PureVax rabies vaccine question

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Alfred

Member Since 2014
Hello,

Alfred had his rabies vaccine (PureVax) done 9/24/14. He was fine after that, normal appetite, grooming, pooping etc. Last night (9/27/14) his appetite was off (He ate in the morning and afternoon of 9/27/14 but only picked at his evening meal). Today he is refusing to eat. He has been sleeping most of the day. He still seeks affection and is cleaning himself, but will not eat.

He pooped and peed early this morning.

Could he be having a reaction to the vaccine 4 days after getting it?

I will be taking him to the vet tomorrow if he continues to refuse food tonight.

I checked his blood and his BG was 55. Took his temp which was normal.

Thank you!
 
Unlikely to be the vaccine; those either tend to happen soon after being given, or in the case of vaccine-associated sarcoma, quite some time later.

Is he licking his lips? Going up to food, sniffing, then walking away? That would suggest nausea.
He may have some sort of digestive upset - possibilities include pancreatitis, IBD, a change in food batch can do it, a temporary kitty virus.

Give it no more than 2 days without eating, then head for a vet to avoid hepatic lipidosis, a complication of excessive fat breakdown due to lack of food intake
 
Thank you for your reply.

I took him to the vet on Monday and we got a Cerenia shot and some pepcid to give him for the next few days.

He did eat pretty well after the shot yesterday and nibbled a bit throughout the evening.

Today he's been nibbling every now and then. He did poop today so he's eaten something. The Cerenia has worn off so I'm keeping a close eye on him. I suspect he is nauseous since he does go to his food then sniffs it then walks away, he's also seemed a bit drooly.

The vet said to watch him today and if still no better with the appetite tomorrow I'll bring him in again and she'll give us an appetite stimulant. If it comes to that I'm also going to ask for more Cerenia since there's no point in stimulating his appetite if he's nauseous.

Thank you for the help. :)
 
Please look in his mouth. Is there any tartar? Gum redness (gingivitis)? Loose or broken teeth? Any of those may indicate pain and a cat may cut back on eating if it is bad enough.
 
I haven't had a chance to get a good look at his mouth but bad teeth are definitely a possibility. His teeth are yellow. Tomorrow I will have my husband help me get a good look in his mouth.

Another somewhat odd behavior he has is that while he is eating he will suddenly stop eating then run away from his food. It's almost like he's startled or something. He'll run off and meow and then sort of stand there and flick his tail (a whole tail flick not just the tip, tail will be straight up and he'll sort of flick it like a whip). He'll eventually come back and begin eating again. Anyone have any idea what that behavior could be about?

He's been doing it since I've had him back living with me. I was wondering if it was perhaps his anal glands bothering him (they were/are still a bit impacted) because of the tail flicking, but I'm wondering if perhaps it's his teeth, stomach upset or acid because it only seems to happen when he's eating that he'll do this behavior.

Thank you.
 
That sounds like a mouth problem to me. His mouth may be hurting when he eats (the food "bites back"). I have read that cats with stomatitis or feline oral resorptive lesions (FORL) may do this. Ask your vet if the mouth was examined. And if there were resorptive lesions, the root may be underneath the gum and painful; only an x-ray would show it for sure.
 
Re: PureVax rabies vaccine question - update

Just wanted to give a quick update and thank you for your help. :)

Alfred's appetite is finally back to normal. It took a little while to rev back up but now he's back to his usual behavior of wanting food at his feeding times.

I looked in his mouth and his upper left back molar is gray and smelly so I will be taking him in to get a dental sometime this month, I will also ask about the resorptive lesions when I get his pre-dental blood work done.

Thanks very much for all the help and feedback.
 
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