I am so sick of this!

Why must something go wrong nearly every time I get a cat vaccinated?!

Sho gets a fever and sick from them. Tomas had that large knot, and now Sherman is sick.

He won't touch his food, won't come when I call (very strange for a cat that's usually underfoot to begin with), he's lethargic, quiet (again strange for him), and isn't fussing when I try to check him out. The leg he got the injection in is very very sore, he barely moves it when walking, and it looks like he has diarrhea now, too.


I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth the trouble of making my cats sick? Surely I'm not the only one fed up with it.
Mind you my cats are indoor only, never exposed to other cats, and if DH or I have been around sick animals we shower and put our dirty clothes right in the washer.

/end of rant.


Edit: Just got back from the vet, he had a fever of 104.3F. They did give him a shot ketoprofen to help with his leg and fever, and set home metacam to use if needed - I cringed a bit at this and am hoping he'll be fine by morning.
I could tell they thought I was a little paranoid but that's better than not taking him at all.

there is always a risk of vaccine reactions..

I dont think there is a right or wrong answer regarding vaccines tho.. there are arguments that yearly vaccines are not needed- that they could possibly effected 3-7 years or longer.

You will have to outweigh the risk of disease and decide for yourself what you feel is best for your cats' health. The odds of having a serious reaction may be higher than the odds of your cats being exposed to a disease.

My Coco has not got shots in about 7 years because one made her very sick.
The vet said its not worth the risk and my lucy died from a shot.
Indoor cats do not need every shot.
None of mine get the leukemia or fip shot.
Coco and Meeko used to get the leukemia shot but not anymore.
Its even in cleos contract not to get fip or the leukemia shot.

^These were just Sherman's initial set, the booster for FeLv to be exact. I probably will skip next year - I certainly don't intend to let him out with his fur and rather dense headed naivety.

I already skip Sho's, I feel a little guilty, but that cat is sensitive to everything. The last time he went in for a dental he even reacted to the cream they put in his eyes - the tech used a lot, probably disrupting the tear film and maybe ph, thus I had a cat with sensitive blood shot eyes for a day an a half.

It's just getting frustrating. These cats don't even have major health problems like FIV, feline leukemia, or even bad allergies. They don't even get URIs or UTIs like so many members' cats have. Why does this have to keep happening?

FeLV boosters are absolutely not necessary for strictly indoor cats, especially is there is no FeLV positive cat in the home.

Info including adverse effects of the FeLV vaccine:

http://www.catvaccines.com/feline_va...guidelines.htm

http://www.peteducation.com/article....1+2143&aid=961

http://www.aegis.com/aidsline/1995/jul/M9570859.html

I'm beginning to think that vaccine reactions are very common. I've read other posts like this, and just this week a family member's cat had a bad reaction to the FVRCP vaccine. The little guy is fine - an antihistamine did the trick - but when the owner first saw signs of the reaction (not eating, lethargy), she was *terrified.* And now what is she supposed to do? Does she really want to skip the distemper vaccine?

Anyway, I still plan to vaccinate mine, but I respect the decision of those who prefer not to. I hope your kitty is feeling better.

Zoey did much better with a pain reliever and her shots separated ...

He's feeling better and did eat most of his supper.... I can't be certain exactly how much he ate since he and Tomas played food dish trade off again. (Sherman thinks Tomas has better food and pushes him aside)

The shots were spread out to some extent, the others being given over a month ago. He didn't have problems with any in December, though at that time he had a wound stitched up and was neutered, too.
To make this clearer to everyone (or to the newer members who may not keep up/know the regulars) - these are the only vaccinations he has ever had, he was a stray before I caught him. This is not a unneeded yearly booster.

I really really hope I don't have to give him any metacam tomorrow. My luck being how it is the NSAID would be enough to cause liver problems already.



And yes, it did stress me out. While I'm not that prone to anxiety and getting really stressed, my pets being sick are enough to cause it. As a result my meds didn't help and I had to deal with a ridiculous heart rate - it's not very safe for me to be driving like that.

I'm sorry you had to go through all that, Strange_Wings. It's good of you to take in a stray and care for him like this. I hope he feels better tomorrow!

My dog had a reaction to vaccines. I had to rush her back in and she was given a corticosteroid shot to counteract the effect, which worked thank goodness. My vet said we shouldn't give that vaccine again (lepto.) I ended up getting titers done instead of any vaccines the next year (except for rabies but my vet does 3-year rabies so she wasn't due for that anyway) because she was a therapy dog and had to have either vaccine or titers to keep volunteering...
I think pets are way over vaccinated and vaccine reactions are indeed very common. However we think dog had some sort of immune issues/disorder because she had all sorts of seemingly unrelated health problems which could all be traced back to the immune system.