Vaccine Reaction

[Jess_Noble]

Just wondering if others on here have any experience with antigenic vaccine reactions in kittens?
I have a 12 week old calico girl (who is the sister to Frannie, the kitten we lost from their litter for anyone who previously saw that thread) who we are keeping. She just had her first distemper combo last week Thursday, and on Monday I came home to find her with a swollen lymph node (the submandibular one under her jaw on her right side) and acting lethargic. She still has an appetite, and moves around a little - basically for "essential" functions like food, using the litter box, finding the best place to nap, etc.
I took her back into the vet on Tuesday, and they said that everything checked out fine, and that they think she's just "processing" her vaccine (in other words, having an antigenic reaction to it). They gave her a dose of metacam (meloxicam) to help keep her comfortable and said to give her lots of TLC at home until she was over it.
This morning she expressed a little bit of interest in her favorite toy, but only half heartedly, and only for a minute, then went and slept mostly for the rest of the day. She is still eating, using the litter box, etc, but still just very lethargic - especially for her.
Has anyone else had an experience like this with a kitten? I've never, in all of my years of fostering, had this happen. If you have how long did it last? I'm probably being overly-paranoid after losing her sister not that long ago (to seizures that couldn't be controlled - possibly due to a convenia injection for a stubborn URI - long story) but I'm worried about her. I'm also concerned now for her future vaccines - can they continue to be safely vaccinated if they've reacted to the first one? Typically whatever upsets the immune system once, will upset it even more the next time it's exposed - so I'm a little worried there too.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Is there any way you can find a different vet? The swollen lymph node is concerning, I think.

I don't know if this will help but there may be posters you could private message...hang in there!!
Confused About Booster Shots

 

[Hyda]

This is concerning and you should be paranoid im sorry but i do know a few people who lost their cats due to vaccines, sadly not all cats have the same reaction, take her to another vet if you can. Lastly i don't think they should give her all the vaccines at once if that what they did.

 

[Jess_Noble]

Thank you for the replies... one of the reasons I trust this vet is that she generally doesn’t push anything and everything on you... she takes a conservative, only what’s needed approach. That being said, I feel like she should be a bit more concerned about this situation - though again, I know that I am hyper-reactive right now after everything I’ve just been through with losing her sister.
She only had her first distemper combo vaccine - they want to do another distemper combo and rabies at her next visit, but those vaccines will be delayed indefinitely, until I see what the outcome of this is. It would suck to not be able to have her fully vaccinated - it would essentially take away my ability to foster in the future since she wouldn’t be protected from all of the things stray kittens can bring along with them... but if that’s the way it has to be, she comes first.
She’s still eating, and I’ve been weighing her daily to ensure she’s not slipping backwards in weight, but she’s just not herself. She went from being this active vibrant kitten, to a lethargic sleepy kitten who will only play half heartedly for a minute or two at a time when you coax her to. The rest of the time she just sleeps.
I’ve heard of vaccine reactions before, but have never experienced one, and have no idea how long to expect this to last. I am considering getting a second opinion/consult from the internal medicine specialist that treated her sister when she was hospitalized.

 

[KarenKat]

Trin had a bad rabies vaccine reaction around age 9 recently (there was another vaccine he got at the same time too, but I forget which). Our two boys both got the vaccine and came home. All the kitties took naps. When Trin woke from his nap a few hours later he was disoriented, and couldn't walk straight and seemed confused. The vet, which was about 45 min away, said that we should take him to an emergency vet. He ended up acting normal at the e-vet.

So basically, our bad reaction only lasted 3-5 hours on the same day as injection. I knew someone else who's kitten had an allergic reaction and died from it which happened immediately upon returning home. Not sure if all reactions are like that, but those are the two I know of. Hopefully your kitty will get better soon!

 

[Furballsmom]

I am considering getting a second opinion/consult from the internal medicine specialist that treated her sister when she was hospitalized.

Sending you all the very best wishes, hopes thoughts and prayers!!

 

[Jess_Noble]

An update on Lilly - she is now at the Emergency/Specialist center where her sister was treated/hospitalized.
I took her back to my regular vet this morning since she STILL wasn't acting like herself, but was still eating, using the litter box normally, etc. I was worried that she was still so lethargic and wanted her checked again. This time they did blood work - the chem panel came back normal but they had to send the CBC out and don't have the results back yet. They decided that since her eyes were a little watery (a new development in the last 24 hours) and she was still lethargic, that she probably had a URI - which they claimed she probably "picked up somewhere outside since she's a young kitten" - never mind that she never goes outside, but they WILL NOT consider that she could have actually gotten sick from the vaccine. It was a modified live vaccine, so entirely possible that if her immune system was weaker (from being so sick when we first took their litter in) that it could have actually infected her.
In any event, they gave her more metacam (meloxicam), sent her home with 4 more days worth of it, plus azithromycin. I questioned the antibiotic since she had no nasal discharge and her eyes were just watery, not goopy or crusty, but they said it would help.
She was actually a little more perky when I got her home - she even played a little bit. Then I gave her the first dose of azithromycin at 5:00pm - by 6:00pm she was displaying intermittent ataxia and seemed to be having periodic muscle spasms that would cause her legs to contract to the point that she couldn't control them to walk normally.
So now she's at the emergency vet, and I've left her overnight in case she gets worse - then she's there already and can receive immediate medical care if needed. They're going to do some additional blood work and give her more fluids to "flush her system" in case it was an interaction/reaction to the medications.
When I was looking up the product label for metacam, I came across a page on the FDA's website. The FDA actually requires metacam to carry a black box warning on their product saying that it shouldn't be used in cats, and that there is no safe oral dose for use in cats.
I am floored... and beside myself. What do I have to do to find a vet in this city that will NOT try to kill my pets??? I live in a city that is home to one of the top 10 veterinary schools in the U.S. and every vet that I have encountered here is a disaster. I realize that vets are allowed to use products "off label" but why would you be so egotistical to think that you know better than the FDA? They are generally slow to "punish" any pharmaceutical company, yet they have regulated this one because of the number of reports of kidney failure and sudden death in cats that they have received. Sorry that this has gotten a little "rant-y" but I am just floored... and scared that I am now going to lose a second kitten.

 

[Furballsmom]

Holy criminentally. I am so sorry this has happened!!
I'm sending every good healing thought I own to you .

 

[Jess_Noble]

Thank you... I am just praying for a different outcome for Lilly, but worried that we are on a downward spiral again. Fingers crossed that we are not - I just couldn't handle losing Lilly too.

 

[Megsnan]

I just read your post and feel so bad, my heart goes out to you. I wish I had some advice but I don’t. I’ll be thinking of your kitty and hoping she gets better soon.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! How are things today?

 

[KarenKat]

I’m so sorry this is happening! I’d be so angry too, vets should mention any and all side effects or warnings before suggesting medication! I hope Lilly feels better soon!

 

[Jess_Noble]

She did okay overnight at the emergency vet, and she's still eating thankfully. She does have a moderately high fever, so they're giving her IV fluids to help bring that down this morning. If all goes well, they're thinking she could possibly come home tonight - it's just a matter of supporting her through whatever this is.

I emailed my regular vet, unsure if I'd get a response over the weekend, but she did email me back, and her only response was "I've never seen a reaction like that. Keep me posted". Clearly she's never seen a lot of things - such as the black box warning on all metacam products, indicating that they are not safe to use in cats.

 

[Furballsmom]

 

[white shadow]

.
Hi Jess !

Just by chance I picked up on this thread......I was following up some work that involved a previous post of yours (where a kitten died after receiving Convenia).....and, just happened to check on your other posts here on the forum.

Now.....this kitten today....this is most interesting.

First, would you please post your general location: country and largest city nearby. (I'll explain if it does not become evident.)

OK. I want you to read (at least) the first post in this thread: My 5 Month Old Kitten Is Very Ill And Vets Have No Answer

Does anything there sound familiar ?

For many reasons, there are restrictions on what members can post by way of medical 'advice' on this forum......so, instead of giving advice, we post our opinions (hopefully well-informed) based on our personal experiences and, possibly, based on reliable information we have learned from reliable, reputable sources (not from 'crazy cat-lady' blogs and the like).

So, rather than giving you advice, I'll just say that first, IF this were my kitten, that kitten would not see another drop of Metacam......and, as well, not another grain of that antibiotic azithromycin. Period.

AND...........whatever may follow, because Metacam is now in her system, ensure that they do not use Convenia in her - this may require a flag on her file.

Show these Vets that other thread.......they have access to a Veterinary forum such as VIN. Have them post/search for other adverse reactions in kittens with azithromycin+meloxicam.

OK - have to go
.

 

[Jess_Noble]

Thank you for the reply White Shadow - and for directing me to that thread. Some of the symptoms in that kitten do sound similar to Lilly's - and the meds are the same/similar. I am located in Madison, WI.

The ER vet suggested that she should not receive any more Metacam or azithromycin before I even said it, so she's not had any more since the dose yesterday. She wasn't even clear as to why the antibiotic was prescribed in the first place, since her infection (if she even had one) was clearly viral - no snot, no colored discharge at all - just clear, slightly watery eyes. She wouldn't flat out condemn the use of the Metacam (vets tend to stick together and, in my experience, will never put down the actions of another vet) but she was concerned about it and definitely wanted to stop it.

I actually do happen to have a box of Metacam at my house, with the insert, left over from my dog's partial cruciate tear. I pulled out the insert today and there are warnings, practically every other paragraph, about not using the product in cats. There is a page on the FDA website where they forced the manufacturer to include a black box warning about the dangers of using it in cats - specifically for vets that tend to prescribe things "off label". The U.S. FDA is known for protecting drug companies, not necessarily regulating them, so the fact that they required such a warning means there had to be significant evidence of dangerous reactions in cats. It blows my mind that vets think they know better than the collective body of evidence surrounding a particular drug. This stuff shouldn't have been used in ANY cat - much less a 12 WEEK old kitten that is less than 100% healthy. She had no idea why Lilly initially presented with lethargy and a swollen lymph node - they did not do any blood work the first time she was there - so they didn't even know if she was stable enough to tolerate it in the first place - and they gave it to me WITHOUT asking me and WITHOUT informing me of any potential risks or side effects. The info on the manufacturer's website also says that if a single dose of Metacam is given to a cat "off label" that NO subsequent doses should ever be given. My vet gave her a second dose on Friday, after her initial dose on Tuesday, and sent me home with premeasured syringes of it, wanting me to give it to her every day for 4 more days.

As it stands now, Lilly is still doing well. I spoke to the ER vet on shift early this evening and she had no more episodes of the ataxia/leg spasms, and she was eating really well. Her fever had come down considerably, but they still wanted it a bit lower, so she's staying for one more night to ensure that it's under control. They are hopeful that she can come home tomorrow.
Here the really weird part - her CBC results came back - and they're completely NORMAL. Not even an elevated white blood cell count (which I would expect with any sort of inflammation or infection. The ER vet was surprised too. At this point I'm wondering if she was initially just having a vaccine reaction, but the Metacam they gave her on Tuesday made her feel worse or prolonged her symptoms. Then the extra Metacam and azithromycin just pushed her over the edge.

 

[Furballsmom]

Gee whiz I'm glad to hear this about your kitty!!