[GingerZ]

I took Ginger in for her yearly checkup and rabies vaccine this afternoon. She also got a dewormer (though I don't know why - she's an indoor cat). It is about 6 hours later and I just noticed that she seems to be having a little trouble with her back legs. She seems unsteady when she walks and she stumbled going up the stairs. I just watched her poop in the litter box and other than it being strange that she did it with me standing right there, all that looked fine. She looks uncomfortable but not distressed. Is this a normal reaction to either the shot or the dewormer?

Background since I haven't posted in a while - she is 6 years old, almost 7. In good health other than being overweight.

 

[GingerZ]

Just called the emergency vet. They thought it was probably a reaction and I would be okay to wait until morning. So...never mind (I guess)!

Here's a picture from last Christmas for your trouble:


IMG_1315 by mrfl, on Flickr

 

[marie73]

I wonder why the dewormer was given? I've never even had one suggested for my (inside) girls during their annual check-ups, or any other time.

 

[GingerZ]

I don't know either and I probably should have questioned it, but I tend to not listen to what my brain is telling me until it is too late.

 

[Cats&Plants]

My vet gives dewormer too even though they are wholey indoor cats. I will question her next time.

Hope she recovers quickly and it's just a nasty reaction to the vaccine!

 

[Pixall]

Sey gets dewormed, and Tuck got it @8wks, but since Tuck was from outside it is understandable. I don't have Kyra dewormed unless she actually has them, she never has.

Sey is a ratter, so he NEEDS the dewormer, the amount of wild critters he eats... lol

 

[laurief]

Assuming the rabies vaccine was administered in the hind leg, that could very easily account for your cat's soreness in that leg. Of course, the fact that she's carrying a lot of extra weight on a sore leg isn't helping matters, either. In any event, the soreness should abate within the next day or two, if it hasn't already.

Laurie

 

[librarychick]

I would be more concerned than your vet seems to be. Keep a very close eye on her and if the wobbling seems to get worse, or if she becomes lethargic, be prepared to take her in right away.

IMO it's highly unlikely that this was caused by the dewormer. The worst I've seen a dewromer cause was a bit of runny stool. I'd think it was the rabies vaccine that caused it, and because of that I'd be very cautious about giving her that vaccine again. It has been my experience, with pest as well as people, that if they have a mildly poor reaction once they are much more likely to have a severe reaction to that vaccine later on.

In any case I wouldn't worry about the dewormer, my cats get it about once a year or so. I do feed them raw, but even an indoor only cat can get worms from bugs they catch in the home, other pets, or even your shoes. Better safe than sorry.

 

[yingying]

I wonder why the dewormer was given? I've never even had one suggested for my (inside) girls during their annual check-ups, or any other time.

Marie, are you saying that a strickly indoor adult cat don't need to be dewormed, ever? My girls got 3 rounds of dewormer when they were kittens. They are approaching 1 year old and the annual vaccine date is coming. I don't know if my vet will suggest dewormer, but I want to know if it should be done or not. Thanks.

 

[Pixall]

Get them checked. Bring a fresh stool sample from each cat and if it is posative, get them done. If it is negative, there is no need to have them treated for a parasite they don't have. Thats the way I look at it anyway.

 

[yingying]

Checking stool sample is possibly more expensive than deworming (which is only $12 per cat). So if some extra deworming doesn't hurt, I possibly will just get that done. Otherwise I may consider which approach is better

 

[laurief]

I prefer not to put unnecessary drugs into my animals, so I would always opt for a diagnostic test over a potentially unnecessary drug.

Laurie

 

[GingerZ]

Sorry, I didn't see that there had been more replies to this. Just wanted to update this to say that Ginger is doing great. She actually got a lot better later that same evening. I almost think the vaccine made her back leg feel stiff because she seemed the worst after sleeping for over an hour. She got a lot better the more she moved around. I will definitely keep this episode in mind when we go for future shots though.

And somebody mentioned her weight - rest assured we are trying to slim her down! She just has a really slow metabolism, so it's been slow going. On top of that, we had to board her for a week over the holidays and she got fed double by accident which pretty much undid all the weight loss we had achieved so far.