Bad reaction to rabies jab

[val douest]

Yesterday our six-year old cat had his second anti-rabies booster and

suffered quite a severe reaction.  He had a similar but much

milder reaction last year, though he was fine after the initial

vaccination in England three years ago.  His pupils were very

dilated, his breathing was rapid and shallow, and he was panting. The

site of the vaccination (in the scruff of the neck) was obviously

irritating him greatly and he was rushing around looking disoriented

and confused.  Eventually, about six hours later, he settled down

and today seems fine.  We phoned the vet  but the advice was

to just keep an eye on him and to take him back (a 30-min car ride) if

he got worse.  He has had many other injections and vaccinations

and while not being the greatest fan of visits to the vet he is not

usually unduly bothered.

I am now concerned that this might be an allergic reaction which could

get worse each time (like people who are allergic to bee stings). 

Rabies of course is the one vaccination we really need to keep current

in case we ever have to return to the UK.  Has anyone else had a

similar experience and is there anything that can be done to lessen the

risk of a severe reaction?

Thanks,

Val

[Liz]

We took our cat for his first rabies injection just over a month ago.  Since he had never had any injections he also had 3 others (I forget the details but Typhus is amongst them).  I asked the vet about side effects and she said it was posssible there could be some.  It wasn't until about a week later that he stopped eating and drinking, was very lethargic and (worst of all, from our point of view, as we have previously had a cat that had cancer) developed a small lump under his arm pit (for want of a better anatomical description!).  As such a long time had passed we took him straight back and the vet said he was pretty sure it was a reaction but did not say what to.  He gave us something to re-hydrate him and after about another week he was fine.  He has just had the second lot of 3 injections and so far is OK.  So whether his reaction was to the Rabies we don't really know.

I don't know what you can do about it except to question the vet very closely next time and be prepared.  If there is any possibility of travel to the UK you can't really afford to let these injections slide.

Liz

[fionaj]

Hi Val

I am really sorry to hear about your cat. What i am about to say may upset your plans to return him to England, sorry.

18 years ago i was living in a high rabies area of Germany and got

bitten by a mouse (90% of mice carry rabies) so I had to undergo a

series of rabies shots.

To cut a long story short, on the 3rd vaccination i had a

serious localized reaction with some neurological involvement, pretty much what

you described for your cat, I then had a further shot 1 month later that was to

cause every symptom of rabies except for the hydrophobia. I was hospitalized

for 5 days and treated with large doses of antihistamines as well as other

drugs. The national rabies centre was contacted in England and blood samples sent to them,

the outcome being I had hyposensitivity to the rabies vaccine, any further

vaccinations would probably result in my death.

 Following my recovery, I researched everything on the

vaccinations, and there were 2 types that were either live or dead vaccines. I was

treated with the live one which resulted in my problem, although now that I am

hyposensitive to Rabies in general I can not have either.

 I think you have should find out if the vaccines used on

your cat contained the live or dead organism. Then contact DEFRA and ask there

advice, maybe your vet will supply a covering letter to aid your case. I

believe that so long as your cat has antibodies (the titre test) he should be

covered to return, (having said this, it is just me thinking sensibly,

Government agencies don’t always think that way!) without his yearly boosters,

but this is something that you would have to check with Defra. You could also

ask them whether they would except homeopathic vaccines, but I doubt it.

 I am very sorry the news isn’t more encouraging, but you

have got a year to research, read, contact the authorities etc and then you can

at least make a fully informed decision on the way forward.

 I wish you all the best

Fiona   

[Fay]

I'm so sorry to hear about the bad reactions sufferered by both cats and humans to the rabies vaccine.

Two brief points:

When I had my cat vaccinated I was assured that it is a 'dead' vaccine, but I'm not sure if this is standard practice in all vets.

Secondly, my cat's pet passport indicates that she only needs a booster every 2 years. Val, it seems like yours is being given a booster annually?

Hope this helps.

[Ron Avery]

Whilest the UK passport only requires a bi-annual rabies jab, the French passport requires,  and it is recommended, that all cats and dogs here have an annual rabies jab.

[val douest]

Many thanks to you all for your very helpful replies.  As you say,

Fiona, at least I have a year to do some research and evaluate all the

options.  What a frightening experience you had following your

rabies jabs! - I had no idea that mice are such common carriers in

areas where rabies is endemic.  Anyway, if I find out anything

generally useful I'll post it on this forum.

Val

[Miggimeggi]

[quote user="fionaj"]

18 years ago i was living in a high rabies area of Germany and got bitten by a mouse (90% of mice carry rabies) so I had to undergo a series of rabies shots. [/quote]

Sorry to go off the subject a little but ............ninety percent, that is a bit mind blowing.........is that all mice or only German mice?  As someone who prefers to remove rather than kill a pest I have fished a variety of animals  and snakes out of the swimming pool before, and then  removed them to somewhere outside my home, never been bitten by a mouse but could have been,  I have been bitten by a mole.  This was not here in France but in Durban where rabies is also endemic.  Guess I must be more careful.

Anne

[fionaj]

Hi Miggimeggi

Thanks for your comments I to thought it a very high percentage, as

they are the experts I had to believe them, maybe it was said to try to

frighten me into having the shots, who knows. with hindsight i think i

would have prefered to have taken my chances!

I was doing what you try to do also, I had just removed the wee thing

from the jaws of a not so friendly moggi, and straight after biting me

the little treasure droped dead, everyone said i had poisoned it, who

knows, maybe I did.

Getting back to the point though, i was trying to say that allergic

reactions can happen from rabies shots and that the consequences can be

very serious, thus giving Val more information on which to form her own opinions and decisions.

All the best

Fiona

[Grumpy]

Val,

Our French Bulldog reacts badly to the anti-rabies injections also. Severe swellings all over the bodies and itching. We control it with antihistamines. Most unpleasant for the animal and very distressing to witness.

Steve

[londoneye]

Not sure you will ever get to the bottom of this one.

My cat (rescue kitten from battersea) had a bad reaction to its flu jab first year, second year reaction was really bad - poor thing stumbled around the house for hours, unable at worst point to even climb on his favourite pouffe thing (very low !)

called the vet and they basically said unless he looks like he's going to drop dead (admittedly they phrased it more sensitively than this !) then leave it to morning.    Next morning cat was - pardon the expression - fit as a butchers dog!   This year, we had to give him his flu and rabies (not together obviously).   In view of previous experience we had his flu and rabies done early morning with the vets on alert to the fact (this is in UK by the way) that being prone to vaccine reactions, we would bring him straight in to be kept in if any sign of trouble.    

Well, you guessed it - no problems at all !   All hyped up for nothing - kept poking the poor cat awake wondering if he had dropped dead (no - just sleeping - or trying to !).  

I have made our vet sound unpleasant and uncaring which is not the case, she is great !    But it seemed from her reaction that there was very little they can anyway do about this problem, other than control the symptoms if they become life-threatening.   

Dont despair, it may never happen again - hopefully.

[ali-cat]

[quote user="val douest"]Yesterday our six-year old cat had his second anti-rabies booster and suffered quite a severe reaction.  He had a similar but much milder reaction last year, though he was fine after the initial vaccination in England three years ago.  His pupils were very dilated, his breathing was rapid and shallow, and he was panting. The site of the vaccination (in the scruff of the neck) was obviously irritating him greatly and he was rushing around looking disoriented and confused.  Eventually, about six hours later, he settled down and today seems fine. 
[/quote]

I have been reading these posts with great concern - my 3 cats are booked in for their rabies injections next week.  Our local vet never mentioned there could be any problems, but I will be phoning him in the morning, with a long list of questions.

I hope your cat is better & that the poor wee man is totally recovered.  Can you let me know if he is alright or if you have been able to discover any more about the jabs - it would put my mind at rest when I take my 3 in next week. 

Thank you

[londoneye]

I would suggest as a fall-back position you do what we did, ie ensure that you book in your cats on a day when you know that the vets are going to be open for a few days after (eg not on a Friday night!) and as early as possible in morning (that is presupposing there is an afternoon or evening surgery), so that you can take them back if required. 

As I said earlier, strangely my cat didn't have a reaction to the rabies vaccine, which I was really expecting, but if you are concerned, from a practical point of view I would arrange that the vaccines are given as above, so that you can drag them back to surgery on same day if required.

Dont know if this helps at all but it is something I have learned from my own (rather pathetic!) cats reaction to flu jab.

Sure it will be find though so dont sweat on it too much (fingers crossed for you)

[val douest]

Hi Ali

Yes, our cat is absolutely fine now, I'm very pleased to say.  But

I'm so glad I posted the question as I have a lot of useful information

for next year.  Next time I will certainly take him in early in

the day, mid-week, with the vet forewarned.  Also, a local friend

who uses the same vet for her dog, says that he also reacts badly to

injections so he is given an antihistamine injection before the main

jab which seems to do the trick, so I will ask about that too.

The overwhelming odds are that your three will be fine but it is good

to be forewarned so that you can take them back in if you are really

worried.  I have trawled all through the internet and have not yet

found anyone whose animal has been very severely affected by the first

jab - if there is a problem it seems to get progressively worse after

subsequent boosters, or else it's a one-off like london-eye's cat's

nasty experience.

So good luck - I hope they all come through with flying colours,

Val