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Possible reaction to Rabies shot?
I took my youngest cat in today to get her Rabies shot (she's a year old). A couple of hours later she threw up quite a bit. I wasn't too concerned yet because my oldest cat does that every time I take her to the vet. I think it's just nerves. Well, I called the vet and they said it's not unusual for them to throw up or have a little diarrhea after getting the shot and what I really needed to look for was if her face was swollen or if she was having trouble breathing. They said to take her to the ER vet if I see those signs.
Well, those aren't the signs I see. She's had a few droplets of diarrhea and now had more of it on the kitchen floor. She also has been running around like she's a little freaked out. She's been shaking her paws and twitching her legs a little bit. I've tried to pick her up to calm her down and she doesn't want to be held. She keeps running off. She's just acting odd to me. Now I know as a young cat she's often acted a little crazy and ran around, etc. but I think this seems different. I'm not sure if I should just continue to monitor her and take her back to the vet in the morning or take her tonight? I'm just not sure what to think of this since this isn't the signs of a bad reaction that the vet told me to watch for.
Any advice?
Well, those aren't the signs I see. She's had a few droplets of diarrhea and now had more of it on the kitchen floor. She also has been running around like she's a little freaked out. She's been shaking her paws and twitching her legs a little bit. I've tried to pick her up to calm her down and she doesn't want to be held. She keeps running off. She's just acting odd to me. Now I know as a young cat she's often acted a little crazy and ran around, etc. but I think this seems different. I'm not sure if I should just continue to monitor her and take her back to the vet in the morning or take her tonight? I'm just not sure what to think of this since this isn't the signs of a bad reaction that the vet told me to watch for.
Any advice?
this is not normal behavior in your kitty. i have seen this before, and usually happens after a bout with dirahhea. somehow toxins have gotten to the kittys brain, via her bloodstream. making her crazy so to speak. she may respond to antibiotics if treated by iv asap. she needs blood work fast to see what is going on with her. God Bless and good luck with her. it saddens me to see how lax these local vets are at assisting pets in trouble like this. a lot of vets are in the business for the money, and that's not the right reason. some of them are very cold when it comes to caring for your pet. emergency vets are big rip offs price wise. yes they can help you in some cases, but they don't need to gouge you. it's hard to find a good ER clinic that does not rip you off. It's a shame. I am sorry. Remember there are some really good Vets that do care! Take the trouble to find one ahead of time. Thank you.
Don't get the vaccine, keep her as an indoor kitty or consider a KILLED virus vaccine called "pure vac " it doesn't have the adjuvants that can poison them as much. NEVER let your vet get away with not showing you the bottle that says pure vac and NEVER let them vaccinate with an activated or live virus. Also, If you are certain your cat can never get bitten by a rabid animal, which requires vigilant discipline , I say skip it. Also NEVER. Allow the shot in the neck. In the tail or hind quarters as cancerous sarcomas can form at the injection site, they say it is rare, baloney, it is common. They can amputate a tail or leg but if you get one in the shoulder or neck you are screwed.
Well I just took my cat Molly in for her one year. She is 7 .She came home and was licking her paws like crazy and very odd, she could not find a spot to lay, she hid in the basement for a hour. She was very odd and I was worried. So I called the vet and they said to come in. I did and they said she was in pain, gave her another shot and another. They gave her a 3 year and did not tell me. I have read the 3 year is so much more painfull then the one year. I was not happy and I don't think I am going back there. Or getting her another in 3 years. She rested well the first night but still not feeling good today and hardly ate. Poor baby feel bad, I never should have gone in.
I am so sorry to hear what happened to you and your dear sweet Gracie...you must still be in shock that this can and did happen. I understand why you feel so bad, but this is not at all anything you had any control over....all vac's pose a risk, its not common to have such a terrible outcome and nothing you or your Vet could see coming.
I can't believe either that this could be so violent nor so sudden.....I am so sorry, please don't blame yourself.
I can't believe either that this could be so violent nor so sudden.....I am so sorry, please don't blame yourself.
That just happened to me yesterday. My sweet Gracie. I love her so much. I took her in to get her 1 year rabies shot. While I was paying for the shot, she made a loud noise in her carrier. I thought she was scared so I took her out to the car. That's when I realized she was unconscious. I took her right back in and they worked on her, performing CPR. But she died. I miss her so much. OMG I feel so bad. I can't stop crying. I can't believe she died like that. I feel like it was my fault. I miss her so much.
Rabies vaccine can cause bad reactions. My cat was fine also and after a rabies vaccine, he came home and went to bed. Every day after that he got sicker and sicker. He stopped eating because the food kept falling out of his mouth so he couldn't eat. He stopped drinking and became totally dehydrated. He would lay over the water bowl and just lay there like he was too spaced out to know how to drink. He would try to jump up on the couch and just fall down as he was so weak. The vet gave him a bolus of fluid under his skin. He has had five so far and he is still sick. His lab shows he has kidney damage. A vet assistant told me the research shows a rabies vaccine stays at the therapeutic level for 7 years so why are they giving them every one to three years? Insatiable greed. If I had an indoor cat, I wouldn't give them a rabies shot. If you look more online, you can find a lot of information on all the damage the vaccines can do. They are depending on us to protect them but we can't even trust the vets to do the right thing for them.
I wish this petition was worldwide. You can't take a pet international without rabies vaccination. ;(
It is true..I experienced the aggression and seizures for ONE MONTH!!! It was terrible. Multiple seizures. My cat bit me twice. Even chased me..DON"T get them a booster unless necessary...
I agree with you. No more rabies shot for my babies. The one I have now is an indoor cat and he only goes out into the back yard or front yard with me. My other cat, a Ragdoll had violent reactions to Rabies vaccine. Very aggressive and everyone KNOWS Ragdolls are docile. Had he not been moving to Switzerland with my son I would never have taken him to the vet for this. I suspect Remmy will live out the rest of his life in Switzerland. To come back he would have to be vaccinated. I'm not vaccinating my Maine Coon. He will live his life out here in the USA.
My Ragdoll drooled, attacked me several times along with seizures after his rabies vaccination. Thank our Lord, after praying for a month they finally went away. Vet even put him on phenobarbitol which didn't help except to stop seizures. He couldn't even go to the litter box and he loads drank water. Ravenous appetite. After his naps he would wake up aggressive and if you were in his line of view, it was you he would chase. It didn't seem to matter. Anything human or animal moving. He even chased my other cat...No more rabies shots for Remmy.
Do not know if this is still active but I had a similar tragic event. I foster kittens for the local SPCA and usually have them from only a few days old. On Aug. 17th I got 5 kittens their first shot (which does not have the LUK portion) and by tuesday we could see they were losing weight. By friday I had 5 skeletons where I had started with 5 on the chunky side. We live in New Orleans and are constantly battling fleas so when I took them to the vet on Saturday they blamed the fleas and kept the kittens there as 1 showed signs of annemia. Even though he got sub- q fluids and a blood transfusion Punks died on Sunday morning. I told the vet I believed the shot caused the problem but they blew me off. They kept the kittens for several days and Mon and Tues said they were eating well but they wanted to keep them another day. On Wed I was going to pick them up and was 5 minutes fro the vets office at 4 PM when they called to say Patches had died that morning )6 hours earlier) and they wanted to keep the rest another day. I said no as they again told me the shot would not cause this problem. I took the 3 home and they seemed to enjoy playing in the house again. They ate well and 2 had soft stool bit nothing frightening. We kept them on Gi prescription food but by friday of that week Bam Bam started to have trouble breathing and we got him on Clavamx. He was still not gaining weight but his brothers had only gained 1/2 an ounce so they were not too concerned. He started to loose .1 of an ounce per day but went back and forth needing to be syringe fed and eating ravenously. I am an aircraft mechanic so had access to pilot breathing oxygen so suplimented him twice a day for 15 minutes. It seemed to help and Monday morning he ate very well but he was still not active. Monday night he was back to not eating and I called the vet tuesday. They said I was doing all I could and just stay the course. Tuesday night he slept with us curled up on my neck. Wednesday I did not want to leave him at the house so brought him to the hangar which is 10 minutes from the vet, He died on Wed just after lunch. Iheard every excuse in the book about my number of cat and some litters are just extra sensitive etc but still denial that the shots caused the issue. Fortunately Pebbles and Peaches are back to full weight and activity so think they will make it.
I have one other foster who has cronic low weight and diahrea that began shortly after she got her first shot(fvrcp with Luk) but was done at a different vet. I started looking into the possibility they got the same batch from the manufacturer and got the syrum numbers from the vets.
They were not the same but I found something worse.
One vet said they get the FVRCP from Merck and It's called Nobivac. The other vet says they use Nobivac but it comes from Pfizer. I called Merck first and was told Nobivac is their proprietory name and Pfizer could not have made it but they did use Pfizer to make their rabies vaccine.
The syrum number given for the 5 kittens corresponds to a rabies batch not Novibac as indicated by the vets records.
Could this have been the cause?
The kittens are still getting formula and I think KMR is dairy. Merck uses a calf based syrum carrier. I know in other countries people who eat horse meat can have organ damage and diahrea from shots that contain horse syrum carriers. Was this the cause?
So far I have been brushed off. All I have is 3 dead kittens ,2 recovering that by law need booster shots before they can go to new homes, and a lot of questions with no answers.
Any help out there?
I have one other foster who has cronic low weight and diahrea that began shortly after she got her first shot(fvrcp with Luk) but was done at a different vet. I started looking into the possibility they got the same batch from the manufacturer and got the syrum numbers from the vets.
They were not the same but I found something worse.
One vet said they get the FVRCP from Merck and It's called Nobivac. The other vet says they use Nobivac but it comes from Pfizer. I called Merck first and was told Nobivac is their proprietory name and Pfizer could not have made it but they did use Pfizer to make their rabies vaccine.
The syrum number given for the 5 kittens corresponds to a rabies batch not Novibac as indicated by the vets records.
Could this have been the cause?
The kittens are still getting formula and I think KMR is dairy. Merck uses a calf based syrum carrier. I know in other countries people who eat horse meat can have organ damage and diahrea from shots that contain horse syrum carriers. Was this the cause?
So far I have been brushed off. All I have is 3 dead kittens ,2 recovering that by law need booster shots before they can go to new homes, and a lot of questions with no answers.
Any help out there?
Sorry I never saw this. Opus is right, I'm rarely on medhelp anymore. I know it's been a year but I hope your kitty is ok and that things are better now.
thank you for your very informative post and the links provided, this is important for all pet owners to know :)
Petition against overvaccination of pets
http://www.change.org/petitions/veterinarians-fully-inform-us-before-vaccinating-our-dogs-and-cats
Maybe some of you want to sign it...
http://www.change.org/petitions/veterinarians-fully-inform-us-before-vaccinating-our-dogs-and-cats
Maybe some of you want to sign it...
P.s. forgot to tell that one of our dogs and 3 of our cats were vaccinated against rabies today.
The dog and 2 of the cats do not show any reactions, they act as usual. But the third cat is sitting under the bed and is very silent and I am sure he does not feel well. It SEEMS to be a mild reaction but I am always afraid of renal failure as it is common in cats and can be one of the worst side effects after a rabies vaccination (among others as liver failure and nerve damage etc.).
There is a very good site on CRF (cronic renal failure) and I was surprised to see, how often cats have it...
An interesting read for each cat owner... in my opinion a must as very many older cats have CRF or developing CRF
http://www.felinecrf.org/
(especially the dental surgery part: http://www.felinecrf.org/dental_problems.htm )
I also heard now, that there are big differences between rabies vaccines. Some of them are marked as "TF" are also mercury free which is great and there is even an adjuvant free rabies vaccine, Merial PUREVAX, it supposed to be the safest choice (but you better check out for yourself on the internet as I have never tried it myself - yet).
I heard that the adjuvantien are responsibel for many of the side effects especially when there is mercury in the vaccine.
But as one or two rabies shots cause a lifelong immunization, the best would be of course when no law would require regular, often (as here in Ontario) yearly rabies vaccination. It kills more pets than the rabies itself would, I am afraid.
My sick cat for example is an indoor one... and in our region there had been no rabies for years.........
I think in such a case ONE shot would really be enough for life.
!
The dog and 2 of the cats do not show any reactions, they act as usual. But the third cat is sitting under the bed and is very silent and I am sure he does not feel well. It SEEMS to be a mild reaction but I am always afraid of renal failure as it is common in cats and can be one of the worst side effects after a rabies vaccination (among others as liver failure and nerve damage etc.).
There is a very good site on CRF (cronic renal failure) and I was surprised to see, how often cats have it...
An interesting read for each cat owner... in my opinion a must as very many older cats have CRF or developing CRF
http://www.felinecrf.org/
(especially the dental surgery part: http://www.felinecrf.org/dental_problems.htm )
I also heard now, that there are big differences between rabies vaccines. Some of them are marked as "TF" are also mercury free which is great and there is even an adjuvant free rabies vaccine, Merial PUREVAX, it supposed to be the safest choice (but you better check out for yourself on the internet as I have never tried it myself - yet).
I heard that the adjuvantien are responsibel for many of the side effects especially when there is mercury in the vaccine.
But as one or two rabies shots cause a lifelong immunization, the best would be of course when no law would require regular, often (as here in Ontario) yearly rabies vaccination. It kills more pets than the rabies itself would, I am afraid.
My sick cat for example is an indoor one... and in our region there had been no rabies for years.........
I think in such a case ONE shot would really be enough for life.
!
I am surprised that there are so many issues with rabies vaccination. As I was a child in Hungary, good 30 years ago, we had cats and dogs and later on, too. There were yearly rabies boosters and we never had any side effects at all. I have never heard of any, either. (Maybe because there was no internet yet...?)
Only once, much later, a poor, 16 years old cat of us died after the yearly leukaemia booster.
It was renal failure.
Now I never vaccinate the animals as they have already got all of the vaccines a couple of times. I only vaccinate against rabies from time to time and I do not like it as nowadays here in North America I hear daily about some strange side effects. I also have a cat who is lethargic after the rabies booster. We have never had any pet with such a reaction to the rabies vaccine. And it supposed to be a good vaccine, Imrab 1 TF (mercury free).
I also browsed a little bit and found a couple of helpful sites:
http://www.dogs4dogs.com/JR_Articles/Rabies%20Scam%20Article.htm
http://www.dogs4dogs.com/truth4dogs.html
http://www.holisticat.com/vaccinations.html
Tunde
Only once, much later, a poor, 16 years old cat of us died after the yearly leukaemia booster.
It was renal failure.
Now I never vaccinate the animals as they have already got all of the vaccines a couple of times. I only vaccinate against rabies from time to time and I do not like it as nowadays here in North America I hear daily about some strange side effects. I also have a cat who is lethargic after the rabies booster. We have never had any pet with such a reaction to the rabies vaccine. And it supposed to be a good vaccine, Imrab 1 TF (mercury free).
I also browsed a little bit and found a couple of helpful sites:
http://www.dogs4dogs.com/JR_Articles/Rabies%20Scam%20Article.htm
http://www.dogs4dogs.com/truth4dogs.html
http://www.holisticat.com/vaccinations.html
Tunde
Yeah, I totally wish this vaccine was not required in DE or any other state for that matter. I had my Boo Boo Bear treated back in 2004 and she was sick from it just as this person explained. My girl was approx. 4 years old at the time and in perfect health. From there, her health deteriorated. It started with vomiting, then on to consistantly itching the site of the shot. At 6 years old she had her first seizure. Since the shot, she had the "itchies," and would run around (back scrunching) and then puke around once a week. At a checkup when she was around 7 years old, they found a heart murmur. Not even one month later, we lost our little girl. I will never trust rabies shots again. I will only do them when extremely necessary in order to get treatment of another problem (they will not treat a unvaccinated cat in DE for anything). I have seen/read this happen to too many kitties and I am sickened! Please, if you work in a Vet office or are a Vet, I don't want to even hear the "why(s)" I should have to get my 100% indoor cat vaccinated for rabies. It is a total ******** money making scam for those of us with indoor only cats and their life is at risk.
hi, April is seldom on the community any longer. however there are others here that read all the posts.
I'm sorry your kitty is having this issue. Its does sound very much like a reaction to the vaccines...unfortunately quite common especially when multi vaccinations are given at one time along with rabies...
Please notify your Vet of this reaction she is having. a mild reaction will usually pass within 24 hrs, however if she's not showing signs of improvement she may need something to help her.
we wish you both all the very best....please post again and let us know how she is doing okay♥
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Cats/Cat-Vaccines-and-VAS-warning/show/1765367
I'm sorry your kitty is having this issue. Its does sound very much like a reaction to the vaccines...unfortunately quite common especially when multi vaccinations are given at one time along with rabies...
Please notify your Vet of this reaction she is having. a mild reaction will usually pass within 24 hrs, however if she's not showing signs of improvement she may need something to help her.
we wish you both all the very best....please post again and let us know how she is doing okay♥
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Cats/Cat-Vaccines-and-VAS-warning/show/1765367
I wish April was still on this string, but I imagine the only folks who will see it are those who (like me) come upon it during a Google search. My 6 y/o cat Roxy just had the EXACT same experience. She was perfectly fine; I took her in around 2pm to update her shots, and since coming home she's thrown up (something she rarely does), is too anxious to stay in any one place for more than 2-5 seconds (very unlike her), she's shaking her feet and ears (as if something is crawling on them), and she's biting at them. She's also meowing at me which she rarely does (she's a very quiet girl). In my opinion (I'm a nurse practitioner w/experience in autoimmune conditions), this is a reaction to the vaccination. Immune reactions (other than anaphylaxis) just don't occur this quickly. I'm very concerned for my baby, and I will not be taking her in for any more shots.
Yesterday was a very sad day because my family lost our 15 year old cat two days after he was taken to the vet and given a rabies vaccine. Be VERY careful, do your research, ask the vet what the vaccine does, if it is truly needed, and if there are dangers involved. A poster above recommended taking preventative measures before agreeing to the vaccine. I wish that we had the foresight to do this. Do not just agree to the vaccine because "doctor knows best". As my family found out, the vaccine proved to be lethal. Please let your friends and family know about this danger.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Janica, I am so very sorry for your sudden and shocking loss of Rocky. And your little gray kitten, as well. How awful you've had this experience twice in your lifetime. I never even heard of this happening before your post.
I would like to expand on this discussion in saying that Opus is absolutely right about jogging the rabies shot with any other vaccine. Normally, the Rabies and FVRCP vaccination are given together (at my vet, anyway). This year, we had them given separately and Jade's reaction was considerably less, in fact, I believe she reacted to the FVRCP more violently than the Rabies.
I would like to expand on this discussion in saying that Opus is absolutely right about jogging the rabies shot with any other vaccine. Normally, the Rabies and FVRCP vaccination are given together (at my vet, anyway). This year, we had them given separately and Jade's reaction was considerably less, in fact, I believe she reacted to the FVRCP more violently than the Rabies.
Nancy thank you for giving us another perspective, always good to hear both and than judge for oneself.
Another way to minimize side effects is to not give the rabis on the SAME DAY as other injections....this is an over load on their system.
And not to give the 'comb' vac...also known as 'multivalents' b/c they involve too many angitens going into the cat at one time.....do each on its own.
Another way to minimize side effects is to not give the rabis on the SAME DAY as other injections....this is an over load on their system.
And not to give the 'comb' vac...also known as 'multivalents' b/c they involve too many angitens going into the cat at one time.....do each on its own.
Just to offer a bit different perspective.....
I work at an animal shelter......People come in every day looking for their indoor cat who never goes out but one particular day he/she did. These cats are more vulnerable to rabies because they have no experience in hunting or defending themselves. We had one such cat a couple of weeks ago who was rabid and found in an elementary school yard. Rabies is a deadly and incurable disease disease that in the past has caused epedemics that have killed hundreds of thousands of animals including people. It is a very slow and painful death in people. The laws requiring vaccination of household pets have all but eradicated the spread of this disease in developed countries. Unfortunately, it is still killing thousands in undeveloped countries where there are no such laws.
Some cats are more vulnerable to vaccine side effects than others. Now knowing that is the case with yours, you can take steps to minimize those effects in the future. Subcutaneous fluids a day or so prior to the injection will help as well as benedril. I would also recommend the one year vaccine rather than the 3 year.
I work at an animal shelter......People come in every day looking for their indoor cat who never goes out but one particular day he/she did. These cats are more vulnerable to rabies because they have no experience in hunting or defending themselves. We had one such cat a couple of weeks ago who was rabid and found in an elementary school yard. Rabies is a deadly and incurable disease disease that in the past has caused epedemics that have killed hundreds of thousands of animals including people. It is a very slow and painful death in people. The laws requiring vaccination of household pets have all but eradicated the spread of this disease in developed countries. Unfortunately, it is still killing thousands in undeveloped countries where there are no such laws.
Some cats are more vulnerable to vaccine side effects than others. Now knowing that is the case with yours, you can take steps to minimize those effects in the future. Subcutaneous fluids a day or so prior to the injection will help as well as benedril. I would also recommend the one year vaccine rather than the 3 year.
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