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Rabies Shot Side Effects in Cats

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Rabies Vaccine Side Effects

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Posted by Nina (Ct) on 11/30/2016

My longhaired black cat experienced paralysis days after receiving a rabies vaccine. First the one back leg then both - then the front paws which became stiff and it progressed to his ability to swallow within days. I lost him on December 30 last year. He was such a beautiful boy - I will never allow a vet to vaccinate my animals again!

Replied by Brian Wagner
(Southington, Ct)
05/24/2017

My 8 year old domestic short hair had a similar problem. Three days after the vaccine he lost the use of his back legs, had trouble breathing, vomited and tried to hide himself to die. This new vaccine killed him.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects
Posted by Pam (Brooklyn, Ny) on 11/24/2016

After my kitten received rabies vaccine he became paralyzed in his back legs. A week later he still can't move lower body.

Replied by Dr. Christina
(Md)
11/26/2016

A homeopathic veterinarian is the surest way to resolve this - www.theAVH.org.

At home - Reiki, acupressure, TTouch, ccmrt (muscle release therapy), HTA (healing touch for animals), maybe vaccine detox (spirit essences).

Replied by 4paws
(Ontario, Canada)
11/26/2016

I would suggest 1 drop of liquid milk thistle (available from health food store) mixed in a little food once a day. As the milk thistle is preserved in alcohol, put 1 teaspoonful of boiled water in a bowl, add one drop of the milk thistle and allow the alcohol to dissipate for a few seconds and then mix in a little food. The milk thistle gently cleans out the liver which is likely toxic from the vaccination. A friend's dog was paralyzed from poison. The vet specialist did everything they knew but nothing worked. After 1 dose of milk thistle (this dog was older so had 10 drops), the dog was up walking and happy! Milk thistle is my go to remedy for everyone! :)

I hope your kitty recovers quickly!

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects
Posted by Xenot (Washington State) on 10/02/2016

Both of my cats received their 2nd annual rabies vaccine. The younger cat, a 16-month old Maine Coon kitten is doing just fine. However, the 14-year-old tabby is not. He already has health issues, such as arthritis, asthma, and an enlarged heart and takes a corticosteroid and benazepril for 2 of those issues. He is now laying on my bed and is very lethargic. He is not normally very active because of his age, the meds he takes, his health issues and the fact that the prednisolone has rendered him very over-weight, but I can tell he is definitely not himself. Usually, when he is laying down and I touch him, he purrs loudly immediately. He is not purring, his eyes look distant and he is a bit warm to the touch. He is very lethargic. It has been about 12 hours after the shot. I live in a state that requires a rabies vaccine in order to license my pet. I think I will have to get some kind of document stating that my cat is reactive and should be exempt. I am not going to put him through this again. Last year, he was fine after his shot. Apparently, there is no way to tell how your cat will react from year to year. When I rescued him from the Humane Society, it was before the economic downturn and I was in a much better financial position. I do not have the funds to take him to the vet if his health deteriorates from the effects of the shot. I'm very, very upset. I feel like I paid money to have him poisoned.

Replied by Randa
(Greece)
10/12/2016

So sorry for what you and your cat are going through. I am very much against the rabies shot because I lost my beloved three year old cat because of Sarcoma due to the vaccine. However, it is obligatory by law over here. I have 28 cats and I have stopped using the rabies shot. I also give no vaccines to the elderly cats. Anyway, I vaccinate the younger ones once every other year. They are all doing fine . In your case I would ask the vet to give me a paper stating that my cat is elderly and allergic to this vaccine, so that you can get your pet licence and spare the cat. We don't have a pet license over here. I have no idea how that works or why it is necessary. I hope your cat gets better. Best wishes to you both.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects
Posted by Peter (Nashville Tn) on 09/02/2016

Our cat had his one year rabies shot this afternoon.. tonight about 6 hours later..he won't use the litter box, blows out his nose at it. We tried to put him in it and he acted like it was water. Then he pooped and went pee on the bath mat.

Replied by Suseeq
(Sydney, Australia)
09/04/2016

Please please before any vaccination, put your animals on vit c for least a week.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects
Posted by Lori Johnson (Olympia Washington) on 07/11/2016

I too was forced to give my cat the rabies vaccine. Our state requires it. He is a white cat, which white cats are more sensitive to things than non-white cats. Both him and his white sister had reactions to kittens shots so I was reluctant to allow them to give him a rabies shot. 2 weeks after the shot he was lethargic and two days after that he stopped eating. Took him to the vet and all his blood work was way off. He went unconscious and was twitching. It was the most horrible thing to witness. He had to be put to sleep. I will never allow his sister to ever get a rabies shot. They can lock me up and fine me, it won't happen. Yes I know it's a rare occurrence but that doesn't matter one bit when you lose your baby.

Replied by Suseeq
(Sydney, Australia)
07/12/2016

Lori, I am sorry for your loss. I only give my pets vaccines in the first 2 years of their life then no more. I don't believe in putting chemicals in their body I know you have rabies there in the US so it's probably unavoidable, but your loss is sad.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects
Posted by Kim (Miami, Fl) on 03/26/2016

I took my healthy 12 year-old cat in to get the rabies vaccine December 2015 so that I could travel with her to Hawaii. Less than a week later, she was indicating pain in the right hip area where the vet had administered the shot. It was hard for her to get up and move around without being in pain. Steroids helped the pain a lot. X-rays showed nothing wrong. In the next few weeks and soon months, she lost use of her tail, and was no longer able to use her back right leg. She would often pee on herself while going to the bathroom and not be able to clean herself properly so we gave her lots of baths. By 3 months she was extremely lethargic and had to be carried around everywhere. After her worst day, Makita passed away peaceful in her sleep (March 2016). I regret getting her the shot to be with me in Hawaii. She had many more lives to live. The vet never revealed potential side effects. I am devastated.

Replied by Kim
(Miami, Fl)
03/27/2016

Hello,

I am writing to share my experience with the rabies vaccine. I took my healthy 12 year-old cat, Makita to be vaccinated December 2015 for rabies. She seemed fine until less than a week later, she began losing motor function in her right hip area where she had received the injection, was complaining of pain, and had no movement in her tail. I had no idea what was wrong and took her to the vet for X-rays, but nothing showed. The vet put her on steroids, which seemed to help, but as I weaned her off of them, the pain was still apparent. Over the next couple months, her symptoms got worse and she was no longer able to walk unassisted. I'd have to carry her to the litter box, and she'd often pee on herself so we'd give her many baths. Her health declined very rapidly this past week and she became very lethargic, unable to move or even lift her head. Last night she passed away. Makita was a very healthy cat before the vaccination with many more years to live. I am devastated that this happened and wish I had more information at the time. Please use this information for your records to inform others. Thank you.


Replied by Dee
(Burke, Va)
05/17/2017

I took my 8 year old cat in for her rabies and distemper shot. A week later, she is moving very slowly. Seems to want to sleep a lot, is hiding from me. I'm worried. I found this site, thought I would add my story.

I am so sorry for the death of your pets. Has something changed with the rabies distemper shots? 3 years ago she had no problem that I can remember.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects
Posted by Rockrose (Rockland, Maine) on 08/20/2015

My 19 year old Maine Coon cat recently received his annual combo vaccination (distemper and rabies). Over a period of days he gradually became weak, could barely stand up and lost interest in food. He vomited several times which wasn't that alarming because he was always prone to barfing. The weakness and anorexia were very unusual for him. I gave him fluids a little at a time with an eyedropper, an appetite stimulant and a tiny amount of antacid every day. He didn't eat much but would take tiny amounts of food from my hand. At first the only things that he would eat were treats. I offered him all kinds of food and finally he did show a strong interest in eating raw fish. So he got to eat raw salmon until he would eat other things. It took a few weeks for his appetite to return to normal. He'd lost weight and is now gaining it back very slowly. I believe that he had a toxic reaction to the vaccination causing his kidneys to be overwhelmed or shut down for awhile. I talked with a friend who lives in the same region about it. She told me that the exact same thing happened to her 8 year old cat a few months ago, with extreme weakness and lack of appetite starting the week after getting the combo vaccine with the illness continuing for a month. I wonder how common this sort of adverse reaction is in cats or perhaps if the 2015 vaccine is bad.

Replied by Becky
(Lincoln, Il)
12/07/2016

I took my 8 year old cat in last Friday to get his yearly shots, since then, he has been vomiting his food up, everything and everytime. I Know the vet will never agree that there is a reaction to the shots, but if an animal doesn't do this regularly and then they do it after a shot or medication, duh, that is the cause. What can we do????

Replied by Hilary
(Philadelphia, Pa)
12/12/2016

My cat also had a similar reaction. The vaccine company, after multiple contacts, admitted that this was a "rare" but known side effect. My cat recovered, but now a year later, she has complete heart block secondary to scarring on the heart. I question whether this is related to the combo vaccination.

Replied by Becky M
(Southbury Ct)
09/25/2017

Do you have any details on the "rare side effect"? In July of 2016 I took my cat to vet for her vaccination and within a week she was vomiting constantly, bile. It took over a month for her to recover, I didn't think she would. I took her back to the vet right when the vomiting began to happen and the vet insisted it was not the vaccination and that she had a hair ball. She did an X-ray and saw something and decided surgery to remove the stuck hairball was best. The next morning she did emergency surgery and found no hairball.. did another X-ray..saw nothing. ($3,000 later)We ended up switching her to a hypoallergenic prescription wet food. She had been great all year, healthy. I had to take her back for her yearly vaccine last month. They only reason I did is because the vet would not prescribe her food if I didn't come for her yearly checkup. The vet gave my cat the rabies shot. She was lethargic after, which I expected. Now a month after the same vomiting is happening, started yesterday. She will not eat or drink, just vomiting up bile. She is 9 years old, and has never ever been sick, only the 2 times after her rabies vac.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects
Posted by Alice (Goodyear, Az) on 10/13/2013

My 7 month old kitten died last week after receiving his rabies booster. Immediately after the injection he started vomiting. The vet administered the anti injection but the kitten continued declining. They tried cpr 3 times but he did not recover and died.

Replied by Theresa
(Mpls., Mn)
10/14/2013

Alice, I am so sorry! What a horrible, tragic loss of your fur baby.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects
Posted by Joy T (Bohemia, Ny Usa) on 10/11/2012

This past summer I rescued kittens from my yard from a momma kitty having her third set. I trapped her and got her spayed. I ended up keeping the 5 kittens because the local shelters were all full. I adopted out 3 of them and still have two because there is such a glut of kittens out there this year, they say because we had a mild winter.

They are almost 6 months old now. They had not received the Rabies vaccine yet so I brought them to a low cost, in a pet store, weekend "clinic" of sorts to save money. Three days after the rabies and FVRCP were given, one kitten started walking funny. It seemed he did not have full control over his rear legs. He could lift them, but not control them on the way down and they would make a flop sound when hitting the floor. He could get up and go the the food, water and litter box. He did not vocalize anything. He purrs and plays, but he chooses not to move around so much. He can get up and down the stairs. Two days later, he seemed to be walking normally, but then two days after that he was walking funny again, but there was no flop sound anymore, as if he was compensating somehow or it was just a little better. We brought him to the vet who said it was neuromuscular. The sugar was normal, so it is not diabetes. They did not do an x-ray but based on palpation determined that it was not a skeletal malformation of some kind. They did, however, tell my husband to have him retested for Feline leukemia which he already tested negative for to the tune of 48 dollars which infuriated me.

The cost of an MRI for a cat is approximately 2000 from what I looked up online ...

The sibling female kitten started to have similar although less severe symptoms a week and a half after the vaccinations. She shows some weakness in just the left rear leg, but does a little hop when she moves that she did not do before.

These kittens were perfectly fine for the entire time I have had them, since they are 8 weeks old. Is there any way to know that this problem is from the vaccines? I really cannot spend 2000 on an MRI.

From the paper work, it looks like they had RabVac1 and the FVRCP Ch.

I am wondering if I should try to treat with prednisone and/or antibiotics? It is too much money to get a diagnosis and even then you may not get an answer ....

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects
Posted by Kleand (London, Uk) on 05/29/2012

Our cat was given Pfizer's Vanguard Rabies vaccination and went into anaphalactic shock. She threw up about 25 times and had copious diarrhea, but because the vet called Pfizer and Pfizer said that they'd never heard of an adverse reaction to the vaccine, our vet assumed she was simply traumatized by her vet appointment. It wasn't until her face swelled up that we decided Pfizer had misrepresented the truth, and it took two very expensive appointments (including an emergency appointment at two in the morning) to stabilize her. I'm certain that Pfizer has heard of other adverse reactions to this vaccine (after all, _I_ have, and I'm no clinician), so to me they're responsible for our cat's delayed treatment and suffering.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects
Posted by Joy (Sacramento, Ca) on 03/14/2012

My half Maine Coone cat was administered the Rabies Vaccine and when he came home he was lethargic. For the next 48 hours he had such bad diarrhea that at one point I heard an explosion type sound in the litter box area and found an explosion of bloody diarrhea. He had previously had solid stools and has since. I knew that he had a reaction to the vaccine. He is a very healthy cat.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects
Posted by Deirdre (North Attleboro, Ma) on 01/01/2012

I have an indoor 3 yr. Old Burmese cat. He had his yearly vaccines including Rabies on 12/8/11. He seemed ok for a couple of days and then his appetite when downhill and his spark was gone... He stopped stalking the other cats and acting like the head honcho (His normal behavior). I observed him for a while, hoping things would change and fed him whatever I could get him to eat; chicken, tuna (I usually give him Innova Reduced Fat can in the a.m. And same thing at night, but the dry formula)... He never has trouble with meal time. He was drinking his water, but he still was not his usual spunky self. My vet was on vacation so I brought him to a new vet.(12/21/11)..he checked him out and said he appears fine, but he did have a 1 lb weight loss (in just 2 weeks! ... Maybe a scale difference?) He did observe what appeared to probably be a scratch above his eye(from one of my other kitties), he syringed a sample of the fluid and found nothing. I have the same concerns and bring him back on 12/21/11 the Dr. Does a full senior blood profile (including thyroid, just to cover ALL the bases. ) He also does a urine test.... He finds nothing at all. It is now 12/30/11 and I notice another spot of hair loss over his other eye.... Definitely not a scratch, completely bald, but with little prick marks on the skin??? My cat is not scratching constantly and is not being attacked by the other kitties. His appetite is still the same... I may get one meal of chicken or tuna into him a day and he will only eat off the floor and not out of his dish. He is NOT himself, but I am managing to keep him roughly fed & hydrated. It is now 1/1/12 the Vet is closed and I will be calling him first thing in the a.m. Do any of these combined symptoms sound familiar to anyone? I hope my cat is not getting Alopecia from having been to the Vet 3 times in the last month and getting blood & urine tests :-( I am suffering as long as my lil guy is suffering... Any advice would be welcomed, thanks!

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects
Posted by Carla (Jacksonville, Florida) on 01/01/2012

My cat got very sick with high fever and almost 2 months later, she is still not the same cat as before the rabies vaccine on November 4.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects
Posted by Meowmeow (Franklin, Ma) on 12/14/2011

My 17 year old male cat had a bad reaction to the rabies shot. A little history about him: He is an indoor domestic short hair cat. He has generally been healthy his whole life, until he was 14. At 14 he was treated for hyperthyroidism with radio-iodine therapy. Last January he was diagnosed with 3rd degree AV block. He was started on Theophylline, but within a month began to have a really bad reaction to it. His medication was changed to Turbutaline (one-quarter of a pill every other day) and he has been doing okay on that for the past 10 months (he has had no pass-outs or dizziness).

He was given his rabies shot yesterday and within 15 minutes, he was unable to walk straight, falling over and began panting. The panting only lasted for about a minute and the dizziness has seemed to subside, but since yesterday, he will not come out of his cat cube house bed (he stays in there when he is not feeling well). After he had the reaction yesterday, I thought back and it was last December when he had his rabies shot too. I don't remember him having a reaction last year to it, but within 2 weeks of his shot, he began to show the signs of 3rd degree AV block. I don't believe that the rabies shot caused the AV block, but I don't think that it has helped either. He is still not feeling well and if he survives this episode, he will NEVER be getting another rabies or distemper shot.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects
Posted by Diana (West Newbury, Ma) on 10/20/2011

I am so happy to have found this website to try and figure out what has happened to our 20 yr old cat after having a rabies shot one week ago... Flower had lost a pound since her last checkup 6 mo ago. We had her ears treated for allergies and had her nails clipped. The vet told us that she was overdue for her rabies vaccine so we had it done. That night I noticed that she was very weak and acting strangely, distant and quiet, sleeping all the time... Now a week and a half later she is staggering and walking with her front legs crossing and rear end tipping to one side.

For the last 24 hrs we have thought that she is ready to pass away maybe from a stroke or some illness not identified but having just read everything I can about vaccines, I think that the rabies shot has caused this terrible thing to happen to this sweet animal! She's dazed, confused, crying which she seldom does, vomiting but nothing in her belly. I'm not sure if she is seeing clearly... She is dropping her head into her water bowl and not eating a thing... I am calling the vet as soon as it opens today... But I am afraid it has permanently harmed her. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences with me... I pray there is something the vet can do to turn this around... Her age is against her... it's a shame and never had to happen.


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