Rabies Vax adverse reaction?

Need a little help here folks. Opinions? Experience with this?

Here's the situation:

Our 4 month old girl, Octavia got her rabies shot on the 26th of June. Her siblings also got theirs and they are fine.

On the 2nd of July I noticed she appeared to be having trouble seeing and her pupils were much more dilated than her siblings, but still would react to light changes. However she could not track toys or play as usual, as she simply could not see them. She does appear to see shadows and motion.

Took her right to the Vet. Her temp was 105.5 but no other signs of illness at all. Vet examined her eyes and concluded there was no damage or abnormalities. He's stumped as to what is going on.

She's eating fine, drinking water, using the litterbox, sleeping normally, no poop issues, absolutely no other signs other than that high fever and the blindness.

Vet gave her a penicillin shot, a Metacam shot and put her on Clavamox. As of today there is no change aside from the fever subsiding.

I'm baffled. I've heard and read that the Rabies Vax can cause problems in some animals. I've done some research online about this, but am not coming up with much about cats. Just dogs.

Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions?

I'm going to take her to NC State if this doesn't resolve by Monday.

Zoey had a adverse reaction... but hers was within hours

Oh, Nial. Poor Octavia.

Ginger had a severe reaction to the rabies vax when she was 2 years old (her 2nd one) and as a result can never receive it again, nor any other vax shots. If I have to ever take her to the vet we are in deep doo-doo, so I pray that she stays healthy. It really bothers me that I can't take her in for her annual visits anymore.

She had mini-seizures (so scary) and extreme vomiting and had to be rushed back to the vet 3 times that same day, ultimately getting a benedryl shot and sub-Q fluids to help get her past the reaction, but there have been no noticeable long term affects other than perhaps a very mild case of hyperesthesia.

I know that doesn't help you with Octavia.

If it means anything at all, if she stays blind and you decide you can't keep her and need to find a good home for her, I would be more than happy to give her one.

I had a horrible thought - you let your cats outside, right? And I am sure you put all the propet treatments on them for all the little nasties that can affect them... but I am wondering if Octavia was bitten by a tick? I did some googling and there can be high fever and eye issues in addition to other problems - just a thought.

ETA: could be the vax - see link:
http://www.wellpet.org/aboutcats/cat-vaccs.htm

Has your vet done any bloodwork? CRF is ruled out? Does your vet have Doppler blood pressure capability? If her blindness is due to hypertension, prompt administration of Norvasc (calcium channel blocker) or ACE inhibitors can often reverse it.

Here's a link from the CRF supply pages, that talks about feline hypertension and treatments. There's a little comment at the end of the page, regarding the website owner's own experience with his cat who went blind due to hypertension.
http://members.verizon.net/~vze2r6qt...es/norvasc.htm

I realize that Octavia is young, but CRF can strike at any age, unfortunately. My Cleo was diagnosed at 6 months, when my vet did pre-op blood work for her spay surgery.

Good luck! You are both in my prayers...

One of my Mom's cats lost his vision at a very young age. He's not even 6 yrs and totally blind. He went blind a few years ago now. He also has very early CRF, but it's not too severe. He's still managed with OTC senior foods.

My cats who had rabies vaccination reactions were right away (within hours), and it was lethargy/vomiting. Before the Merial Purvax (non-adjuvanted) shot was available, I made sure the cat got an antihistamine before shots. With the Purvax rabies shot we have no issues.

for Octavia.

One of my cats had a reaction to a vaccination, he had multiple one-year boosters. The vet presumed it was the rabies vaccination because it is usually the culprit. He had a reaction within an hour of being vaccinated. He vomited to the point of dry heaves and had a fever. They now give him a shot of Benedryl 20 minutes before vaccinating. The reaction your cat has seems a lot different but all reactions probably aren't the same.