I'm paranoid, could use some reassurance

I know I'm an overly paranoid kitty mom, but I would love it if somebody could just reassure me that it is normal for my kitten to be extremely lethargic and not eating the morning after getting rabies and FVRCPC vaccinations.

She got the shot about 5:30 last night, came home and ate a full dinner, was a little bit slower than usual the rest of the night but otherwise fine. This morning she didn't eat breakfast and won't do anything but sleep (quite a change from her normal crazy kitten behavior!) and feels pretty warm to the touch.

I'm assuming all of this falls within the range of normal reactions, but I'm a worrier.

Originally Posted by mochapenguin

She got the shot about 5:30 last night, came home and ate a full dinner, was a little bit slower than usual the rest of the night but otherwise fine. This morning she didn't eat breakfast and won't do anything but sleep (quite a change from her normal crazy kitten behavior!) and feels pretty warm to the touch.

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Do you has a thermometer to take her temp? That would be my main concern at the moment.

If she doesn't show improvement by the afternoon, call your vet to see what they say.

Is this her first shot?

Unfortunately I have to work today so I won't be able to check in on her again until around 3:30. I was able to get her to eat a little bit of canned food off my pinky before I left, so that was encouraging.

She's 3.5 months old and has had regular boosters, but this was the first rabies shot. As for the temp, I only have a plain old human oral thermometer, which I don't really want to shove up her bum....what's the best way to take a cat's temperature?

We don't need the rabies shot here so i can't comment, but what i can comment on is that the leukemia shot can make them lethargic. Rosie only had it twice, and that was the last. My cats don't get that one now because of that, plus their indoor cats anyway.

The first 24 hours after their shot can make them like this, but if she's still like that by late afternoon i would ring the vet, better still take her in.

Taking the cats temperature is up their backside btw

If she is still lethargic when you get home, I would take her to the vet. A bit of a reaction is normal, but it sounds more like she's having a stronger reaction. At the very least, I would call the vet and ask.

All the cats I've ever had have always gotten their rabies shots. When Pirate was a kitten (he's 2 now), and he got his first rabies, he had somewhat the same reaction. I remember I actually did take his temp, because he seemed warm. But it was normal (I think ). You can go to any drug store and get some of those plastic covers to go over the thermometer, that's what I did. Or, I'm sure you can just call your vet and ask them if you could bring your kitten in just for a temp check or something.

Pirate also had a little bout of an upset stomach, where whenever he would eat he would throw up. I think it's just because he was so young, and maybe the rabies vacc. was a lot for his itty bitty body to handle. Even now, he gets a little sicky everytime he goes in for vaccines. I agree with AlleyGirl- if she hasn't shown any signs of improvement by the time ya get home, give the vet a holler. (I also remember that Pirate got a nasty lump at the injection site- which leads me to believe he may have had some type of reaction because it was such a shock to his system or something.) He was better within a matter of a few days. I can't remember if I got this info from the vet or online, but I ended up giving him a very VERY tiny small amount of Benadryl. Like a few crumbs because he was so little. That seemed to help, if nothing else it helped him sleep it off a bit. I don't recommend doing this without consulting your vet, since I don't remember the dosage and everything.

Hope she feels better soon!

Our 10 year old "tuxie", Morgan spent a week at the vet a year ago last January for not eating and a high liver count.

She has been fine, since but she does react to her vaxinations, always has.

We have chosen to have her rabies and FVRCPC vaccinations done two weeks apart as a precaution, so as not to "challenge" her too much. She just had them in the past two weeks and hasn't shown any reaction, still runs around like a kitten.

If we didn't spread the shots out, she would be down for at least 24 hours, or worse; and we don't want to chance "worse", so that's why we use the two weeks apart schedule.

Just an update...I went home over my lunch break to check on her and she seems to be doing better. Still a little sluggish but she ate some food and a treat and was very affectionate.

Excellent!. Keep a close eye on her still to see what she's like when you get home from work

More healthy coming over

For the record, this is pretty normal for a lot of cats. Cello always reacts the same, he even throws up (if they throw up more then once then it is back to the vets IMMEDIATELY) if you search "vaccinations" on this website you'll come up with tons of threads with peoples cats with the same symptoms post vaccination, and for the most part they all recover within a day or two. Just keep a close eye and if it gets worse or persists then back to the vet.

Good for you for being such a good kitty mama! And thanks for the update, glad to hear your baby is doing better

Alley was grouchy and mostly hid and slept for 2 full days after her (not rabies)first vaccine and worm pill. Like you I was nervous and worried. You got the CatSquad on your side so ask these guys! Gosh knows I have!