Expert: Norman Auspitz - 8/7/2009

Question
QUESTION: We recently bought two Bengal kittens, they are 20 weeks old.  They have been doing great and the vet said they are very healthy.  We were advised by the breeder not to give them several vaccinations at once. We told this to our vet however a week ago our kittens were given both a rabies vaccine and some sort of 4 month old booster. The female kitten is just fine, however the male has been sick ever since. He is extremely lethargic does not want to play, he has a high fever and his white blood cells are elevated.  He is on an antibiotic. The vet is trying to rule out FIP. He does not believe it is from the vaccines.We are not so sure. He was perfectly fine until he received the vaccines. Could he be having a severe reaction to them? We are trying our best to keep him hydrated. He does have an appetite when he is fed.  We are very upset and wish we knew what is wrong with him so we could help him.  Have you heard of kittens getting very sick from multiple vaccines?

ANSWER: Andrea,

I am not a vet, but, yes, kittens do react to multiple vaccines.  We tell our kitten buyers to give vaccines one at a time with 3 weeks intervening between vaccines.  

I do not care what your vet says, I have seen this before.  You should listen to your breeder and if your vet does not agree, find a new vet.

Kittens do get reactions to vaccines and every vet should know this!!!!!!!!!!

Usually, they get over the reactions within a week or two.

For hydration, one trick is to take about 1/2 jar of a good strained meat baby food (only ingredients are strained meat and broth or gravy) and make a soup out of the baby food and about 50 mL of unflavored Pedialyte. Most cats love this mix and you can rehydrate your Bengal kitten without getting the electrolytes out of balance!

I will be on vacation for a week, but I would like to know how your kitten does.

As a courtesy, you might want to notify the breeder that this occurred, so that they may be able to give you some helpful information (hopefully).

Best regards... NOrm.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: HI Norm,
Just wanted to let you know that our kitten died two weeks later. It was so sad for all of us especially the children. Thank you for all of the helpful advise.  The vet is trying to put a claim through his insurance although he does not remember us telling him to vaccinate him one at a time. The vaccine company was very quick to pay for the vaccines and medical, however only if we sign a waiver that we except all money in good faith and not an admittance of wrong doing. I wanted to give you this information in hopes that it would prevent others of the same pain and financial burden.  It is so important to check out your vet and make sure they are on the same page. Maybe Cozmo would still be with us. We have a new Bengal kitten hopefully we will not need you assistance. Thanks again, Andrea

Answer
Andrea,

I am so sorry for your loss!!!!!!!!!!

I understand the vaccine company's perspective.  If the vet had used the vaccines properly, Cozmo might still be with us.  It is a sad, sad lesson to learn. Like human doctors, their are good vets and not so good vets!!!!!

Checking out your vet so that they are in tune with your thinking and using the latest protocols is so, so important. Now that we have the Internet, there are lists people compile of user reviews of various services, e.g. Angie's List. Maybe there will be something like that on vets in the near future.

I hope you and your new kitten have many, many happy yeasr together.

Thank you for your very kind words.

Sad regards... Norm.