My Cat Died Yesterday - Possible Reaction To Rabies And Distemper Vaccine?

[missy0614]

So I had an older cat named sparkle. One year ago I took her to the emergency room to get checked worried about weight loss. They did run blood and she was fine (they did NOT run thyroid test). Thursday I took her to get groomed and again asked about the weight loss and explained she seemed a little anti social then the norm. I asked about how much weight she lost and they said from 2015 she was 18 pounds and on Thursday she weighed 9 pounds. They said for an older cat that was no uncommon - cats loose weight when they get older. She was approx 15-16 years old. They gave her a nice hair cut and did blood work. They told me she was due for rabbies and distemper (one was not due until June but they said you might as well do it now). So I did and I picked her up at the end of the day and stopped and got her a new collar and name tag with my address and phone number. When we got home she was vomiting and kept looking outside but jumping up on the couch like she wanted to go out. I gave her food and water after a bit which she didn't touch, which was weird. An hour later I let me Chihuahua outside and she bolted out the door - which is normal for her but I tried to stop her and run after her because i knew she didn't feel good. I called for her ALL NIGHT LONG. Every hour on the hour and she didn't return. That was not normal - she would always run back in after an hour or so of being outside. The next day I walked the neighborhood calling for her and nothing. That morning the vet calls and I told him what happened and asked him if the reaction could be from the shots and he did not comment and went on to tell me the results came back for very high thyroid hypertension and told me about some good medication we could get her on. I was supposed to pick the meds up yesterday. Anyway, about 5PM yesterday a neighbor came to my door and said my cat was in their bushes and did not look good. I got a towel and ran to get her - she was still alive but she was crumpled in a corner and she was very limp and moaning when i picked her up. She urinated on me when I ran to my car. I got her half way to the emergency room and she passed in my vehicle.

I am upset. I feel like I should have waited until the results came back before giving the damn vaccines. Can anyone give insight to this situation? My gut is telling me if we didn't do the shots and started her on the meds and got her better in regards to the thyroid situation this would not have happened. My heart hurts and I miss Sparkle this morning and sad that she died in a neighbors bush but happy I got to hold her one last time.

 

[duckpond]

I don't have any answers. I am just very sorry for the Loss of your Sparkle. It always hurts to loose a loved one. I am sorry for your loss.

 

[missy0614]

Thank you Duckpond. That was nice of you I just posted this so maybe it would help someone to make an informed decision. I do believe vaccines are a good thing. I just think maybe the three issues combined caused this outcome. Older age, two vaccines at one time and the Thyroid issue. Thanks for responding - have a wonderful day.

 

[sweetblackpaws]

I am so sorry for your sweet baby. You had no way of knowing and we are at the mercy of vets to tell us what is right. I lost a 5 year old cat many years a few days after a rabies vaccine and while I have no proof, I believe that is why she died. I only vaccinate some of my cats (not all) because I am required to for my apartment complex (it is the law in my county). They are indoor cats.

I am not in the veterinary field, but I don't think vets should vaccinate for rabies unless the cat is very high risk (i.e. goes outdoors a lot, etc).

I also think it was foolish of them to vaccinate such an old kitty - this is on them, not you!

You did what you thought was best and what the vet advised. Your furbaby knew you loved her and she still does.

 

[epona]

I'm so very sorry for your loss, that's just awful.

I think the vet should have investigated the weight loss tbh, yes it is not unusual for older cats to lose few ounces here and there, but halving in weight over a couple of years should have been looked into.

I don't know about the vaccines (we don't vaccinate for rabies here as standard because we don't have rabies, it's only given if you take a pet out of the country - or more importantly, if you want to bring it back in), I don't think vaccines are bad per se, but I don't think cats that have health issues should be vaccinated without knowing what health issues they have.

 

[kat hamlin]

Sorry for your loss. A painful question--do you still have Sparkle's body? A necropsy (that is the word for an animal autopsy) may help answer your questions.
For a senior cat who had lost that much weight, I would have not have dismissed it and would have run the tests all prior to vaccinating. Vaccines are in general pretty safe but they are listed, directly on the label, as not to be given to ill animals. This is at the veterinarians' discretion but an elderly cat is not at high risk for any of the diseases in the FVRCP-C combo and probably, if she had received rabies vaccines in the past, had some level of already-existing immunity. It's about weighing the consequences, which in my mind, your vet did a poor job of doing.
High thyroid can definitely cause weight loss but that's a ton of weight loss to be dealing with. I wonder if there weren't other underlying problems Sparkle was having as well.
I'm not saying I blame the vaccines, but I'm saying it was a poor decision by the vet to administer them without waiting for bloodwork to come back in a senior cat presenting with some issues.
I do hope you get some peace of mind and do not blame yourself. Sparkle has gone to a happier place where she can run and play free from suffering.

 

[artiemom]

I am sorry to hear about your kitty. I know it hurts; I know it hurts like all heck and you want to blame someone..

A cat, Losing half their body weight, in a year; is a sign that they are very, very, very sick..
A huge sign. The fact that her blood tests came back abnormal; is not shocking, after such a huge weight loss.

Just a question: Do you take you pets in to the Vet for routine appointments? You cat was a senior, she probably should have had a full blood test, done once or even twice a year.
The abnormal results could have been flagged at that time, and treatment begun.

ER's are really not the place to take a cat for routine care. They are just there to put out the fires.

Do you have a regular vet?

The fact that she had the vaccinations done before the results of the blood test, well, that is the prerogative of the Vet. If he felt there was danger in giving the vaccinations, I am certain he would not have done so. There can be some reactions to vaccines, but You cat was seriously ill to begin with.

Again, I am so sorry for your loss...

 

[Margret]

I'm so, so sorry to hear this.

What everyone else has told you is correct:

1. You did nothing wrong.
2. Your vet has questionable judgment.

So, it's time to look for a new vet for your other animals, and it's time for you to grieve. Grieving
And please know that however long the grieving process takes, we'll be here for you.



Rest in peace, dear Sparkle . Know that you were and still are loved, that you will be remembered.

Margret

 

[FakeGourmet]

No way to know. Don't know why you didn't bring your cat in earlier to regular vet with such weight loss. Very likely, she was already at a critical stage; My cat, who had been very stable for a long time with kidney disease, went downhill very quickly after a rabies shot. Since then, my vet no longer gives rabies injections to indoor only cats, whose owners he knows well, once they have a serious chronic condition. He has not seen similar problems with distemper.

 

[ClevelandsMom]

Thank you Duckpond. That was nice of you I just posted this so maybe it would help someone to make an informed decision. I do believe vaccines are a good thing. I just think maybe the three issues combined caused this outcome. Older age, two vaccines at one time and the Thyroid issue. Thanks for responding - have a wonderful day.

I am sorry to hear about Sparkle. My 16 and a half year old cat Cleveland died on February 13 and I feel that a distemper shot he had in January made him sick. He became extremely weak when he had always been a very strong cat. He had symptoms of heart failure, difficulty breathing, intermittent paralysis of his hind legs, and coughing and gagging which I thought was a hairball but nothing came up.

My vet convinced me it was time for him to go so I authorized euthanasia. But it always bothered me that his health declined so massively after the vet visit in January. He had other treatments in January so I didn’t connect the distemper shot until very recently, unfortunately after he died I googled side effects of distemper shots and all of these symptoms came up. I wish I had googled them before I had him put to sleep.

 

[Jem]

I'm so sorry for your loss.
While I can't really comment on if the vaccines had anything to do with your kitty's passing. I will for certain tell you that it is not your fault. You made it aware that the weight loss was a concern. And we SHOULD be able to trust our vet's expertise when it comes to the health and well being of our pets.

I will add though that I too lost a cat to hyperthyroid, his decline was so fast that by the time we were given the meds to try and help him, he was already too far gone, and all the damage done to his muscles, also affected his heart (also a muscle). Only 5 days after starting his medications, he went into cardiac arrest and passed quickly at home. I wonder if in your case, he was just too sick to come back from this, like mine was. And possibly his body just could not handle the vaccinations.
It's an awful feeling, thinking you should have done more, or did something differently, but we all do what we can with the information we are given. I hope you heart heals a bit more each day, and know that you are not alone in your grief.

 

[neely]

As other members have expressed their sympathies I would also like to extend my deepest regrets on the loss of Sparkle. I am glad you were able to hold her one last time. She passed with you by her side to comfort her.

If you would like to post a tribute to your dear Sparkle please feel free to do so here: Crossing the Bridge