Cat had a bad reaction to rabies vaccine

3cats3 · Jan 16, 2013

Approximately 60 hours ago I brought my cat to the vet to get some flea medicine, she's always been perfectly happy and normal. She is 8 years old and never had a bad reaction to any vaccine. This time she had the rabies vaccine, came home and about an hour later she vomited all over and could not walk and was shaking her head and rolling over on the carpet. I rushed her back to the vet who said she is having Vertigo and the reaction to the rabies shot. They gave her a Benadryl shot and checked her vitals and everything checked out fine except she could not walk and had no balance.

The next day she was not any better and would just hide under the bed and not eat or drink water, back to the vet we go. She received fluids and they prescribed her Prednisolone, later that day (yesterday) she seemed to be a little better as she could now walk but didn't want to eat or drink, we had to give her water with an eye dropper. She's fully alert and wants to play with her string toy if I wave it in front of her.

today she seems to be doing better and will come out of hiding to eat food but doesn't seen to want to drink water unless I mix it in with her normal food and cat treats. She will walk around but she is still not walking correctly and does not have a lot of energy, if she tries to walk fast she starts to fall over. She just hides but will sometimes come out for a minute or two to walk around a little bit.

At this point it's been 2 1/2 days and she's not 100% yet, she's maybe 70%. This whole ordeal has worried me greatly, Have any of you experienced something like this? I just hope there is no permanent damage from all that has happened to her. Right now she is just not the same cat as when I brought her into the vet.

I just want my old cat back she obviously does not feel well at all.

thanks

eb24 · Jan 16, 2013

I'm so sorry you are having to go through this and that she reacted so badly to the vaccine.

The good news is that it sounds like you handled the situation perfectly by getting her back to the vet ASAP. I have not experienced a bad reaction to a vaccine with either of my cats, but I did with the family dog. It took him about a week but he bounced back to normal after that. Hopefully someone will come along who has a feline related experience.

If rabies is required where you live talk to your vet about your options for future vaccinations. In the future they can titre test her to see how much of the vaccine is left in her system. It's likely she won't have to have it again. Also, most places allow for animals to be exempted from vaccinations with a written note by the vet that it is dangerous to their health to be vaccinated.

There was recently a thread on if cats need vaccines that you may find interesting as it has some links to some interesting articles: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/253449/do-cats-need-vaccinations-every-year . Also, here is a link to all the threads that show up if you search "vaccines" on TCS: http://www.thecatsite.com/newsearch/?search=vaccines&type=all . You may want to look through some of these and see what others have said in the past.

Welcome to the forums. I hope some of these older threads help and that someone with more personal experience comes along soon!

flintmccullough · Jan 17, 2013

Did-they-weigh-her?

Has-she-had-rabies-vaccine-before?

How-long-ago?

Ever-had-a-reaction-before,to-rabies,to-any-vaccine?

Why-was-she-given-a-rabies-vaccine?Did-you-know-she-was-due-or-did-they-tell-you?

Most-important,what,rabies-vaccine,was-she-given?It-should-be-on-your-check-out-paper,what-they-give,how-much-they-charged,it-should-specifically,say,if-not,you-need-to-ask,and-you-need-to-know-this-for-the-future.

Was-she-given-anything-else,or-just-the-shot,and.....where......did-they-give-it?

If-she-was-given-the-3-yr,which-has-the-adjuvent-in-it,that,may-be-the-prob.

You-did-the-right-thing,by-bringing-her-right-back,and-they-did-the-right-thing,by-giving-her-the-benedryl-shot,which,she-should-have-stayed-there,30-min-afterwards,just-to-make-sure.

This-happened-to-me,because-as-knowledgeable-as-I-am,about-health-and-nutrition,I-never-bothered-to-learn,about-shot-stuff,and-it-cost-me,so-I-made-it-my-mission,to-learn.

He-was-given-a-3-yr-rabies-shot,and-another-shot,at-the-same-time.He-was-violently-throwing-up-in-5-min,of-leaving,I-rushed-him-back,they-gave-him-a-benedryl-shot,watched-him-for-30-min,and-he-was-fine.

Now,he-only-gets-one-shot-at-a-time,and-because-we-don't-know-which-shot-he-had-the-reaction-to,he-has-to-be-pretreated-before-every-shot,30-min,with-benedryl.He-also-now-only-gets-the-1-yr-rabies-shot,no-adjuvent,and-I-keep-better-track-of-what-shots-are,-and-when-then-are-due.

He-was-back-to-his-normal-self,in-24-hours.If-she-is-still-having-issues,and-you-have-the-money,I-highly,reccomend,you-take-her-to-the-ER-vet.She-should-not-be-still-having-these-reactions,something-else-is-going-on.

They-should-only-be-given-one-shot-at-a-time,and-given-nothing-else.

From-memory,would-have-to-look-it-up,believe,rabies-is-given-in-the-muscle,and-given-in-the-right-leg,another-shot,is-given-in-the-left-leg,and-one-is-given-between-the-shoulder-blades.The-others-could-prob-know-this,from-memory.

Best-of-luck,I-remember-how-upset-I-was.((((((((((BIG-HUGS)))))))))

just mike · Jan 17, 2013

Did she have the 1 year or the 3 year vaccine? The threads EB posted will give you the different info on each vaccination. I'm wondering which vaccine she reacted to.

3cats3 · Jan 17, 2013

Thanks for the replies

she's 11 pounds they just weighed her

she had her rabies vaccination a little over a year ago with no problems. This time she had the rabies and distemper (I think she had distemper shot last year as well)It was a "killed" rabies vaccine the vet says.

They told me she was due for both, never had a reaction to any vaccination.

She was given the shot in her right rear leg, it was a 1 year vaccination for $14.

She is now at least coming out from hiding and eating but not drinking a lot unless I mix water in with her food. She used the litter box last night. She still is not walking 100% and obviously isn't running around because of it. Like I said before she's still fully alert and will come across the room when I hold out my hand and call her name, purrs like she normally does. Just seems like walking takes a lot out of her... But then she will stand up in the window for a good 5-7 minutes looking outside and doesn't have any balance issues sitting there.

It's been just over 72 hours now. She has not thrown up since when it first happened.

finnlacey · Jan 17, 2013

My Finnegan had a bad reaction to the vaccine when he was a kitten. Now they get a titer test to check first to see how much of the vaccine is left in their systems. Finney's was not nearly as severe as your kitty's though but was enough to make me nervous. It took a couple of days for him to get back to normal.

flintmccullough · Jan 17, 2013

Your-not-going-to-like-this-anser,sigh.....and-I-highly-recommend,you,find-another-vet.

One-should-never-give-2-shots-at-the-same-time,its-too-taxing,on-their-system,especially-an-8-yr-old-kitty,which-is-boardline,a-senior-cat.

And,as-you-find-out-the-hard-way,as-I-did,you-don't-know,which-shot,the-kitty-had-the-reaction-to.Basicly,per-say,you-are-injectiing-poison,in-their-system,and-both-at-once,is-too-taxing-on-them.The-vaccines,train-the-system,per-say,to-react-to-it,and-set-up-their-army's,per-say,for-defense.

Rabies-is-given-every-year,its-safer,it-doesn't-have-the-adjuvent-in-it,that-a-3yr-shot-has,the-adjuvent,is-the-preservative,per-say.Rabies-is-given-in-the-right-leg.

The-distemper-shot,is-called-FVRCP,its-a-combo-shot,and-it-should-only-be-given-every-3-yrs,not-every-year.

Did-the-vet-give-the-kitty-2-shots?Its-not-a-1-shot,distemper-and-rabies,they-would-of-had-to-give-her-a-2nd-shot.

You-need-to-ask-your-vet,why,kitty-is-being-given-FVRCP-every-year,be-poliet,but-firm.

So-I-suspect,its-the-reaction,to-having-both-shots-at-the-same-time,that-made-kitty-sick,that,plus,being-given-FVRCP-every-year.You-now-have-to-pretreat,with-benedryl,before-anymore-shots,as-you-don't-know-which-shot,the-kitty-had-a-reaction-too.Its-a-shot-they-give,30-min-before-they-give-the-reg-shot,it-will-prevent-this-from-happening-again,and-you-need-to-wait,another-30-min,after,the-appt,before-you-leave,just-in-case.

Sorry-you-had-to-go-thru-this,we-depend,on-our-vets,to-give-us-the-right-information-and-the-right-medications.

You-mentioned-flea-medication,was-she-given-flea-stuff-too?

cassie18 · Feb 8, 2013

Hello. We have just had a similar experience here in France. Our two 12 year old cats had to have their rabies shots and one of them seemed odd the next day. We took her back to the vet as her eyes were flickering from side to side and she was stumbling and falling over. The vet was quite adamant it was nothing to do with the rabies innoculation and said she had either had a stroke or a bleed on the brain, or had a brain tumour. He said we must take her to the veterinary hospital in Toulouse. We declined to do this, as we weren't convinced. The next day she was better but still stumbling a bit and the day after that she was back to normal. We feel very upset because we could well have put her through a long car journey ( which she absolutely hates) and then some very frightening tests. She seems fine now but we hope she hasn't had any lasting damage done.

I do hope your cat is now fully recovered. Our cat will have to be done again in a year, as it is the legal requirement here, so we are trying to find out if some vaccines are safer than others.

blueyedgirl5946 · Feb 8, 2013

3cats3 said:
Thanks for the replies

she's 11 pounds they just weighed her
she had her rabies vaccination a little over a year ago with no problems. This time she had the rabies and distemper (I think she had distemper shot last year as well)It was a "killed" rabies vaccine the vet says.
They told me she was due for both, never had a reaction to any vaccination.
She was given the shot in her right rear leg, it was a 1 year vaccination for $14.

She is now at least coming out from hiding and eating but not drinking a lot unless I mix water in with her food. She used the litter box last night. She still is not walking 100% and obviously isn't running around because of it. Like I said before she's still fully alert and will come across the room when I hold out my hand and call her name, purrs like she normally does. Just seems like walking takes a lot out of her... But then she will stand up in the window for a good 5-7 minutes looking outside and doesn't have any balance issues sitting there.

It's been just over 72 hours now. She has not thrown up since when it first happened.

Your vet should separate the shots. It happened to Muffin one time. The vet said he would never again give him two shots at the same visit.

epicat · Feb 8, 2013

3cats-

I'm sorry this happened to you, but I think bad reactions to the Purevax are relatively uncommon

http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB...ment_report/veterinary/002003/WC500104118.pdf)

That said, my sweet baby, Epi, was taken in January 29th for spay and rabies vacc. She is 9lbs and 1yr 4 mos old. Got her back same day and everything seemed fine. The next day, she also seemed fine.

The day AFTER (36-48 hours later), she began her descent into bad reaction. She salivated as though rabid. She vomited and had diarrhea. I took her back to the vet and they told me she was normal and asked had I switched her food? They had no answers for me.

I had a feeling it was the rabies vacc (her spay scar was flawless and she wasn't running a fever). I administered 2ml of children's benadryl p.o. to Epi. It definitely helped. I had to feed her chicken broth and water via syringe from Feb 1. - Feb 3 because she wouldn't eat or drink (performing a skin test revealed dehydration- my main concern). Feb. 4 (that's 6 days after vaccination) my Epi was back to normal.

The whole thing was unnerving and could have claimed my cat's life. My advice to anyone whose cat experiences these types of Purevax reactions is to ask the vet for a Benadryl shot or (if money is tight) purchase some liquid benadryl and a syringe to deliver the antihistamine to the cat yourself. (Dosage: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...soDACg&usg=AFQjCNHIbwo4bhmiLyZvGvTL-DlgPpsYfw)

Peace.

edit: delivery method of benadryl will be oral, just to clarify..

AbbysMom · Feb 12, 2013

Just a reminder to please check with your vet before giving your cat any over the counter medication.

samia · Jun 20, 2014

3cats3 said:
Approximately 60 hours ago I brought my cat to the vet to get some flea medicine, she's always been perfectly happy and normal. She is 8 years old and never had a bad reaction to any vaccine. This time she had the rabies vaccine, came home and about an hour later she vomited all over and could not walk and was shaking her head and rolling over on the carpet. I rushed her back to the vet who said she is having Vertigo and the reaction to the rabies shot. They gave her a Benadryl shot and checked her vitals and everything checked out fine except she could not walk and had no balance.

The next day she was not any better and would just hide under the bed and not eat or drink water, back to the vet we go. She received fluids and they prescribed her Prednisolone, later that day (yesterday) she seemed to be a little better as she could now walk but didn't want to eat or drink, we had to give her water with an eye dropper. She's fully alert and wants to play with her string toy if I wave it in front of her.

today she seems to be doing better and will come out of hiding to eat food but doesn't seen to want to drink water unless I mix it in with her normal food and cat treats. She will walk around but she is still not walking correctly and does not have a lot of energy, if she tries to walk fast she starts to fall over. She just hides but will sometimes come out for a minute or two to walk around a little bit.

At this point it's been 2 1/2 days and she's not 100% yet, she's maybe 70%. This whole ordeal has worried me greatly, Have any of you experienced something like this? I just hope there is no permanent damage from all that has happened to her. Right now she is just not the same cat as when I brought her into the vet. I just want my old cat back she obviously does not feel well at all.

thanks

samia · Jun 20, 2014

I took my cats Tutty and Frutty yesterday at 2;00 pm for their annual checkup the vet gave them their annual shots, usually they sleep next to me but Tutty didn't show up! At for 4:00 am I went to look for h, he was
In the basement which is not normal, I picked
Him up he was aggressive and I felt he was warm by his nose! Now he is hiding under the bed! I am worried to death is he going to die??? I am taking him back to the vet at the first hour ! Please help I am loosing it!

ld0203 · Jun 24, 2014

I don't see any replies to your post - what happened to Tutty? Is he ok now?

Cat had a bad reaction to rabies vaccine

3cats3

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Thread starter

eb24

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flintmccullough

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just mike

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3cats3

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finnlacey

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flintmccullough

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cassie18

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blueyedgirl5946

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epicat

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AbbysMom

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samia

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samia

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ld0203

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