Bad reaction to my rabies shot

[ Tell a friend | Save to your Corral | Make them Catster Feline Friends ]
[ See the full Bear page ]

[See the entire diary archive for Bear ]

October 27th 2012 9:07 am
[ Leave A Comment | 11 people already have ]

Mom knew something was amiss when I slept quietly in the bed with her and Dad all night last night. Usually I come in at the first peek of dawn and stomp on Mom, stomp on Dad and then knead one or the other until somebody gets up and feeds me.

This morning I was sort of ambivalent about getting out of bed at all. Finally I went downstairs -- walking, not bounding -- and promptly threw up on the kitchen floor. Just water, because I had nothing in my tummy yet. Then I ate some breakfast, which was a relief to Mom.

But a half-hour later, she came back into the kitchen and I was lying on my side, next to a puddle of upchuck. Mom freaked out and called the vet. While she was talking to him, I wandered back over to my food dish and started eating again.

It appears I just had a bad reaction to my rabies shot. The vet told her to give me some Pepcid to settle my tummy and a quarter of a children's Benadryl tablet. She gave me the Pepcid, but we don't have any Benadryl in the house, so she has to go get some. I'm keeping food down now, but I'm still not myself.

In the future, she's going to ask the vet to give her a note to excuse me from rabies vaccinations.

Leave A Comment | 11 people already have

Purred by: Finnegan (Finney) (Catster Member)

October 27th 2012 at 11:39 am

I had a bad reaction when I was a kitten. Haven't had one since.

Purred by: Bear (Catster Member)

October 27th 2012 at 12:15 pm

Was the reaction to a rabies shot, Finney? And do you mean you haven't had a bad reaction since, or haven't had a rabies shot since? This is the first time I've had a bad reaction to a vaccine, although I had a very serious bad reaction to the Ketamine anesthetic when I was neutered. Mom wonders if this means I'll have bad reactions in the future.

Purred by: Finnegan (Finney) (Catster Member)

October 27th 2012 at 12:29 pm

It was a bad reaction to the rabies shot and I haven't had a shot since. Mom will not put me through that again. You can have a reaction to anything at any point Bear so I would not recommend getting another one. You're an indoor only kitty right?

Purred by: Bear (Catster Member)

October 27th 2012 at 12:37 pm

Yep, indoor only. We all are, but Mom still worries that one of us will get out accidentally, and rabies has been reported in our area. We don't get routine vaccinations for anything but rabies (we get blood titers instead, to make sure we're still protected).

Purred by: Finnegan (Finney) (Catster Member)

October 27th 2012 at 12:42 pm

Do you try to get out?

Purred by: Bear (Catster Member)

October 27th 2012 at 12:57 pm

No, I don't try to dart out the door when it opens. But once I followed Dad into the vestibule when he was going to work and he didn't notice. When Mom got home, she opened the outer door and there I was, waiting for somebody to come home and open the inner door to the house.

If the postman had opened the outer door to leave a package in the vestibule, I might have gotten out. It scared Mom. And both Jasper and Onyx have gotten out when workmen forgot and left doors open. Now Mom puts us on the porch or in the family room and doesn't leave the house when there are workmen here.

She probably worries too much.

Purred by: Finnegan (Finney) (Catster Member)

October 27th 2012 at 1:17 pm

My mom worries too but she's more concerned about me having a bad reaction again then me getting out. She's very careful about it and me and Lacey don't try to get out.

Purred by: Bear (Catster Member)

October 27th 2012 at 2:25 pm

My Mom is of the same opinion after today. After what happened with the Ketamine, she's really, really scared of drug/vaccine reactions. And your experience convinces her even more that we Norwegian Forest Cats have some extra sensitivity to such things. Thanks for the help, Finney!

Purred by: Finnegan (Finney) (Catster Member)

October 27th 2012 at 2:37 pm

You're welcome Bear, wouldn't want to see anything happen like this again. Better to be safe than sorry.

Purred by: Griswold II DIT#57 (Catster Member)

October 27th 2012 at 3:57 pm

Bear I have horrible reactions to vaccination shots too. From now on my Doc is only giving me the vaccinations he thanks is important (like Rabies cause it's state law) When I do get the shots he has it in my file to give me the antidote shot first.

After my first bad reaction and an allergy shot at the vets I started to act like myself in about 10 to 12 hours.

Hope you feel better tomorrow.

Purred by: Xena Princess Warrior DG#23 (Catster Member)

October 27th 2012 at 5:54 pm

One of my angel sisfurs had bad reactions to shots, so now Mom only will get out initial shots and that is it. Yeah we know some think that it is wrong but shots can be awful to animals and Mom says all of us are over vaccinated...she now gets titers and all of ours are still good...our doggie Mia had a reaction to the rabies, her back swelled up she is a Chihuahua and it looked bad...Mom took her to the vet and it was confirmed that she was having a bad reaction....she got exempted for a year...now Mom will never get her another shot...she in mostly in the house and our yard...

We hope you are feeling better, purring for you