WHAT'S THE ISSUE?

Lanta Animal Welfare (LAW) is raising funds for a cat vaccination drive, to stop the number of cats suffering from the often fatal disease Feline Panleukopenia Virus (FPV).

For 350 THB, you could protect a cat from FPV for up to 2 years.

Throughout 2013 and 2014 we have observed a dramatic increase in Feline Panleukopenia cases on Koh Lanta. While many cat owners have been vaccinating their animals against rabies - and LAW continues to vaccinate strays against rabies - often the cost of the combination vaccine which prevents FPV is off-putting to those lower income families.

These families are frequently responsible for larger numbers of cats and so FPV is spreading. This disease is highly contagious, difficult to kill in the environment, and if left untreated can be fatal.

The cost of treatment once cats have caught FPV can be very high. Infected animals need to be isolated, and supportive care administered under strict protocols and conditions. This is very labour intensive, expensive and also poses an increased risk of contamination to animals already in our care, due to the resilience of this virus in the environment.

FPV is vaccine preventable - we want to STOP the cats getting infected, by offering free vaccinations to low income families on Koh Lanta, who would otherwise not be able to afford to vaccinate their cats against this deadly disease. We also want to vaccinate stray and 'community cats' against this FPV.

Administering a vaccine, followed by a booster one month later, will ensure a high level of antibody resistance for up to 2 years.
It is also far cheaper to give vaccines and prevent the disease, than it is to try treat the disease once it takes hold.

WHAT WE WANT TO DO:
We want to set up vaccination stations at 10 different locations on Koh Lanta island, and advertise for cat owners to bring their cats to us for vaccination. We will also catch the strays in those areas for vaccination.

- We will vaccinate the cats of these low-income owners for FREE, at no charge to them, using a combine vaccination that tackled FPV as well as several other common, serious cat diseases, such as Rhinotracheitis, Calici Virus, and Chlamydia Psittaci - basically, the HCPCh1 vaccine

- We will give owners a ticket that entitles them to a FREE follow-up booster, 3 weeks later. Strays will be recaught for boosters. COSTS- The cost of the combined vaccine, the booster 3 weeks later, a needle and syringe per injection, an alcohol swap for safe injection and a vaccination book is 350 THB (that's £6.40 / 8 Euros / $11 US) per cat

- For 350 THB, you could protect a cat from FPV for up to 2 years. It's up to you how many cats you would like and are able to help - every little helps us to reach the vaccination targets.

TARGETS
We aim to vaccinate 150 cats at each of the 10 locations on the island, so 1500 cats in total. We will break this down into the costs for each location, so we can get started quicker, once we have enough for 1 location, we will begin vaccinating!

To vaccinate and booster 150 cats in 1 location, we need 52,500 Thai Baht.

To vaccinate and booster 300 cats in 2 locations, we need 105,000 Thai Baht.

To vaccinate and booster 450 cats in 3 locations, we need 157,500 Thai Baht.

To vaccinate and booster 600 cats in 4 locations, we need 210,000 Thai Baht.

To vaccinate and booster 750 cats in 5 locations, we need 262,500 Thai Baht.

To vaccinate and booster 900 cats in 6 locations, we need 315,000 Thai Baht.

To vaccinate and booster 1050 cats in 7 locations, we need 367,500 Thai Baht.

To vaccinate and booster 1200 cats in 8 locations, we need 420,000 Thai Baht.

To vaccinate and booster 1350 cats in 9 locations, we need 472,500 Thai Baht.

To vaccinate and booster 1500 cats in 10 locations, we need 525,000 Thai Baht.