Conference misery::feline_v1

    What you have said is true. When I was (attempting) to leash train
    Argus, some kids were hurling apples near by. One of them landed
    near Argus who panicked and bolted. When I tried to pick him up,
    he gave me a very deep bite which I had to go to the emergency room
    for. The doctor quizzed me for about 5 minutes about the cat, was
    he a nice cat, did he ever bite anyone before, was he indoor or
    outdoor, did he hunt, did he go to the vet regularly, were his shots
    up to date, and who was the vet. Then he called the vet to make sure
    Argus really was up to date. The doctor then told me the same thing
    that you were told.
    
    One thing that I would add to your story. With 7 cats, and rabies
    shots at $15 each, I can't afford to give them to my cats in the
    office, so I take them to the annual rabies shot clinic sponsored
    by the city for $5/shot (same vet as it turns out). I make a point
    of the following week going into the vets office to have them mark
    down on each cats chart that they went to the rabies clinic. That
    way, if one of my cats bites someone, and the vet's office is called
    to see if the cats are up to date on shots, there won't be any fatal
    mistakes made.
    
    Deb

    All my babies have their rabies shots even thou all of them are
    strictly indoor cats.  My motto - better to be safe than sorry.
    
    Sandi (Lightning, DejaVu & Thunder's mom)
    
    

    This is the first year my vet *insisted* that Honey have a rabies
    shot, even though he's indoors only.  He said that rabies is rampant
    this year and that he is vaccinating every cat, regardless of its
    indoor/outdoor status.  He had always recommended the shot, which
    was given to Honey, but this year, there wasn't any choice.
    
    Mary

    I had always poo-poo-ed the stories about bats in houses [bats
    are among the more common carriers of rabies].
    
    ...until one of my friends found a bat flying wildly around her
    apartment in [densely-populated] Brookline. 
    
    I always had the rabies shots given my cats, but felt foolish.
    I still get the shots, but don't feel foolish!
    
    	Pennie

    re:4 Me too - I though that they could get it from rabbid bats.
    
    I guess it's possible ??  Was the bat in her apt. rabbid?
    
    

    Egad.  My (strictly indoor) cats haven't been to the vet for, er, "a
    long time."  I'm calling to make an appointment tomorrow!

							-- Nina

Has anyone here ever heard of an adverse reaction to a rabies shot?

When Shamus got his shot last year, he had a very strong reaction about
16 hours after receiving the shot.  I was awakened by a very loud,
"sick-kitty" type purr and he was extremely lethargic for the next
8 hours.  He could barely walk 10 feet without flopping down and
going to sleep.  He gradually came back to life over the course of
a few hours.  This, of course, happened on a Sunday and wore off
before I got in touch with a vet.  My other cat, Daisy, got her shot
at the same time and had no reaction whatsoever.  In addition,
Shamus had a similar but much less severe reaction to his leukemia
booster 6 months later.

I've since spoken to various vets about it and they say it's very 
rare for a cat to have such a reaction because the shot does not 
consist of live organisms.  They think he might be sensitive to 
whatever culture medium is used to grow the organisms used
for the shot.  

Now, here's my dilemma - he's due for his yearly shots around now
and I've made an appointment to bring him in Friday.  I'm just not
sure what to do about the rabies shots.  My cats are indoors, but
there are still many good reasons to get them innoculated against
rabies.  I'm somewhat afraid that this might be an anaphylactic 
reaction that gets worse over time.

Has anyone had a similar experience or does anyone have a better
understanding of what could be happening here?

Thanks,
Pam

    Pam,
    
    It *could* be a coincidence, but just in case it is not, here is
    what I would suggest.  First of all, talk with your vet about it
    in advance.  If it were my cat, I would arrange to drop my cat at
    the vet in the am, have them give him the rabies shot, and KEEP
    him there the rest of the day for observation.  If he should have
    a more serious reaction, they would be better equipped to treat
    him, and they could treat him without delay.  They might also
    consider giving him a smaller-than-normal dose as a trial (sort
    of like an allergy test).
    
    I've heard of reactions to the other vaccines, but not rabies.
    Are there other brands that use a different medium than the brand
    Shamus got last time?   Did he get *only* a rabies shot last year
    or was *anything* else done to him?
    
    Good luck,
    		Pennie

    I agree with .9, have the vet observe him.  Is it the same vet as
    last year?  He may know which brand he used last time, and could
    try a different brand this time.
    
    Also, even though your cat is indoors only, he should be vaccinated.
    If he ever did bite anyone (unlikely, but you never know) you would
    have to prove that he was innoculated against rabies.  If you couldn't
    prove it, I am not sure what they would do, but they might take
    him from you and quarantine him (that is the least of what might
    be done).
    
    I have had cats react to Leukemia vaccine, but never rabies.  Did
    the vet give him *all* his boosters at once?  Also, maybe you could
    get the vet to give him a three year rabies shot so you won't have
    to go through this again for awhile.
    
    Jo

    When Pashenka, my red baby, had his early shots, I almost lost him.
    Dr. Brody thought it was an allergic reaction of some type - he
    put him on both an antibiotic and pred. - which worked - which one
    worked, I'm not sure.  When he was due for his next yearly shot,
    I called the office to make the appointment, and Dr. Brody remember
    Pashenka VERY WELL (I think he remembered the Saturday night/Sunday
    morning "will he live" "why can't he walk" "what's wrong with his
    legs session - I will NEVER forget it).  Anyhoo, we talked about
    it and decided that it was best to try the small amount - 1/2 dose
    to see what the result was - I left him for the day - picked him
    up after work - and waited and watched.  NOTHING HAPPENED!   
    I felt a lot better, but also remembered that the previous reaction
    was 18 hours after injection.  That baby wasn't out of my sight
    for 2 days - and was watched very closely for 3 or 4 days after
    that.  Six months later, and 7.5 pounds of cat versus 4 pounds
    of kitten, we tried a full dose, with no problem at all.
    The reaction can be so scarey - and probably happen at night, which
    makes it worse!

Thanks for all the advice.  I was actually beginning to think about
leaving him at the vet's for the day myself.  The circumstances around
last year's shot was that my vet runs the local town rabies clinic and
I brought both cats by for just the rabies shot.  This was on a Saturday
afternoon and I was awakened Sunday morning by the loud purr/roar and
that's when I noticed Shamus wasn't his normal lovable self.

My cats have gone to the same vet their whole life (3 years) and I've
discussed this with 2 out of the 3 vets in the practice.  I don't
know if they stock the 3 year shot - I was thinking it would be
the best thing to do since then he'd only have to go through this
once every 3 years.  I'll see what whichever vet I see on Friday
says about this.  I may ask them to investigate further before
giving him the shot depending on what they say.

Pam