[AddFran]

Hello All,

Addison went on Saturday morning to have some vaccinations. Her second set of the 4 in 1 (distemper) and her first FeLV vaccination. I was very hesitant to do the FeLV, but since I have been considering doing some fostering in the near future, it was recommended to me.

In anycase, it's been 2 days since she's eaten. She hasn't been drinking much and she has been sleeping all day for 2 days. This morning she sat up (like a regular dog/cat sit position) and literally sat in one spot for the entire time it took me to take a shower, get dressed, put on make up, etc. She did NOT move one bit. She's a kitten, so you all know this is very unusual. She also had this glare in her eyes like she was looking at me, but not really seeing me. Just staring through me.

She hasn't used the litterbox as far as i can tell, so i put her in it and she began to very slowly circle around and around. She did this for a few minutes then stopped and sat down IN her box. When I called her, she got up and started to climb out of the box, she put her front paws on the floor and her head, but left the rest of her body inside the litterbox. I had to pick her up and take her out of the box. I've been trying to feed her over and over but she smells the food and turns away. She also seems to be limping? a little. When she does walk she takes a few steps, but seems to favor one leg and then she lays down before getting too far. However, she was not given any injections in her legs, so why would they be bothering her?

Her vaccines were given at a low-cost vaccination clinic, but our vet knew we were taking her there. I've called there emergency number but they say this seems normal.

She was not like this when she got her last vaccines. She was sleepy for a day and the next morning was like new. She normally is crying to be fed and biting my toes by 5am. Does this seem normal to any of you, and for so long? It's been over 48 hours now.

 

[queen of the nile]

I'd take Addison to the vet. Kittens do not have enough reserves to go without eating for over 48 hours. It seems to me like she's had a reaction to the vaccine. I know that lethargy is a normal side-effect of vaccination, but I've never had one of my cats stop eating.

 

[AngelZoo]

I've seen many cats and dogs react that same exact way.
I don't know how old Addison is, or in what general shape she is in health wise aside from these vaccine reactions.

So all I can say is that yes, for some cats it is normal, even if they have not displayed this behavior in the past. However, if you are still worried you have every right to bring your kitty in to be seen, just to make sure.

Try not to get too worked up about it at this point dear, though I know it can be distrubing. My three cats did nothing by lay around and zone out for about 2 days, also not eating much at all after their last vacs.

 

[AddFran]

Just called the Vet, just to be safe. They said that the behavior is somewhat typical, more so for young kittens because a 2lb kitten gets the same dose as an adult cat.

They seemed more concerned with her eating and drinking (or lack thereof) and told me to do what i could to coax her to eat. Maybe feed her from my hands, etc. If she's not eating drinking by the morning to bring her in. And, of course if her she gets worse, bring her in immediately to their office or the after hours emergency office.

I really hope she shows improvement between tonight and tomorrow morning. I know they say it's typical, but she was nothing like this the last time. She seems a little warm to the touch, but they said this can happen too. This seems like an awful lot to go through for indoor cats. I know that yearly vacc's are controversial for indoor kitties, but was told she needed to atleast go through her initial set as a kitten. IS THIS WORTH IT?

I wonder if it was because of the Feline Leukemia vaccination? Should I not continue with it? I'd give up the idea of fostering and skip the vaccine all together if that would make a difference. I don't want to put her through this again.

 

[AngelZoo]

Addfran: Well depending on who you ask will of course say something different. Some feel ALL vacs are necissary every year, others only a couple and some people don't believe in it at all of course.

It is common that the more vacs you get at once the higher chance there will be for some side effects, or reactions such as what your kitten is showing. 3 days worth of this abnormal behavior is the limit where I use to work. If it were to go on any longer, we would request that they come in to be seen.

Some of those vacs can take a large toll on their body, specially when they are younger, while outside they may look ok, their little bodies inside are going crazy trying to build up the immunities to what they've just become infected with.

Personally for me, with relatively healthy indoor cats, no all of the vacs are not needed. Indeed earlier this year when they were in to the doctors he went ahead and gave all 3 of them EVERYTHING. Rabies, 1st round of distemper, feluke, FIV, Giardia. I only asked for rabies and distemper but that's another story.
When I got them home, for about 2 1/2 days they were acting pretty much like your cat now.
weeks later when I brought them in for ONLY their distemper booster, they were no worse for wear when we got home.

Even though I foster, I do not like to give the FeLuke or FIV vacs because I find them a bit too controversial still. I prefer to go the testing route.

 

[RarePuss]

my cat is 6 months, and had his first 2 distempers and rabies at 6 months. After the rabies shot he was totally normal, so maybe your reaction is because either the kitten is too small or the second vaccine, FeLV.

He's 100% indoor cat, so i'm planning on never giving rabies again and just doing distemper when he's 1 year and then seeing what the vet recommends.

good luck

 

[AddFran]

Angelzoo:

My plan was to do the routine vaccinations now. Booster at one year and then every 3 years thereafter. That is what I'm doing with my older (indoor only) cat. She had the FeLV with no problems, but maybe Addison is just different.

I don't think I'm going to do the 2nd dose, I think I'll just avoid that vaccination for her all together. The two of them are otherwise very healthy, and if i do foster, I'll do the testing as you suggested.

On a happier note, Addison ate half of her bowl of wet food about an hour ago and drank a LITTLE water. Though she definitely is not herself yet, she seems to be coming around a little. I think she'll be okay, but this sure did have a nasty effect on her. She'll not be going through this again. Poor thing!

Rarepuss:
I think she is a little on the tiny side. She only weighs a bit over 2 lbs @ 11 weeks, but she's been tiny since we got her (it's been a month). Our regular vet and the vet who administered her vaccinations both said she looks great, one suggested perhaps she was the runt and that she'd most likely catch up soon. She has grown a lot in the month, so she must have been really light when we first got her at 7 weeks.

 

[queen of the nile]

Good to hear that she is eating. She really had me worried. It really seems to me that she had a bad reaction to the vaccine. I agree that you should skip that one in the series and just test if you decide to foster.

 

[drjean]

Glad to hear she's better. This is a pretty significant reaction; be sure that your vet notes it in the record. But she should be okay by tomorrow.

It's best to get only one vaccine at a time, with about 3 week's rest in between to allow the immune system to complete its response to the first one before slamming it with another one.

We've doing a series of articles on vaccines in our free newsletter for the past few months:
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=nlarchive. Some info there might be helpful.

Cheers,
Dr. Jean

 

[AddFran]

Dr. Jean,

I'm always happy to see your name on one of my threads! Thank you.
I will be sure they note this in her chart.

I am going to go read your article right now.

Also, as you predicted, she is doing fine today. She was biting my toes, feet and arms this morning promptly at 5am.

Thanks everyone for posting!

 

[stormy]

Hi Addfran,
I just now saw your thread...I'm glad your kitty is back to her normal self again!

 

[AngelZoo]

AddFran: Glad to hear your kitty is doing better like I expected. No worries, sometimes doing what we think is best, is a real pain. hee hee

 

[AddFran]

AddFran: Glad to hear your kitty is doing better like I expected. No worries, sometimes doing what we think is best, is a real pain. hee hee

Isn't that the truth! Thanks for the information and advice.

 

[kana]

Happy to hear that Kitty is better!

Just posting this incase someone else has this happen to their fur-baby.

My normally hyper cat was kind of like this for almost a week. He did eat and drink, but he was so still and slept more then I have ever seen him sleep.