus and India in titles and abstracts returned 0 records on 18 September 2026, with the control query returning 126 in the same session. Much Indian veterinary work sits in journals PubMed does not index, so that is a gap, not proof of absence. It leaves the lifestyle half, outdoor access and bites, as the half an owner can judge, and Indian housing makes it specific.

The table leans on testing because WSAVA's order is test, then vaccinate, and where the vaccine does not exist the test is still what tells a household with a terrace cat what it is living with. Neutering and keeping cats in at night cut the fights that carry the virus; that is the exposure avoidance the guideline calls the best prevention.

Cat vaccination cost in India, from the pages we opened

Cat vaccination in India costs from Rs 3,999 for a three-visit kitten course and from Rs 1,899 for the adult annual pair on Vetic's national page, Rs 4,499 and Rs 1,998 on the same chain's Mumbai page, Rs 700 to Rs 1,070 MRP for the 3-in-1 vial itself on Tata 1mg, and Rs 30 for anti-rabies at a Chandigarh government veterinary institution, with Chennai's six corporation pet clinics giving anti-rabies free. Every figure was read on the seller's or the authority's own page on 18 September 2026.

One chain, two prices on one day: Vetic's national page starts the kitten course at Rs 3,999 against a struck-through Rs 5,065 and the adult pair at Rs 1,899; its Mumbai page starts the same course at Rs 4,499 against Rs 5,295 and the pair at Rs 1,998, with anti-rabies at Rs 699 on both and CRP at Rs 1,249 nationally against Rs 1,299 in Mumbai. These are starts-at floors, not a market average; read the page for your city.

The vial and the visit are different prices. Tata 1mg lists the Tricat Trio vial at MRP Rs 1,040, prescription required, animal use only, stored at 2 to 8 degrees, against Vetic's Rs 1,249 for the dose given in a clinic with a check-up. The gap is the consultation, the cold chain and the injection, and not one to close at home: the pharmacy will not release the vial without a prescription, and the manufacturer's storage rule is what separates a vaccine from a wasted needle.

The government hospital cost

The government hospital cost is published in two places we could read, and neither lists the feline core. Chandigarh's Animal Husbandry Department charges a Rs 30 outdoor ticket for pet animals and a Rs 30 anti-rabies vaccination fee at its government veterinary institutions, with no 3-in-1 for cats on the schedule; Chennai's corporation clinics give anti-rabies free. A Goa Legislative Assembly answer that search snippets quote for a Rs 100 post-bite dose is a 2.78 MB image scan that extracted to 72 characters through pypdf, so it is not quoted here. Rabies is subsidised or free; the trivalent is a private purchase unless your city's clinic stocks it.

Ranking pages print ranges with no clinic, city or date; Animeal gives Rs 500 to Rs 1,200 per FVRCP dose and Rs 300 to Rs 700 per rabies dose without saying where. Every rupee figure here was divided by 84.38 and by 74 to test for a converted dollar list, and none resolves to a round dollar figure at 84.38; Rs 1,998 divided by 74 is exactly 27.00, reported as the accident of a just-under-2,000 price, since the same chain prints Rs 1,899 nationally for the identical package.

Why the panleukopenia dose matters most in India: the Chennai numbers

Feline panleukopenia is the disease the cat vaccination schedule exists for in India, and the first Indian study with a denominator found FPV DNA in 83 of 180 clinically suspected cats (46.11 percent) presented in Chennai, with vaccinated cats at 0.41 times the odds of testing positive and the monsoon months carrying the highest odds. Those are numbers among cats sick enough to be tested, not among all cats, and they are still the best Indian evidence that the trivalent works.

The study, in Microorganisms in 2026, tested clinically suspected cats presented in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. FPV DNA was found in 83 of 180 (46.11 percent). Females had higher odds than males (adjusted odds ratio 2.65, 95 percent CI 1.35 to 5.21), vaccinated cats had lower odds than unvaccinated cats (aOR 0.41, 95 percent CI 0.17 to 0.97), and against summer the southwest monsoon carried an aOR of 3.59 and the northeast monsoon 17.11 (95 percent CI 3.86 to 75.80); age and breed were not associated. The 46 percent says how often a clinic's suspicion was right, not how many cats in the city carry the virus; the vaccinated odds ratio is the number for a schedule, and it held although the local strains were 98.1 to 98.5 percent identical to the vaccine strain rather than identical. A Mizoram study confirmed FPV by PCR in 12 of 26 cats that died of suspected disease.

Indian strains are moving. Authors of a 2024 whole-genome paper report unique antigenic variations between field FPV, canine parvovirus and vaccine strains and suggest they may cause vaccine failure; that is a conclusion from one genome, not a measured failure rate, and the measured Chennai odds ratio stands against it. WSAVA holds that the live attenuated FPV component gives rapid, potent, long-lasting protection while inactivated FPV vaccines do not, and all three Indian products are live.

Three things follow. The 26-week dose is cheap insurance against the up to one-third of kittens who may fail to respond at 16 weeks. The absent breed association is the evidence for the breed section below. And the monsoon odds ratios are a reason to ask the vet to time the 16-week and 26-week doses so neither is delayed into the northeast monsoon, October to December in Chennai, not a reason to postpone a dose that is due.

Side effects, with their denominator

Cat vaccines caused an adverse reaction within 30 days in 0.52 percent of nearly 500,000 cats given more than 1.25 million doses at Banfield hospitals between 2002 and 2005, the largest survey the 2020 AAHA/AAFP guidelines cite; the common side effects were lethargy, loss of appetite and fever for a few days or a sore injection site, the risk peaked around 1 year of age and rose with the number of vaccines given at one visit, and anaphylaxis ran at about 1 to 5 per 10,000 vaccinations. The Indian rabies leaflet lists its own expected reaction, an occasional transient nodule at the site.

Injection sites, the 3-2-1 rule and what goes on the vaccination card

Feline vaccines go into the lower limbs or the tail, below the elbow or the stifle or in the distal third of the tail, never between the shoulder blades, and any lump at the site is judged by the 3-2-1 rule: biopsy if it is still there 3 months after vaccination, larger than 2 cm, or still growing 1 month after vaccination. The site and the product go on the card so the next visit can rotate them.

The 3-2-1 rule is the 2020 AAHA/AAFP task force's answer to injection-site sarcoma, rare and aggressive: biopsy of any mass is warranted if it (1) remains present 3 months after vaccination, (2) is larger than 2 cm in diameter, or (3) is increasing in size 1 month after vaccination, by incisional biopsy rather than needle aspirate. The 2021 guidelines add that all vaccines go in the lower limbs or tail, below the elbow or stifle or in the distal third of the tail, because a mass between the shoulder blades is the hardest to remove.

WSAVA's list for cats is short: no subcutaneous injection into the interscapular furrow; no intramuscular injection where subcutaneous is a legal alternative; a different anatomical site on each occasion; the site recorded on the vaccination card, with a diagram; non-adjuvanted vaccines favoured where alternatives exist; and any sarcoma risk far outweighed by the benefit of protection. The rabies vaccine on the Indian list is inactivated and the trivalents are live, so the rabies dose is the one to keep away from the shoulders and to record most carefully. WSAVA keeps live vaccines away from pregnant queens and kittens under 4 weeks, and the Tricat Trio page says the product was not tested in pregnancy. The items to record at every visit are listed below.

• Product name and batch number, off the vial, so a reaction can be reported to the manufacturer and regulator.
• Date and age in weeks, because the guideline counts weeks and the clinic counts days.
• Injection site, which leg or the tail, so the next visit rotates it and a lump can be matched to a product.
• Next due date, including the 26-week dose and any rabies repeat.
• Any reaction seen within 30 days, the window the AAHA survey counted.

Persian cat vaccination schedule, and every other breed: does breed change it?

No, the Persian cat vaccination schedule is the same schedule as every other breed's, because WSAVA 2024 and the AAHA/AAFP guidelines set timing by age, maternal antibody decline and lifestyle, never by breed, and the Chennai FPV study found no association between breed and infection. What changes between a Persian in an air-conditioned flat and a Bengal with terrace access is the risk column.

The WSAVA cat table has columns for kittens up to 16 weeks, cats over 16 weeks and revaccination, and none for breed; the AAHA/AAFP guidelines individualise by life stage, lifestyle, origin and exposure; the Chennai study tested breed and found no association. So a Persian cat, a Maine Coon, a Ragdoll, a Siamese, a Bengal, a British Shorthair and an Abyssinian all run the schedule on this page, which is why their breed pages send you here.

Breed changes the visit and the risk column. A flat-faced Persian is a cat a clinic may handle more gently and for less time, a handling note, not a vaccine note. A Bengal let onto a terrace is an outdoor-access cat under WSAVA's FeLV wording and a higher-risk cat for the annual trivalent, whatever its pedigree. A kitten of any breed that arrived at 8 weeks starts the series that week; one that arrived at 5 months with no card gets the two-dose adult protocol plus rabies. The checklist for the clinic is listed below.

1. Bring the deworming date and the card, and ask the vet to record the product and site for every dose.
2. Ask for the schedule in weeks, with the last kitten dose at 16 weeks or later and a 26-week dose booked.
3. Ask which rabies product is used and whether a repeat is due because the first dose went in before 3 months.
4. Ask for an FeLV test, not a vaccine, if the cat came from the street or has balcony or terrace access.
5. Check your city's portal: Chennai licenses pet animals at Rs 50 and vaccinates against rabies free at six clinics; Delhi registers dogs only.