My cat Arcameda is one years old and a couple of months. When we got her as a kitten she was 12 weeks old. We took her to the vet for a full vacination course. After 4 or 5 days she got very ill and was shaking like a leaf. We took her back to the vet and he told us that she was seriously ill, dehydrated with a fever and if we didn't help her she would die. He did not have any bed side table manners and even shouted at me for crying as I was so worried about my little baby.Something I did not need at that time. We then took her to an animal hospital that he recommended and they put her on a drip and brought her temperature down..They kept her in that night and a further night just for the sake of my worry. They could not determine what caused it as they did no blood tests but we all had a feeling it was her flu shot as her mother had not been vacinated so she must of already been carrying the virus from her mother.
Now she is due for her annual booster vacination but I would rather she didn't have it if she doesn't really need it as there can be more dangers sometimes and also for the reason for her to have a natural life with no side effects... Someone quoted on an old post that a person form the animal welfare board said that if an animal has a booster shot within 12 months after its initial shots it only needa a further booster shot to remain immune for the rest of its life...(Please comment anyone if you know further...) I know that older cats have a better immune system so I like the idea of following this quote and not having to vacinate after another year.
Also she is an indoor cat who will only be going on the leash outside a few times now and then...but then again I know she could still catch anything from the spraying on grass from other cats and other ways unknown.
Please do advise...

Sorry to hear you were treated so shabbily by your vet. Personally I would have her annual booster done as she is such a young cat but I would definitely find another vet and relate your concerns to them. They may use a different vaccine - your cat may just have had an allergic reaction to that particular one used. Take your cat's vaccination card with you so a new vet can see what type was used last time and hopefully use another brand.

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Kaz

For kittens, joy is for the asking and smiles are for the giving

^^^^ This.

I know exactly how you feel. Our now 17 year old British had her jabs once and had the same reaction. I really thought she was going to die.
The vet was very nice but we never got to the bottom of what caused it. I and my hubby blame the vacs. She has never had boosters since then but she is mostly indoors and now has reached 17 years old but ever since the vacs has had respirtory problems which she never had before.

How ever we have two other young British who have to go in a cattery when we go away and they have the vacs for allowing them to go into a cattery which are slightly diffrent.
I cannot remember which they ae but when have time i can get their record cards out.

If I were you I would change your vet if you haven't already done so and go and have a word with them.

Good luck

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Excellent post.

Merson also had a bad reaction to his vaccines when he was a kitten & it was enough to put me off for years. At the age of 10, this year, I decided to try again. I had a new vet who was/is truly fantastic. They looked at his previous jabs (still had the card) and gave him a different brand and we had no problems.

HOWEVER - I made the decision to separate the Leukemia jab & have it done at a later date as I felt that all four vaccines at once was too much. He will get this next month which is approx 3 months after his first 3-in-1 jabs.

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So she was vaccinated for the first time at 12 weeks? Did she get her second dose at 16 weeks?

Or she had already been vaccinated at 8 weeks and she got the second dose at 12 weeks? Or at 12 weeks she got her second dose of FVRCP and at 16 weeks she got her rabies vaccine?

I'm not sure it was allergy if it only happened 4-5 days after the shot, what did your vet say?

If you have time, I would recommend that you read this page about vaccines, the necessity of one year booster shot is also discussed there:

Vaccines for Cats: We Need to Stop Overvaccinating by Lisa A. Pierson, DVM :: Vaccines are very important but do carry risks

OMG this link is so scary

Thank you everyone for your help I read the link that def kitty posted. Its just what I wanted to know. Its true that we over vacinate our cats. Def Kitty I cannot remember at what age she had her two shots but I know she had the second one after 4 weeks of having the first one.
I forgot to mention that I changed to a different vet after the one that gave my cat the injections. They are much nicer and seem more genuine also...
Moggybaby did merson ever go outside during those 10 years? Also did you say that you never gave him/her a booster after his/her initial injections? Thats brilliant if this is true and I wouldn't bother taking him for further boosters in this case. Older healthy cats immune systems are strong to fight many viruses..I myself have decided to not get my cat boostered as she is always indoors and may only go outside sometimes to the garden on the leash...

Just be careful that whether or not the cat may require booster depends entirely on whether the previous vaccine worked. In cats who had one successful vaccination (meaning their immune system reacted to the vaccine) booster may not be required. However, if for any reason the previously received vaccine didn't work (kitten younger than 16 weeks whose maternal antibody levels were still too high, kitten whose immune system was busy fighting some other infection, bad batch of vaccines) then booster is required. That's why the vet whose website I linked in my previous post recommends doing a titer test before deciding whether to boost or not.

Also, while we know that only one successful vaccination protects against panleukopenia for at least 7 years, and most likely for a lifetime, the immunity it provides against herpes and calici virus may start to wane much sooner. So I would suggest that you consider application of intranasal herpes and calici vaccines every three years, they are much safer than any injectable vaccine - obviously only if these viruses are a concern for you, they are a menace but they're usually not deadly in adult cats like panleukopenia is.

This is the ever vexed question of the right time to vaccinate. Maternal antibodies start to wear off from around 5 weeks and we don't want to leave kittens unprotected too long so we vaccinate at 9 and 12 weeks. To catch those kittens who retain maternal antibodies longer it is now thought that a third vaccination at 16 weeks is a good move. This however just adds fuel to the argument that we over vaccinate - two doses work, it's just when to give them. Impossible to answer.

I don't understand titer testing for boosters - I'm not saying it's wrong I just don't understand it and I'd be very grateful if someone would explain. I, for example, have had a yellow fever jab. I'm not loaded with antibodies but could produce them if I came in contact with the disease. Unless my body has reason to activate that protection then I wouldn't show as antibody positive on a titer test. Why does it work differently for cats - or is it that it works differently for different diseases?