Bad reaction to vaccine?

vince

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Sir Eats-A-Lot (7 or 8 years old, I think) went to the vet yesterday to get a checkup and his shots. This morning, he was pretty much out of it and seemed to be sore all over, as he cried all the time I carried him. He wasn't very responsive and wouldn't eat, so I called the vet and they said to bring him in at 3 p.m., but if he perked up and started eating, then I wouldn't have to bring him in.

Well, I hand-fed him some and he ate that, has felt well enough to interact and groom himself and his companion cats some, so I figured that he felt better. He did respond when I said the magic word ("hungry"), but didn't want to come to the kitchen, so I fed him a bit by the electric heater in the back bedroom where he's been most of the day. I think he's feeling well enough not to have to endure another vet visit.

His vaccine is some kind of new one that's supposed to be good for three years. The vet said he might be feeling punky for a while, but this seems pretty bad. Anybody else had a cat that got this and had this bad of a time?
 

Lucy&Petra

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Once when my cat got a vaccine she got the shakes, she was very miserable and didn't do much eating/playing/moving. Next day she was totally fine. The serious things to look out for are vomitting, serious changes in stool and swelling around the face. I would guess your cat is OK.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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All of my cats get pretty lethargic for about 24 hours after getting their shots. After that, you'd never know anything happened to them.
 
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vince

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No swelling or vomiting, just listless. Haven't seen him go potty today, so I don't know how that end's doing.

He came out to the kitchen in the evening to eat, but didn't eat very much. Went back to his heater, where he is now.
 
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vince

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Doing better today. Ate the first two meals completely and acted hungry when I was making them. Has been climbing stairs and isn't staying by the heater all the time. Still seems sore, but I think he's okay.

This is the first time I've had one of my cats be this ill after a vaccination.
 
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vince

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No, nothing like that. He just had a reaction to the vaccine. He's fine now.
 

CatladyJan

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I’ve been sticking with the one year vaccine which causes enough fatigue on its own.
 
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vince

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Was it FELV? Glad there's improvement!!
I think I misunderstood your post to mean you were asking if he had FELV, when you were asking if his vaccine was for FELV.

I went and got the vet invoice to check. He got a 3-year rabies shot and a 3-year FVRCP shot. I'm not sure what the second is--there seem to be an awful lot of acronyms floating around here, many of which I don't know. I just do what the vet says I should.

Sir Eats-A-Lot is back to his ornery self, beating up on his brother and sister.
 
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