Anyone Experience Reaction to Rabies Vaccine?

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Lana & Yoyo

Lana & Yoyo

Member Since 2010
I took Yoyo to get a rabies vaccination June 22nd. He received the one year Purevax Feline rabies Live Canarypox Vector vaccination.

He got extremely lethargic and has been eating little or nothing although he is somewhat improved now. I could not for the life of me figure out what could be going on. I do have to admit that I was really alarmed because his symptoms seemed so similar to what some of the other kitties have been experiencing with triaditis and pancreatitis. Then I happened to think --- this all started after his rabies shot. I did an internet search and sure enough those side effects can occur. It did not tell me how long they would last though.

He is better in that he seems more energetic. Yoyo typically shows up early for feeding/shot time, trying to speed up the clock but after the rabies shot, I would have to call and call and sometimes I could not get him to come at all. Today he showed up at shot & feeding time but it is like something is still wrong with his nose. His post test reward today was some cheese. He acted like he had no idea what it was. I forced a tiny piece into his mouth -- and he started eating it -- like he did not know it was food until he tasted it. I sometimes give him eight Temptations for reward if I have nothing else. Ordinarily he would turn flips for Temptations but the past few days he has acted like I was dropping pebbles in front of him. He is only eating a tablespoon or two of the food I put out for his meal. At his AM+5 test, he was acting really hungry but not eating. I rubbed some of the Fancy Feast still in his dish from his morning meal on his gums and he immediately started to eat it with relish. I am just perplexed. Yoyo the chow hound is a chow hound no more!

As all of you know, it sure does make dosing difficult when the cat is not eating!

Anybody have any experience with this?

Lana
 
At the grocery store this afternoon, I picked up some Beechnut baby food. When I checked Yoyo's BG this afternoon @ +8, the minute I twisted the cap to offer him some for a treat, an extremely strong odor of chicken came from the jar, and Yoyo just about attacked me trying to get to it. He ate the whole 2.5 oz jar. A treat turned into a meal.

Now what.... buy some Limburger cheese?

Lana
 
It has been a number of years since we vaccinated Tigger - he just didn't do well with them.

Sounds like you had the right one done though with the Purevax since that is the one Dr. Lisa recommends. I am not sure about the "Live Canarypox Vector" part but it could be the same thing.

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=vaccines

There are lots of discussions on the Health board too regarding this. You can find them with a Search.

So sorry Yoyo is not feeling well though! I know what you mean when they don't eat it is really hard because of their diabetes. Glad the baby food worked though! :)

You might copy/paste your post on Health and see if others have had the same experience. Sorry I can't be more helpful.
 
Thanks, Pamela, I lost a cat to fibrosarcoma 10 years ago and I am really paranoid about rabies vaccinations. From what I have read, most people think the purevax is the safest.

"PUREVAX® Feline Rabies contains a nonadjuvanted lyophilized suspension of a recombinant vectored rabies vaccine plus a sterile water diluent. A canarypox vector has been modified, using recombinant technology, to produce expression of desired antigens capable of stimulating a protective immune response to rabies. Safety and immunogenicity of this product have been demonstrated by vaccination and challenge studies in susceptible cats.

PUREVAX® Feline Rabies vaccine does not contain adjuvants, as all other rabies vaccines do. Adjuvants are substances added to a killed vaccine to increase the body’s immune response to the vaccine (since the virus is killed and doesn’t stimulate an adequate response on its own), and have been linked to vaccine-related fibrosarcomas in cats (i.e. cancerous tumors at the site of the vaccine). Although this is rare (about 1 in 10,000 cats***), it is a major concern of veterinarians since this type cancer is extremely malignant, fast-growing, and will spread quickly to other parts of the body."

*** I know several people whose cats have developed fibrosarcoma so I would challenge that 1 in 10,000 assertion!

Lana
 
They are only supposed to give vaccines in the legs now in case a sarcoma develops they can remove the leg. Sounds bad, but cats do fine on 3 legs. I know someone whose cat had an amputation I think because of a sarcoma.

I'm sorry Yoyo may have had a reaction. I went for a number of years without getting Gandalf and Tigget vaccinated since we lives in an apartment. Then when we moved to this house, I did because I wanted to be able to let them outside. They got all vaccines at once and Gandalf had a pretty bad reaction, I took him in and I think he even ran a fever. But he was fine in less than 48 hours. Sounds like you're seeing improvement. Not sure about the smelling part, but cats eat by smell I think.
 
Vicky wrote, "They are only supposed to give vaccines in the legs now in case a sarcoma develops they can remove the leg. Sounds bad, but cats do fine on 3 legs."
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That was the established protocol beginning in the mid-90's. The cat I lost to fibrosarcoma was vaccinated between the shoulder blades 10 years ago. One of my friends lost her cat to fibrosarcoma. It was vaccinated between the shoulder blades last year. I took my cat Rusty to a clinic I use for a dental cleaning (my vet does not do dentals) a couple of weeks ago and asked for a vaccination. They started preparing to inject him between the shoulder blades. I told them Rusty and I had changed our minds!

It just proves how vigilant and informed we have to be, unfortunately.

Lana
 
wow that's scary stuff. i never had to deal with vaccines with Buddy b/c we live in an apt-he never goes out,
except on a leash upstate. I hope Yoyo has bounced back-sounds like he was starting to,keep us updated.
 
pamela and tigger said:
Lana, how is Yoyo doing? Is his appetite back yet?
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Pamela, I think Yoyo is finally pretty much back to normal. I am very relieved. It took a full week.

Also, there have been a lot of changes in Yoyo. It has been a month since the first acupuncture treatment (he has now had two) and starting Capstar for fleas and the herbal pill, Wind Toxin, for allergies. In that month, I have only found one flea on Yoyo. His belly is no longer an angry red. The hair on his belly is growing back. I had asked the acupuncturist if his belly was bare from old age and she said, no, it was from licking it. I am not finding tufts of hair all over the house anymore either. The most interesting change is the diminishing size of his pot belly. I started noticing a change in his skin and pot belly about two weeks ago. I would estimate that his pot belly is 80% smaller and his skin no longer looks like thick padding. I can see his muscles. His blood sugar is no longer ping ponging all over the place. I don't know if there has been a corresponding loss of weight or not. His next acupuncture treatment is in 10 days and I think she plans to start him on another herb for diabetes.

I haven't tried to get Yoyo into the greens because his situation seems so unpredictable to me right now. I cling to the hope that I might be able to work his dose down and eventually get him off insulin. The vet views that as an impossibility and the acupuncturist thinks he will be a 1 unit cat the rest of his life. Well, whatever. His quality of life is substantially improved -- from allergies AND his rabies shot.

Lana
 
I am glad to hear that Yoyo is better from both the vaccine and the fleas.

I kept reading the post header and thinking I had nothing to add, but I remembered that one of my 3 year olds had a bad reaction to a combo vaccine when she was a kitten. It was part of the kitten series so I am not sure what it was - or don't remember, but I think rabbies was part of it. She had a fever and was lethargic and wouldn't eat so I took her to the ER vet who gave fluids, something that was an anti-inflammatory (not pred) to reduce the fever, and ABs because she didn't think it was a vaccine reaction. They wanted to keep her overnight (for $250), but I said no thanks and brought her home. She was totally conked out so I put her in a room by herself and closed the door so the other kitten wouldn't bother her. A few hours later I asked Beau if he was hungry (he was still on insulin at the time) and I heard a little peep through the door. I opened it and she came running out and ate some food. She was pretty lethargic for another 24 hours.

I got both kittens from my vet and they had their first shots before I had a say in things, so I think they were shot between the shoulders. I won't let any vaccines be given anywhere other than a leg now.
 
That's so good that Yoyo is feeling much better! I'm really glad to hear someone else had success with acupuncture! I hope you will share your experiences with other son the board who ask about it or have an experience like Yoyo's and might benefit from it.

dancing_cat Yoyo dancing_cat
 
Vicky & Gandalf said:
That's so good that Yoyo is feeling much better! I'm really glad to hear someone else had success with acupuncture! I hope you will share your experiences with other son the board who ask about it or have an experience like Yoyo's and might benefit from it.
Click to expand...

Acupuncture and Capstar have literally been a miracle for Yoyo. I have worked with two vets and a veterinary dermatologist since last November and this is the first time that there has been any improvement whatsoever in his condition. It has been worth every penny of the expensive fee she charges!

Lana
 
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