Reaction to FVRCP/Rabies Vaccine

[milliesmom]

I posted an update about this in one of my other threads, so if you also saw that, I apologize for the repeat. My cat Millie received her 1 year FVRCP/Rabies vaccine today. The vet explained that it is a two-in-one sort of deal and ultimately lasts longer, so I decided that made the most sense. Everything was fine until around 5 pm today when Millie wouldn't come out from under my bed, not even for her favorite toy. After nearly an hour and a half of her being under there, I was able to pull her out because I had a bad feeling. She ended up sort of in a squatting position and when I touched her she made some awful crying noises. I immediately knew this was very wrong so I picked her up to take her to her carrier. When I did that she let out an awful cry, it was terrible to hear that. I took her straight to the emergency vet and after 3 hours of waiting (there were some much more emergent cases), they let me know that it seemed consistent with a reaction to the vaccine.

They administered a Benadryl equivalent while at the vet and I was sent home with some pain pills to give to her as needed for the next couple days. I was instructed to give her one of these pills as soon as I got home with food. Luckily, when I got home Millie ate a huge meal. I was very glad to see she was hungry and had an appetite. Since then she has been camped out under my bed again. I've been periodically checking on her under there and she seems okay, just most likely still uncomfortable and wants to feel safe. It's nearly 2 am here and although I'm exhausted, I feel like I need to keep checking on her to make sure nothing gets worse.

If anyone has any experience with this, I could definitely use some advice or even just some reassurance that everything will be fine! (Because I am optimistic that it will, it's just tough right now being in the heart of it).

 

[FeebysOwner]

Until some members come along and respond directly, here a few more recent posts about vaccine reactions in cats, along with a couple of articles about some of the possible side effects.
Rabies Vaccine Reaction | TheCatSite
Bad reaction to vaccine? | TheCatSite
1 week post FeLV vaccination and still sleeps all day | TheCatSite
Feline Vaccines: Benefits and Risks | Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine
Allergic Reaction to Vaccines in Cats - Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery, Management, Cost (wagwalking.com)

 

[fionasmom]

Hopefully, she is through the worst of it; she is probably still sore or just plain upset that this happened, but eating a big meal is a good sign. This particular vaccine is very widely used. Today I saw my cat vet with a recent rescue, whose story is not important here, and the vet wanted to administer this vaccine. Years ago I had a huge reaction to the FeLV vaccine in a cat (who ultimately did live to be 17, so it did not harm her permanently), so I never administer more than one at a time. You were not in any way to see this coming and you did the right thing to get your cat some help at the ER. Does the primary vet know this happened?

 

[milliesmom]

Hopefully, she is through the worst of it; she is probably still sore or just plain upset that this happened, but eating a big meal is a good sign. This particular vaccine is very widely used. Today I saw my cat vet with a recent rescue, whose story is not important here, and the vet wanted to administer this vaccine. Years ago I had a huge reaction to the FeLV vaccine in a cat (who ultimately did live to be 17, so it did not harm her permanently), so I never administer more than one at a time. You were not in any way to see this coming and you did the right thing to get your cat some help at the ER. Does the primary vet know this happened?

She is much better now thank goodness! I will definitely keep this in mind for if she needs more vaccines in the future. The ER vet I took her to said they will send all documents to my primary vet, so they should know at this point. They are closed on weekends so I'll be calling tomorrow to catch them up and see if there's anything they can offer me.