Elaine (Greencastle, Pa) on 02/14/2010

It's been 2 1/2 years, but I still can not get over what happened to my precious cats. Here's my story.

On the evening of August 20, 2007 I took two of my cats in for their yearly FVRCP booster and Feline Leukemia booster. Within an hour after we returned home Rebel began vomitting and having breathing difficulties, and Levi began digging at himself and biting his paws. We called the after hours service as by this time the office was closed. The vet blew us off stating that it was the cats' nerves. Things were not better an hour or so later so we again called the vet and this time he agreed to see us. Upon seeing the two of them he agreed they were having some type of allergic reaction. He gave them both an antihistamine shot and steroid shot and sent us home with steroid pills to give them in the morning.

Levi got better within an hour or so of returning home, but Rebel did not. He vomitted and cried all night and labored for breath. I called the vet on the morning of August 21,2007 and they had me bring him in. The vet just said that it was taking longer to wear off and that they would keep him until evening and see how he was. Unfortunately, by evening he was no better. I asked if it could have been a bad batch of vaccines and was assured no because the vaccines were from highly reputable companies. The vet at this point also stated that something was affecting his nervous system and that this wasn't a typical vaccine reaction. He assured us that he would call the vaccine companies.

On the morning of August 22, 2007 I called to see how Rebel was doing he was rapidly declining. They just now had decided to give him IV fluids and do blood work. We could not understand why the delay in treatment. It seemed like it was a wait and see situation. I called back a few hours later and was told that he was in liver and kidney failure. The test also revealed that the phosphorous levels in his kidneys were high and that this could not have happened in such a short amount of time. The vet more or less insinuated that he was already sick before he received the vaccine, but that did not explain Levi's reaction. I even stated this to him again he just said he wasn't really sure.

After this phone conversation, I immediately left work and went to be with Rebel. When I got there he was just laying in the cage convulsing in pain and crying. His once bright pink tongue was now almost black. I knew then that he wasn't going to make it so I called my boyfriend to leave work. I couldn't even hold him one last time, even that hurt him too much.

At 12:45 P.M., Rebel began throwing up so I told my boyfriend to turn his head so he wouldn't choke. He stopped breathing, I ran out to get someone, who proceeded to take her good old time getting to him. I don't why she even bothered because all she did was put her hand on him and say yes there is no heartbeat. I know it was probably too late but a little effort may have been nice. She couldn't even bring herself to say she was sorry for our loss.

The office staff then called our vet because he was not even there when he died he was out on a farm call. Once he arrived, he half-heartedly apologized and asked if could do an autopsy. He then stated that he would call the vaccine company which he was supposed to have done the day before!

He did contact me that night by phone to tell me that he had done the initial part of the autopsy and that Rebel's kidneys were small, the liver was mottled, and that he had large amounts of blood in his colon which apparently is due to the immune system going into overdrive and causing the body to over clot blood. We have not heard from his since and don't know that we will. He was supposed to send samples from Rebel away for pathology tests but we were not even told how long it would take and in our state of grief and shock we didn't think to ask. We did finally get the results of the autopsy, several months later I might aid. The cause of death heart failure. I stated to the vet, that you mean the reaction caused his whole body and heart to shut down. All he could say was yes more or less.

I am blaming the vaccine companies for pushing these vaccines on animals that don't really need them and the veteranarians for not explaining the risks. I found much of this out too late through my own research. Rebel never went outside and neither was Levi so their risk to anything was minimal. I also can't understand why vets are giving more than one shot at a time. They would often say, "Well that way you only have to bring them one time". I thought I was giving them the best care possible, little did I know that it would kill one of them.

Levi seems to have fully recovered but I am concerned that there could be long term problems. My cats will no longer be receiving these booster shots. I will only do what is required by law, which in this state is a rabies shot every three years. We will also no longer use this vet or any of the other vets at their office because we really do not feel that Rebel received adequate care. Perhaps if the vet would have seen us the first time we called for help and not an hour and a half later, maybe it would have made a difference.

I apologize for the length of this e-mail. I tried to keep it as brief as possible without leaving out too much detail. Thank you for taking up this cause. Many people do not understand the bond with a pet and can not comprehend what someones goes through in situations like this.

Thank You,

Still Grieving in PA