Side Effects of Pet Vaccines: A Closer Look

I took two of my cats (siblings) for their distemper shots about two weeks ago. One of them is currently at the vet for what I beleive is a reaction to the shot (high fever, no appetite, lethargy, nausea). Prior to this shot he was perfectly healthy. Just got off the phone with the vet and shes testing for kidney infection/failure because of his labwork. This is now my second cat that had the EXACT SAME THING happen. Three years ago I took my cat Buddy for his distemper shot and exactly two weeks later he was rushed to the vet with high fever, lethargy, no appetite. After a couple days on fluids he was fine and has been 100% healthy to this day. My vet is in Medina also. After Buddy's incident I spoke with the vet several times explaining that I beleived it to be a reaction the the distemper shot. She refused to believe it!! She finally said that if I felt so strongly we would not vaccinate Buddy again. Now I just called back and left a message for her that this appears to be another shot reaction just like Buddy's. We shall see what she says THIS time!! I'm wondering if these shots are worth the risk at this point since my cats are indoors.

We are fostering a mother cat and her 2 kittens. We have had this little family since they were less than a week old. The 2 kittens; one girl and one boy, have been totally healthy and fine. They are now 8 weeks old. We were told to get them their first "Distemper" vaccine at 4 weeks old, but since they had a mother and were not orphans, they could wait til 6 weeks. We had their shots done at 6.5 weeks, 11 days ago. Well. Within 3-4 days the little girl started limping on her front leg. I thought this was weird so I planned to call the vet in the morning. The next morning she was limping on her BACK leg. So I talk to the vet and they said this was a vaccine reaction and should clear up pretty fast, and that I could give her a few drops of baby benydryl. So I did that, and continued to watch her. She was eating fine, drinking normally, peeing and pooping normal with no signs of any other issues except her back, left leg.

So, last night, on day 10, I was doing the daily check of her leg to make sure it wasn't getting worse, and I notice it was really swollen at the upper joint, nearly the size of a golf ball!! So today I called the vet and they said to bring her in. I did, and when the vet saw her they said it looked like her back leg and front leg were broken! I said NO WAY and they did X-rays and of course, NOTHING was broken or fractured or injured at all. They said there was a lot of swelling in her back leg joint and a little in her front leg (right) lower joint. They said she had a slight temp. They first said maybe it was DISTEMPER?? I said NO, she has been only with her mother and brother, no where NEAR any other cats and none of them are sick. Plus she has been vaccinated. They do not believe me that it is a vaccination reaction. I said, but don't you give the vaccine in the rear left leg?? and they said No, it's given in the upper back. Which is NOT true. So now my little baby girl is being hospitalized at the vet on multiple antibiotics when I believe all she needs is something to counteract the reaction to the vaccine. What a mess. I have had many foster kittens, have done tons and tons of kitten vaccines and have never seen this happen. I also am pretty positive the shot was given in the left rear leg, not the upper back as they now are stating.

My chihuahua had a reaction to distemper vaccination. Her face became swollen and she became lethargic. Pretty scary.

My 3 year old cat got his first distemper vaccination yesterday. Starting from about 5 hours after the shot, he lay down in a closet and didn't seem to move from that spot for about 16 hours. I got him to get up and walk around a bit after that period, but he was being very lethargic - not meowing at all (he's usually very vocal) or chasing a laser pointer (which he usually loves). After being up for about an hour he eventually went and hid under the bed. At that point I decided to call the vet because he never hides under there and I know cats do that when they're dying. The vet said these are all normal side effects from the vaccine and that he should be fine by this evening. He's come out from under the bed now, but he's still pretty much just laying around. I did get him to meow a few times though. He seems to be getting a bit better, but as he's an indoor cat I doubt I'll ever put him through this again.

Mike, I'm so sorry for your loss and have a similar story. They gave my 15 year old female cat a distemper shot and within 1 week, she became totally lethargic, wasn't eating or drinking and at the end of the week could not walk. They put her on steroids and I have to say they did help her but I don't want her to have to be on steroids the rest of her life. I found a holistic vet and she is doing accupucture and chirocpractic treatments on her. She was doing better for a while but mentally, she's just not the same and I'm afraid she never will be. She was 15 and extremely healthy. She was still a bit playful, had bright, shining eyes, ran, jumped, and played hide-and-seek with me. Now she lays around all day and night and basically only gets up to eat and barely eats at that. I miss her so much and could just cry every time I see her. I feel like I poisoned her and it's taking its toll on me.

I've since found out that the vaccines they are giving our pets (and children) have mercury in them -- the worst toxin on our planet and they are shooting it right into their bloodstream -- and telling us they need it. And why do they use mercury in our vaccines -- because it increases the shelf life.

They over vaccinate under the guise that it's necessary and I've since found out it's not. After a certain age, they just don't need it anymore and in fact, it builds up in their system and actually can hurt them.

This past April we took our two cats into our new vet to get their distemper shots done. This new vet required us to get those shots for our pets to be seen by them. For the whole time I've had my cats, one for 14 years and one for 7 years they have only ever recieved their distemper shot, not the rabies vacination. So we took our cats in for their shots and there was a BIG mis-communication between us and our vet. When the vet came into give the shots they gave our cats both the rabies and distemper shot. I honestly didn't think to ask why they had two needles. I know this was a big mistake on my part and it was our fault for not saying anything or asking why two needles. So after the shots when we paid we realized that we paid for rabies shots. I was very suprised and said to my husband that well it can't hurt them but next time we won't get those for them since we never had before. Well a week after the vacinations were given our younger cat who is 7 years old came down with a Urinary Tract Infection/UTI. He had never had a UTI ever in his whole life until a week after the vacination. My husband and I immediately both thought that it was related to the rabies shot since he had never had one before and now all of the sudden a UTI! So we took him in to be treated and I asked the vet could it be related to the rabies shot. Well naturally the vet said no, that it would have nothing to do with it. But then why would they say anything different? They make money off of it! Both of our cats are indoor cats, and have been their whole lives so this is why we don't get their rabies shots. I will not be so irresponsiable again when it comes to vacinations for my pets. I personally feel it was because of the rabies shot but who knows. I know my pets and I take very good care of them so I personally feel that the UTI was caused by the rabies vacination.

My cat got his first distemper vaccine yesterday at the ripe old age of 3. He's been acting like he can't even hear me like he's mad at me, because I call his name and he is unresponsive, very lethargic, sick to his stomach, walking very slowly, having a hard time jumping up in places where he has never had any problem before, and all he wants to do is sleep. He is a very vocal cat and he hasn't made a sound since we came home from the vets office. He is also very cautious with where the injection was given, he seems sore in that place. If you have any idea if this is from the distemper or rabies shot or from something else please let me know because my cat is one of my best friends to me, because he is always there, and never judges you haha =] thank you.

-Ashley

I had a 4 month old kitten die of cat distemper because I didn't get it's vaccines. I think that telling people not to get vaccines is wrong - it was the death of my little Angel.

hello! I just want to share what terrible results I'm having today after a distemper shot for my kitten,"1st one at about 12 wks".My kitten is a "plain jane barn-yard long-haired, that , I rescued after being abanded from the mother at 5 wks". Its been a tough 7 wks,"thanks to fleas,ear-mites, worms, & full-blown ring-worm, with the kitten has been on medication for a month for:! so,, today, I was very happy,, my cat was as healthy as hell & has been growing all her hair back & finalley "being a kitten". Until 3 p.m. today when she got her 1st shot,"the 1st hr. home ,: she was fine, 2 hrs later she was limping & meowing funny,,then ,, she just layed down & has"nt been up since,"& if you touch her,she is ready to bite you! I just forced a little water down her & she started to wake-up abit & actualley treid to play while staying in one spot,,"so,, things are looking up",, BUT,, this is nuts,, I was not told of any side effects at all!!!,, Shes still on an anti-biotic , but,, I'm not going to give that to her tonite, this poor kitty has already used about 5 of her 9 lives,,I want her around for awhile. I will be asking LOTS OF ??? before her booster shot & rabies shot!,, good luck to all of you & your pets!!! This web-site was a real eye opener & tear-jerker for me,, good-luck all!! Sorry,, no remedy from me except "ask tons of questions before a vet visit", bye!

re: Distemper Vaccinations: One of my kittens [10 weeks] is having some sort of reaction to a distemper shot. He is very drousy, doesn't want to move, and has a sore abdomen. He mews when you touch a spot on his back & pick him up. He also will not purr and looks very uncomfortable. My other kitten who received the same shot has no visible side effects & is her usual energetic self. I'm really worried about my little boy kitten, he isn't acting normal. Please let me know if you know what's happening to him & how it can be fixed!!