DELAYED, prolonged vaccine reaction

[Houdini 1783]

I appreciate everyone, and welcome everyone's opinions and experiences because I'm not a doctor nor do I understand any of this. I am just a scared mom that will do anything, pay anything to help her.
I saw her primary vet today and he is still leaning towards a vaccine reaction and is not fond of the lack of care I received at the specialist. He also said he has never seen this before in his 20+ years so he is outside his comfort zone.
My options are to go back to the specialist to do the joint tap, but like myself he doesn't quite believe in coincidences and thinks something else is causing this.
He really wants me to drive a few hours to the university of Illinois and see a specialist there. Downfall is she doesn't do well in car rides.
For now we decided to start her on prednisone. He said the injection she previously received stays active for about 2 weeks so that will be fine, only concern is the atopica.
As of now she has no fever and is eating and drinking when I bring it to her, but she can barely stand let alone walk. Last night she fell trying to go to the litter box.

 

[fionasmom]

If you can at all get to the U of Illinois, it is not a bad idea. Can your vet help you to make her comfortable for the ride? Is the 2 hours or 8 hours, which could make a difference. Can your vet consult with the U of I on your behalf? Don't be afraid to bring that up to him.

I have a case open right now with Zoetis regarding Convenia. This is not to worry you, and my cat is improving sufficiently enough that if there were a reaction it is subsiding. When I asked them about steroid use last week on the phone, they told me that they had done no studies with steroids and had not found contraindications. They recommend the use of a steroid if the animal in question experiences an anaphylactic reaction to Convenia. They have also stood by the fact that the fourteen day window is the most crucial for any reaction to Convenia. NSAIDs are contraindicated with Convenia.

Did you just get back from the vet? Might this explain her fatigue?

 

[Houdini 1783]

He said he would give me kitty xanax for the car ride, and actually my sister has a friend that works there so I am going to see what I can do.
She WAS on onsior in the 2 week time frame.
She did not go with me to the vet today. I went by myself just to talk about next steps. I felt bad he has been using his own personal time to call me at night for updates on her that I decided to make an appointment.
She does not seem tired, she just cant walk

 

[fionasmom]

Reactions to carprofen, specifically mentioned, were in concurrent use. You had, I think, a 10 day window between Convenia and Onsior and it seemed to have helped her when it was administered. Not every adverse reaction is going to occur and most are not.

What appointment window is U of I able to give you?

 

[Houdini 1783]

I'm at work and have not called yet and I wanted to see if my sister would talk to her friend that works there and see what they think.
I did go home at lunch and started the prednisone

 

[Cat.mama]

I’m glad to hear your kitty is doing better. Since she is indoor outdoor I hope you will continue to get her vax. I always stack vax for my cats. One cat is Notorious for reactions. Twice, including just two weeks ago they hit a nerve which gave her a lame leg (slowly workable) for about two week. This last time was at a new vet. However she said it was not neurological, it was the Benadryl (premed for reaction) was given under the muscle and made her sore?? Laser treatments and pain meds and she is finally jumping off the walls again. My reason for posting tho.. I let the vet know she usually has to come back for fluids due to reaction.. the vet said, let’s put fluids in her now! They did put some under her skin and other than her temp messed up leg!! She didn’t seem to show any sign other than drowsy from Benadryl. Those that get bad reactions might ask about getting fluids with their vaccines along with the pre med. But make sure the pre med is not under the muscle!!

 

[Houdini 1783]

I don't know if this is good or bad... but just like the onsior, as soon as she took the steroid she is able to move around again and act Semi normal

 

[fionasmom]

Very common to see an uptick with a steroid and you must feel some relief at least. If it got her over whatever this was, it may be a step toward resolving this. Continue to monitor her and follow up on inquiries about the appointment even if you decide on another course of action.

 

[Houdini 1783]

Just wanted to give an update. I started her on steroids on Monday October 17th and there was an immediate Improvement. She has been eating and drinking and walking normally. Starting on Friday October 21st I decreased the steroids and this morning Saturday October 22nd she is back to limping.

 

[fionasmom]

Thank you for letting us know. I was wondering how things were progressing. Did you decrease them incrementally as the vet probably told you? Is she still eating and drinking? Let you vet know and decide a plan of action. Ongoing steroid use is not great, but it can be necessary in some cases.

Do you think that the university appointment might be possible?

 

[Houdini 1783]

Yes, I'm following the medication as prescribed. 4 days with 2 doses, and than 1 dose daily after that.
No problem eating or drinking. Litter box use seems pretty normal. She felt a little warm to me today, but for october it was extremely warm here so I turned on the air conditioning for her.
I'm going to call on Monday and see if I should have the joint tap done next or the university based on her response to the steroids.
Thanks everyone for listening. It helps a little being able to talk to other people that understand, most people just look at me like "it's just a cat, not a person" even though I would choose her over every human out there.

 

[Houdini 1783]

I would love to hear from anyone that has had a joint tap done...

 

[fionasmom]

Very sick kitten...
Worried about Tiger again
Worried about Tiger again
New member, kitty newly diagnosed arthritis.
Hobbling Kitten

These are the sum total of posts in which a joint tap is mentioned. Most either say that it was done, or that it is being considered, with no followup.

 

[Houdini 1783]

Thank you, I read some of those last night. I have read this thread about 3 times hoping I missed something, but most people don't give a final outcome. I know Pawnee recovered after about a month, but I don't know about most of the others. She has been sick for over 5 weeks now and I cant handle much longer. I am CONVINCED this is because of the vaccines, and since it has been so long I fear its permanent.

 

[fionasmom]

Don't give up yet; make your call on Monday and see what the next step should be. I have never had a joint tap done on an animal, but have read that they are not high risk or expensive. If you could go to the university, I wonder if they could include the joint tap (or determine its necessity) in whatever they can do for your cat.

 

[justin88]

Hi all,

I know this thread is pretty old at this point but I have been following it since last week since our cat, Miles, came down with a pretty bad fever about 2 weeks after his rabies and distemper shots. After 6 vet appointments, bloodwork, xrays, an ultrasound, and an MRI we finally concluded that he was having an immune mediated response to his vaccines. He's now on steroids and on the mend. It was definitely a scary week not knowing what was going on with Miles. Our initial first question when we brought him in the first day was "Could this be related to the vaccine?" and we were dismissed. I know it's very rare but if your indoor cat is mysteriously sick 2-3 weeks after a vaccination and blood work is fine, please consider if it could be vaccine related. A neurologist was able to somewhat confirm this and said she's seen it before - obviously there is no way to 100% confirm it came from vaccines but there is literally no other explanation. Thank you for the OP for the thread and everyone commenting - it kept us a little bit sane as we tried to explore all options. Our poor cat had a fever of 105.8 at one of the visits so we were terrified. Also - someone mentioned joint taps and that was going to be our second option if the MRI showed nothing. Our cat showed inflammation in his right hip (where he received the vaccines). I just wanted to share our experience with anyone else experiencing this - it was a nightmarish past few days. Thanks again for all who have commented!

 

[fionasmom]

Thank you for posting your experiences with the vaccines. I hope that Miles makes a full recovery and return to his normal life.

 

[jstie]

Hi all,

I know this thread is pretty old at this point but I have been following it since last week since our cat, Miles, came down with a pretty bad fever about 2 weeks after his rabies and distemper shots. After 6 vet appointments, bloodwork, xrays, an ultrasound, and an MRI we finally concluded that he was having an immune mediated response to his vaccines. He's now on steroids and on the mend. It was definitely a scary week not knowing what was going on with Miles. Our initial first question when we brought him in the first day was "Could this be related to the vaccine?" and we were dismissed. I know it's very rare but if your indoor cat is mysteriously sick 2-3 weeks after a vaccination and blood work is fine, please consider if it could be vaccine related. A neurologist was able to somewhat confirm this and said she's seen it before - obviously there is no way to 100% confirm it came from vaccines but there is literally no other explanation. Thank you for the OP for the thread and everyone commenting - it kept us a little bit sane as we tried to explore all options. Our poor cat had a fever of 105.8 at one of the visits so we were terrified. Also - someone mentioned joint taps and that was going to be our second option if the MRI showed nothing. Our cat showed inflammation in his right hip (where he received the vaccines). I just wanted to share our experience with anyone else experiencing this - it was a nightmarish past few days. Thanks again for all who have commented!

I'm the original poster on this thread. I am so sorry to find that so many kitties have gone through this over the years, but am very glad that starting this discussion here might have helped others figure out what was going on and got some care and help to get them through it! It sure sounds like this is what happened to Miles. We too were initially dismissed about a vaccine reaction at the emergency clinic ("Not this long after the shots," he said briskly). But when I took Pawnee back to my regular vet two days later, her first thought was "vaccine reaction." Purely supportive care on a high level got us through. It was a year or so later that she got sick again - similar symptoms, but not from any new vaccines! Instead, she had a systemic fungal infection which wrecked her retinas and left her blind. 6 months of antifungal drugs, and she managed as a blind cat with amazingly little trouble. She was so good and brave. I have to wonder if the vaccine illness affected her immune system so that she was more vulnerable to exposure to fungus. So even if you get through the initial vaccine reaction, I'd be quite vigilant about any kind of infection risk - wounds, outdoors in the dirt, etc. She finally died three years ago of old-cat kidney disease. :-( Wishing all the best to all the affected kitties out there, and I hope some vets have learned something about this!

 

[Randomized99]

Hello, I’m so glad I’ve found this chat we got vaccinated with Fellocell 4. My cat became lethargic 10 days after vaccine. He’s usually hyperactive but now only stands for food (8 days already). He threw up couple of times, so we went to the vet. They told me that there’s no way to have reactions so late, we found that he’s gums inflamed, so prescribed metronidazole. Blood test was normal (small changes only), but his lethargy won’t go away. Now we have to do a lot of analysis to find out what’s wrong with him (kidney functions, liver, heart - we need to exclude everything). Of course, when vet claims that no way for delayed reaction after vaccination and you see the opposite written on vaccines, you lose the trust I see that he’s in pain and that breaks my heart. I don’t know what to do. He eats, but has no energy. Can I give something to help in recovery?

 

[justin88]

Hello, I’m so glad I’ve found this chat we got vaccinated with Fellocell 4. My cat became lethargic 10 days after vaccine. He’s usually hyperactive but now only stands for food (8 days already). He threw up couple of times, so we went to the vet. They told me that there’s no way to have reactions so late, we found that he’s gums inflamed, so prescribed metronidazole. Blood test was normal (small changes only), but his lethargy won’t go away. Now we have to do a lot of analysis to find out what’s wrong with him (kidney functions, liver, heart - we need to exclude everything). Of course, when vet claims that no way for delayed reaction after vaccination and you see the opposite written on vaccines, you lose the trust I see that he’s in pain and that breaks my heart. I don’t know what to do. He eats, but has no energy. Can I give something to help in recovery?

Hey there - I'm so sorry to hear your cat isn't feeling well! Is he limping any when he does walk? Our cat was also very lethargic and had a high fever - but didn't have the gum issue. Any fever as well? Respectfully your vet is incorrect with the statement about it being impossible it's a delayed reaction. We also were told the same thing by a few that we saw. Do you have an animal hospital that you could take him with specialists? Not sure if you saw my post but after blood tests, ultrasounds, X-rays and an MRI an animal neurologist did confirm that it was an autoimmune response from the vaccine - our cat got rabies and distemper, and while they can't confirm which one they said it's probably the distemper one/Fellocell 4. The neurologist said if there's a reaction 10-21 days after a vaccination (and everything else is ruled out), it can most likely be attributed to the vaccine. He has been on a steroid for a few weeks (we just started tapering the dose last week) but once he started the steroid he pretty much jumped back to normal. If it's at all possible, I would try to get your cat on a steroid if you can. It's a powerful drug though so getting an MRI to see if there is any inflammation at the injection site would probably confirm it's an autoimmune response - but I know that can be expensive, especially with no pet insurance. Your situation sounds pretty similar to ours. Our cat was eating and using the litter box, but was basically hiding in the closet 24/7. And it started about 12 days after the vaccine. Best of luck to the little guy!