Rabies Shot Side Effects in Cats

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects

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!

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects

Posted by 4paws (Ontario, Canada) on 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 Dr. Christina (Md) on 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).

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects

Posted by Pam (Brooklyn, Ny) on 11/24/2016
0 out of 5 stars

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

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects

Posted by Randa (Greece) on 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 Xenot (Washington State) on 10/02/2016
0 out of 5 stars

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.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects

Posted by Suseeq (Sydney, Australia) on 09/04/2016

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

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects

Posted by Peter (Nashville Tn) on 09/02/2016
0 out of 5 stars

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.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects

Posted by Suseeq (Sydney, Australia) on 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 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.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects

Posted by Kim (Miami, Fl) on 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.

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.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects

Posted by Rockrose (Rockland, Maine) on 08/20/2015
0 out of 5 stars

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.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects

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

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

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.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects

Posted by Joy T (Bohemia, Ny Usa) on 10/11/2012
0 out of 5 stars

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 Laprincessa86 (St. Paul, Minnesota) on 10/07/2012

My 6 month old female kitten just got her second set of shots. The vet told me she needed a rabies shot so I paid for her to get it. The had to give her it 3 times in her leg because she was moving so much.

Two days after the shot she's been like a zombie. She walks like her legs are in pain. You pick her up and she meows in pain. She won't eat or drink anything the past 2 days. She just sleeps all day and moves super slow. She can barely even hold herself up, she'll just fall to the side and sleep. Her breathing is super heavy. I'm so nervous because she's so small. I'm going to take her to the vet tomorrow.

The vet told me she'll need one next year too, I doubt I'll take her, she's a 100% indoor cat and these symptoms are scaring me.

Side Effects

Posted by Carri (York, Pa, Us) on 06/10/2012
0 out of 5 stars

Five years ago, I had to move into low income housing. Prior to that, I was not letting my cat, named Mouse, get vaccinations since I first got her because I had another cat get cancer at the injection site and die from it. So my cat Mouse hadn't had a shot in a long time. Since she has been getting the required by law and FORCED on me shot because of where I live, she has been steadily losing weight. She went from almost twelve pounds five years ago, to seven and a half pounds now. And last week when I was forced to take her once again for the Rabies shot, I think she's lost more weight in the past week. She's experiencing all kinds of side effects from the shot now. She's been refusing water alot. And this is a cat who loves her water. She's barely been eating. I had to change her food and give her other things just to get her to eat. She's in pain all over since the Rabies shot. If you pick her up, she makes noise like she's in pain from it. The day after the shot last week, she was confused. And she's even tried to eat things that aren't food, like bits of cat litter. She's having trouble doing anything now and just wants to stay on my bed. Half the time, I'm carrying her to her food and water and this is since the Rabies shot. She's in too much pain to do much. And she's running fevers on and off, mostly on.

I'm praying the side effects will wear off and she'll at least want to eat and drink more. She drank a tiny bit of water this morning and then refused to touch it the rest of the day.

I am heartbroken, upset over it. I had asked the vet if he would give her a waiver and not give her the shot, but he refused. This is a fifteen year old indoor cat that never goes outside. There is zero risk of her getting rabies. And the horrific side effects from the shot are not worth anything in this world. His excuse for not giving her the waiver was that he would only assign a waiver if he personally witnessed a reaction in his office. He's so EVIL. First of all, if that happened, he would have already killed your pet or harmed them with the shot. Second of all, in many pets, reactions take time to happen. Usually hours after the shot. All this vet is interested in is his wallet. He doesn't care whose pet he harms or kills as long as he's making that money.

I want this barbaric law repealed. There is absolutely no reason on this earth for indoor older pets to get a shot of any kind. Vaccines have never been proven safe or effective. The vaccine industry is the biggest fraud on this planet. Vaccines produce an antibody that often does nothing. You will still get sick with whatever you or your pet were vaccinated for. The side effects of many vaccines are permanently disabling. It's not worth anything on this earth.

The building I live in, because it's a HUD building, if I don't do the Rabies shot, they will literally evict me. I had to do it. If I didn't, they would tell me to get rid of my cat, or they would call someone to take her from me by force. And I'd still get evicted for breaking the lease. I am literally held hostage to force vaccinate my cat every year. They don't care if my cat is harmed by the vaccine. They don't care if I can afford to take her. All they want is those papers proving she was injected.

Rabies Vaccine Side Effects

Posted by Kleand (London, Uk) on 05/29/2012
0 out of 5 stars

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
0 out of 5 stars

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 Carla (Jacksonville, Florida) on 01/01/2012
0 out of 5 stars

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 Deirdre (North Attleboro, Ma) on 01/01/2012
0 out of 5 stars

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 Meowmeow (Franklin, Ma) on 12/14/2011
0 out of 5 stars

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.