I am wondering about complications stemming from kittens receiving their vaccines. Are they safe?!?

Question

Kittens seem to be getting sick, weepy eyes and eye problems, etc. Some breeders make you agree not to use them. Others have had kittens that seem to react badly to them with lasting consequences.

Instead of shots, I watched one of my cats get his and the vet used drops in the eyes. Is there a preferred method?

I have learned that in CA your cat must have the rabies vaccine if you want to be seen by a vet. They can refuse you otherwise.
Soooo, no one has experience with the method of drops in the eyes?

Thanks for all the feed back. Think the problem might be the kitties were only 8 weeks old and got more than one vaccination.

Answer 1

how old is ur kitten? They should be at the very least 12 weeks old.

Answer 2

If you have a good Vet, then your Vet should know exactly when to worm them and exactly how old the kitties should be when they receive each shot. Some shots have to wait until the kitten is roughly six months old because they are too strong for a baby kitten's system. If I remember correctly, I took my cats in when I first got them at six weeks to have them wormed again (this sometimes has to be done two times), then again in three months, six months, eight/nine months to have them spayed, and again at one year old for an annual vaccination. After that first year of several visits, then once a year should suffice, unless you notice that the cat is acting strange or different. They get little colds, upset tummies, and many similar things that we do.
Just make sure that the cat is old enough to be vaccinated for feline rabies, distemper and leukemia. I think if a kitten is acting strangely at say, three weeks, it may have worms or a cold, so go ahead and take the ones that appear to be sick to see the Vet. From what you are describing, this sounds like it could be fall allergies or a slight cold, although if they are left someplace where it is cold all the time, they can develop pneumonia at an early age. Cats need to be vaccinated regularly and kept on heartworm and flea/tick medications when they are old enough for it to safely be
administered and not make the cat sick.
Anytime a shot is given to a kitten when it is not old enough, it can potentially have bad side effects or may be serious enough to even cause death.

Answer 3

Sometimes, it is rare, but there are kittens out there that do have reactions to vaccinations. The reason being is because when they vaccinate a cat against something they are injecting the actual virus that they are wanting to protect the cat against into the cat only the virus isnt all the way dead yet they are pretty much dead some are but some arent. That is why there is a chance some cats do have reactions to them. Pretty much the reaction they would have as if they would have contracted the virus itself. The kittens should be fine in a few weeks once it's immune system starts getting to work against them. That is another reason they keep some of the virus alive when they inject it into the kitten so the immune system can recognize and protect itself against future viruses like that. The immune system can only do that when there is living organisms. If for any reason they are not seeming to get any better in the next couple of weeks, take them back to the vet and I am sure everything will be figured out. That is their job to fix what is wrong. Don't worry everything will be fine.

Answer 4

Some vaccinations are required by law. You have to have rabies and distemper. More are needed if you ever have to board your cat.

Tips to prevent complications:
1. Don't vaccinate a sick cat
2. Don't have all the vaccinations done in the same site or on the same day
3. Have your cat examined yearly or every 6 months, but work out a vaccination schedule with your vet to only have vaccinations done every 3 years after your cat as had its one year old vaccinations.

EDIT: Vaccinations are given different ways to prevent complications.Some are given through the drops on the skim, drops in the nose, air injections, needle injections. You don't get to pick. They are just made a certain way.

EDIT: My cats have never been vaccinated in the eyes. I really haven't heard of that one. Of course my cats only get vaccinated every 3 years, and it has been over a year since the last vaccination.

Answer 5

There are 2 types of Distemper vaccines for cats/dogs, killed and modified live. Both do the same thing, help the pet build immunity to the actual virus/disease. Modified live virus runs a small risk of the pet developing the actual virus/disease, so typically this type is not used on puppies/kittens (only adults or older puppies/kittens)...most Vet's will use the killed version.

Vaccines are much, much safer than the disease/virus themselves. Most kittens won't survive a case of Panluekapenia (intestial virus covered by the feline distemper vaccine {FVRCP}) and upper respiratory infections can also be hard to treat and sometimes fatal.

Any breeder that makes you agree not to vaccinate a cat, needs a little education. Sometimes when a kitten is already sick, vaccinating them can make it worse....which is why Vet's always do a exam prior to vaccines to make sure they are healthy enough.

A Vet will examine your pet without vaccines, but in order to be admitted to the Hospital (surgeries, bathing etc) they usually require the pet to be up to date on all vaccines....Rabies vaccines are required by law and that it one law that they really try to inforse.

Answer 6

I've had a LOT of kittens over the years & have had them all vaccinated. None of them have ever gotten sick from a vaccination. Watching a kitten or cat with one of the diseases the vaccinations prevent is HORRIBLE and no cat should ever have to go through that. In my opinion, not vaccinating your pet is as bad as not vaccinating your child. Most peope would never even think about not getting their children their vaccinations, so why would you not give your pets the same???

Answer 7

lasting consequences come more from diet and exercise than vaccines. many times, you don't really need a 2nd and 3rd series of the vaccine like distemper or lymne.

vaccine drops in the eye? I know there is one type you can choose to go through his nose or as a shot, but I dont think you can get all types of vaccines your kitten needs in an eye drop form because i dont think theyre all made in that form.

there isnt any worse consequence than your beloved pet becoming sick and possibly dying due to LACK of preventative care. vaccines arent bad, or you'd hear ALOT more about this.

Answer 8

I am very cautious, personally, about ALL vaccines. i NEVER give certain vaccines (e.g. FIP vacc) and the only ones I do give are fvrcpc vaccs. I do these using a heska nasal vaccine.

After my kittens have two vaccs (12 and 14 weeks) I do NOT vaccinate further.

I test them for felv/fiv prior to vaccinating.

it is not true that rabies are mandatory in cats. it depends on the state. in california, for instance, there is no state law requiring it in cats. I NEVER give cats a rabies vacc. my cats are all indoors. If I had outside cats and the vectors for rabies were high in my area (e.g. certain species of bats, skunks, raccoons), I might consider it but would look at the rabies numbers.

In california, for instance, there is a higher incidence of rabies in cats than in dogs... and this is probably because outdoor cats are NOT vaccinated for it. But if sindoor only cat, like mine, I see absolutely no reason to vaccinate even to the new schedule let alone give rabies.

Overvaccination is a problem and this is why I am so very cautious with both cats and dogs. Dogs are vaccinated/titer tested with different protocol.

Answer 9

I work in a cat shelter and vaccinate kittens DAILY. They DO NOT get sick from vaccines.
Weepy eyes and other eye problems are probably due to a VIRUS....not a vaccine. Kittens are very prone to getting URI's, and it can happen after they have been vaccinated and that leads people to thinking that they had a "reaction" to the vaccine.

If your kitten gets distemper, you will be wishing you got the vaccine!!!!

Answer 10

Every kitten reacts differently with vaccines. I would take them to a vet to get there vaccines, they are going to be sleep and may get a fever and not eat for a day. But after that the effects should wear off.

Answer 11

Vaccinations are far safer than the feline diseases they prevent. If you have ever seen a cat die from feline leukemia virus or distemper, you wouldn't be asking this question (I have). Any breeder that asks you not to vaccinate is an idiot.

EDIT: Eye drops are just another way to administer certain vaccines and not all vaccines are available in that form. I'm not aware of any evidence that it would be any safer than an injectable vaccine.