VET SHOT WRONG VACCINE?!

I'm sorry if there's already a thread with a case similar to this one.

The vet came today, an hour ago. He was supposed to give my cats, Damien and Kharjo, their RCP shots. Damien is around 6 years old and Kharjo is 1 year old. They have never been vaccinated before but the weather is constantly changing so I feared they might get ill. I don't know why, I decided to open the vet's crate in which he stored the vaccines. I saw several containers with names and usage. They were all Virbac. The vaccine the vet shot my cats with was hot pink and I THINK I saw he injected LEUCOGEN which is Virbac's vaccine for feline leukemia. I asked my vet which one he had injected and he showed me FELIGEN. What? I'm not really sure if he did inject LEUCOGEN but I'm really scared as I have read a lot about feline sarcoma associated particularly with leukemia vaccine. They were shot in the legs but I don't want my cats losing their leg either. Also, I need to know if I can still trust the vet. My question is: Have your cats ever been injected with either LEUCOGEN or FELIGEN? What color was it? Any side effects? What can I do?

Thanks in advance.

Please help :-(

I would be more concerned that he did not use Merial brand of vaccines for your kitties. All Merial Purevax 1 year shots do not contain any yucky adjuvant, which is a serum designed to jump start the efficacy of the vaccine. Most cat-friendly vets use Merial brand and therefore avoid the idiocyncratic reactions that cats may have to other vaccine brands which contain adjuvant. ALL three year shots of ALL brands contain adjuvant altho Merial is working on a purevax version for the 3 year shot as well. You can look this up online for more info. I just did a quick search right now and this came up http://www.gaia-health.com/articles101/000126-cat-dog-vaccine-damage-bode-ill-humans.shtml

I don't know what color the vaccines are but you could probably call the UC Davis college of veterinary medicine or U of Pennsylvania or Tufts or Cornell Vet schools and I bet they would help you. UC Davis has a component dedicated to shelter rescue so maybe they would be most forthcoming. Tufts and Cornell publish periodicals for cat parents so they too might help.

It would not be the worst thing for your cat to get a vaccine against Feline Leukemia. It seems more and more cats are being diagnosed out of nowhere, even when they tested negative in their kitten days. Your biggest problem would be if you abandoned or lost your cats because I think if they went to a rescue they might test a false positive due to having received the shot. I am not sure about this but I seem to recall this with FeLV or FIV vaccines. Someone here may have more info in this area.

In the future tho make sure your vet uses Merial and if they tell you the shots do not contain adjuvant do research on your own before allowing them to use them. In most but not all cases shot reactions are normally relatively soon after receiving the shot.

For now don't panic as whatever was done is done and worrying will not make it go away (I say that because my kitty got a VAS and I know how you feel, being worried even to give them a shot as I was :-(). Just look up the UC Davis online and call them and see if that works.

Thanks for replying. I just found out about Merial this morning but the vet was already on his way. I would have call it right there, ask for the brand and stop him but unfortunately I live with my parents and I have no control of what gets done on my pets and I do not chose the vet.

I'll probably just call Virbac and ask about the color.

The thing is I do not know if they have leukemia, I haven't test them recently and I know that vaccine will accelerate the process of the disease if they do have it. I'm very worried also about them getting sarcomas. I don't think I'll lose them and I WON'T abandon them.

Yes, I will make sure next time they use Merial.  Do you know how soon the side effects appear after receiving the shot? What about the sarcomas? When will I start to see lumps, if ever?

I will try to calm down but I've already cried a little. I feel so guilty because I researched a lot about vaccines. I'm glad at least he injected in the leg. What should I ask UC Davis? 

I just called Virbac and they told me that their RCP one is transparent and their leukemia one is pink. This is their first vaccine ever and their first (Damien) and second (Kharjo) shot in the legs. I'm really scared. What are the probabilities? What should I look for? What do I do?

I think you should call the vet and explain you were surprised bc the liquid was hot pink and you called the company to ask them and they told you it was the FeLV vaccine.

I would tell them for now to put a note in your file to give your cats the other shots for free when you are ready to make a follow up appointment. And explain that you don't want the correct shot  immediately because you do not want to overtax your cats' immune systems at this point and that you are worried about them contracting the virus from the shot. Make an appointment for the other shots in like six months unless of course your cats go outside or may be exposed or have never had shots. 

If it were me the only thing i would be concerned about is documenting that the vet gave the wrong shot and getting them to admit it in case your cat does get sick and you want legal recourse. :-( not that it matters :-(. I would 

Don't worry for right now. I will need to ask others on this site but you could check about giving them benadryl to reduce any possible inflammatory response. There are many cats who get these shots and are just fine, so think about that too. Even if it is not what you wanted them to have, it may still be perfectly fine. I do completely understand of course, as i am the same way. I hate even taking my cats to the vet. You have to talk yourself off the ledge though and reassure yourself that you are doing everything possible to keep your kitties safe and that sometimes things just happen like this out of nowhere. 

Thank you again for replying.

I will only talk to the vet to complain and if necessary (death), take legal action. Meanwhile, I'm not interested in free shots as I do not trust him anymore. I don't want hear near my cats again. However, my cats are inside/outside cats and I think they should have RCP shots BUT they have more than a year and have never been ill. What would you recommend? Should I wait six months or more to get them vaccinated? Or no vaccinate them at all? 

Thanks a lot for the support, I have calmed myself down but I cannot stop thinking when I look at them. I feel so guilty. Anyway, I just want them to be okay. I'd be great if you could ask others as I have little experience with this and the vets I've called seem to know very little about it to. Thank you in advance, again.

Your cats will not get FeLV from the FeLV vaccine. If your cats are FeLV+, the vaccine is just null. Also, though there is a *slim* chance they could test positive on a Combo test shortly after getting the vaccine, it is the FIV vaccine that causes long-term positive test results on a combo test.

If your cats are indoor/outdoor cats I highly suggest you have them vaccinated. I typically wait about 7-10 days in between diff vaccines. Also, with them being outdoors, I would have highly suggested you get them the FeLV vaccine anyway. This vaccine is 97-98% effective in preventing a cat from contracting this horrible disease.

With as worried as you are about your cats catching something from the vaccine (they do not catch something from them; although, there can be allergies to the vaccine and rarely an animal can develop a sarcoma as a result...this is not typical.). I'm honestly a little perplexed as to why you have not had them vaccinated earlier with them being outside. it is much more likely that they will contract something w/o being vaccinated.

CatPack, I'm glad to read the vaccine is null if they were positive because I've read it accelerates the disease. It's a relief.

I do not know why I have never thought of vaccinating them. I guess it is because my family have always had cats that lived lots of years and didn't die of illnesses. Anyway, I was/am planning on starting to vaccinate them. That's why I was starting with RCP. I was going to vaccinate them against leukemia after being tested and with a Merial one to reduce the side-effects.

I know the chances of developing a sarcoma or another side-effect are slim but I've read and heard painful stories about them. I can't help but get worried. And I know the chances of it happening with a killed vaccine are higher (adjuvants). Plus, I do not know of anyone who has used the same brand of leukemia vaccine on their pets... which means nothing because there's a reason it's still commercially available. I just wanted to reduce the chances. I will probably follow your advice and vaccinate them in about 10 days for RCP with another vet. 

Thank you for replying and for helping me take better care of my cats.