the rain has prohitbited me from seeking out all the locations i wanted to find this weekend, but it should be clearing up soon. i have some free time tomorrow to go out to new parks in the area and find good locations. i’m also doing really well in the props department – clearing out the storage room so i can organize all the stuff. bought an awesome bright purple leather chair for $10 that i can’t wait to use. i’m sure i’ll pull a few muscles dragging that out to the middle of a field somewhere. :) so although i didn’t get half of the stuff i set out to accomplish done, i did do a few important things.
a bit of my setback involved the kittens getting their rabies and distemper vaccinations on saturday morning. they have been sick ever since. :( i woke up some poor vet in the middle of the night who was on call to grill her about the condition of my kittens. :) they had told us in the office that it wouldn’t be abnormal for them to be “lethargic,” but i guess by “lethargic” they meant “barely eating, howling, stumbling around when not curled up in a corner with their head face down on the carpet.”
apparently all of this is normal for the first 24-48 hours, but it is making me quite wary of ever giving them booster shots. they’re in incredible pain and won’t let you touch them on the shoulder where they got the shots. at one point buckles accidentally rolled over onto his right shoulder in his sleep and jumped up screaming. both of them were an absolute mess last night but are slowly improving today. buckles is still crying every once in a while but sat and watched shark week for a little bit today. dolfy was more sick today than yesterday and looks so sad and weak which upsets me greatly. usually he’s bounding around yelling and annoying everyone and everything.
a lot like this, only sadder.
i’m blogging about this because i googled kittens who felt unwell after their vaccinations and received several websites of people stating their cats were unusually tired or whatnot. i also found several vaccination conspiracy websites which would’ve upset me too much to read, so i didn’t. :) since people find my blog through lots of different searches, i figured i’d let you know if you stumbled upon this to help your kitten that unfortunately it is normal for them to act like this. they are apparently running a low-grade fever and will be very strange for the first 24-48 hours. if it has not improved substantially after 48 hours is when you have a definite problem. also if they’re vomitting, radiating heat, or their face swells you will need to call your vet immediately. but if you are worried for any other reason, please wake up that on call vet anyway. it’s better to be safe than sorry.
i did look up exactly what distemper is… and seeing that it kills 50-95% of the animals it infects, it really is a good idea to vaccinate them against it obviously. but vaccinations can cause their own problems. it’s a kitten catch-22. i hope if you found my blog through this search that your kitten is okay! please let me know if you have any kitten vaccination questions. :)
before the boys went to the vet and got sick they did enjoy stalking a huge butterfly who was on the deck. thankfully the oblivious butterfly, seperated from the kittens through a merciful layer of glass, spent about 30 minutes with us and allowed me to get some nice telephoto shots. usually i find butterflies to be quite skiddish, but this one was pretty friendly!… if that’s the right word to use for butterflies.
tonight i’ll probably accompany buckles on the couch some more to watch shark week. tonight they’re airing a documentary about the original story behind jaws. how can you go wrong? shark week is only the best week ever. however, it has declined in its quality over the past several years. i remember when it was on for 24 hours a day for the entire week, but for the past few years it has only been on between the hours of 6-10pm every night. that’s not “shark week.” that’s like, “shark evening every night for 7 days.”
also, since people became afraid of sharks and began hunting them more viciously, shark week has become less about terror and blood and more about saving the sharks. now, don’t get me wrong, i am all about saving the sharks. i totally 100% disagree with anyone who hunts sharks for whatever reason. however, my favorite shows during shark week are where innocent unsuspecting people are randomly and viciously attacked on the beach without warning from giant man-eating sharks… and i have noticed a considerable lack of those types of shows in the recent years and more about how sharks are misunderstood.
what should be happening is that the discovery channel should continue to air the bloody terrifying shark shows that make you afraid of any body of water and people should discontinue hunting sharks out of fear that they’ll be torn to pieces. everyone wins! the sharks are left alone and people are left to sit on their couches with a bucket of popcorn for a week vowing to never return to the beach. i need to write a letter to the editor.
something just brushed my leg… SOMETHING JUST BRUSHED MY LEG!!
I just wanted to say thank you for posting the information about your kittens reactions to their vaccinations. I was googling that topic myself when I stumbled upon your site. My kitten had her last set of shots and her rabies vaccine yesterday morning and today she is not quite herself. She is quiet and seems to be running a fever, although she is still eating and drinking. I was worried and I certainly felt better after reading about your experience. Thank you so much.
you are very welcome! that was exactly my intention when writing that post. i was very scared, but am happy to report that my little guys are doing just fine now. i hope that your kitten recovers soon! it seems that if it lasts longer than 48 hours or your kitten experiences facial swelling or vomiting then it is actually serious. if not, it seems to be a very unfortunate side effect. :(
Thanks for the info. I had no idea that kitties could have reactions to their shots. I am hoping that this is all it is im my ten month old Jackson. He had his shots (rabies and distemper)a week ago and although he is not in any pain he is very sleepy and not eating well, which also is affecting his bathroom habits. His vet appointment is tomorrow morning.
I had no idea either – I’ve been asking around and some people’s cats don’t seem to be affected at all. It seems like the double shot (rabies + distemper or some other combo) seems to really bring on the bad side effects. Hope I could help and I hope that Jackson is feeling better soon!