Should the vet have warned me?

[TAKitty]

My eight year old cat went in for his yearly shots and a couple of weeks later developed a lump near the injection site. The vet is concerned that it could be cancer! He said that the shot he had, rabies, can cause cancer in some cats. So can the leukemia shot.

Right now they gave him an anti-inflammatory shot and told me to wait 10 days to see if the lump gets smaller and softer.

I had no idea that there was this risk. Do you think I should have had to sign something saying that I was aware that the shots I was giving my cat could cause cancer?

 

[clgwli]

I think the vet should have told you but at hte same time I have known this for years from mine. The risk of cancer is very very low but it is there. that is why we don't always do shots yearly here. A lump by the injection site isn't all that uncommon and should go away in about a week or two. They are particularly more common if given in the scruff of the neck.

So no I don't think you should have signed something but I do think the vet should remind you about the risks during vaccination times.

 

[torinsmom]

Earlier this month when I took my youngest cat in for her rabies shot, the vet suggested a 1 year instead of a 3 year. She said the incidence of injection site sarcoma is higher with the 3 year. I have done the 3 year with my other two cats their whole lives, but now plan to use the one year.

Hope your kitty is okay!

MArsha

 

[Imzadi]

I didn't know there was any problems with the shots either. I thought it would just be routine to get the various shots. When I took my kitty in for a check up and asked if she had given the leukemia shot, my vet told me they prefer NOT to give it unless absolutely necessary (or I insist,) because there have been so many complications & dangers that have been found from giving the shot. She said unless my kitty will come in contact with other cats, through bringing one home, or having to board her, they don't want to do it.

It causes more inconveniece for me now as I will have to make an extra trip to the vet if I get another kitty or need to board her, but I'm glad this vet was concerned enough to err on the side of caution and to tell me about it. I think your vet should have informed you first.

I was also urged to get the 1 yr shot, too, instead of the 3 year.

Sorry your kitty is going through this. Hopefully, it's just an irritation that will go down.

 

[Cindyluwho]

If you do some digging on the internet you'll find that the many Veteranarian goups prefer the puppy/kitty vaccinations plus the one year booster. After that, it's preferable to do a "titer" to see if the vaccinations created the immunity before doing any more shots AT ALL. Many pets will have a lifelong immunity after their initial round of shots. Repeating vaccinations when a pet is already immune can ruin their immune system. And Titers are NO more expensive than vaccines.

 

[ontariomonkey]

My personal opinion is that you should give INFORMED consent for procedures on your pet just as you would for a human child or for yourself.

Many times, if the risk is less than 1/1000 it may not be included in the informed choice discussion unless the complication is serious. I have no idea what the incidence of kitty cancer after a vaccination is. It's possible that the vet thought it was too remote to discuss. Or maybe they are just an authoritarian type doctor, who because they think kitty should be immunized, they don't fully inform you of the risks because you might say 'no thank you'.

 

[torinsmom]

Well, in most areas, rabies vaccinations are not optional. The others are. I don't do the other shots, once the kittens are done with their kitten shots.

Marsha

 

[TAKitty]

I had no idea I was putting Alex at risk. The shot was a 3 year rabies and was in the scruff of the neck. Alex is an indoor cat, so he is not at risk for many of the diseases. I am just sad to think that I caused my cat to get cancer.

 

[Tina]

Yes, I think your vet should have at least notified you of the risks. I was told about this problem years ago by mine. There are alternatives for some shots. My new adoptee went in for his one year check up just last month and she gave him one of his shots (can't remember which one it was) via nasal drops!

 

[Marymom]

We just put our cat Storm down in February for vaccine related cancer. I personally think that the risks are more prevalent than the vaccine companies report. Our vet did tell me the risks when she gave the shots, which sounded very small at the time. She even used a "lower risk shot" which of course did not help. We chose not to treat the cancer. I would have had to drive her 100 miles to a vet school, leave her there for a week, while they would amputate her right hind leg. There was a 50% chance the cancer would come back within a year. She led a normal life for about 6 months before the cancer bothered her. Longer than I expected. I hope your story has a better ending.

Mary

 

[kldmom2000]

My 12 year old cat is a 4 year survivor of FVAC (Feline Vaccine Accelerated Sarcoma) caused by the rabies vaccine. I don't know of any vets that warn the owners and what good would it do considering in most states, it's the law to get your domestic animal vaccinated against rabies. I know it is here in MA. You can't bring your cat/dog into a vet or to be groomed unless they have the necessary rabies vaccinations and you can be fined as a pet owner if you are not current with that particular vaccine.

That being said, 4 years ago, I noticed a lump about 2 months after the rabies vaccination on Anastasia's hip. Our vet had me bring her in right away and she kept her overnight so that she could do the surgery first thing in the morning. She removed the tumor and a large chunk of surrounding muscle/tissue. It did turn out to be cancer.... thankfully she got it all, but because we've been with this vet for so long, she made the decision to forbid any other vaccinations of any kind on this cat (but not our other one who had not had any adverse reaction to vaccines). Provided we stay with her for all future care, this won't be an issue as our cats are strictly indoor cats.

Fast forward to last fall... we adopted a 3rd cat (kitten) from the MSPCA. Within a couple of weeks, she got her rabies vaccine. Guess what happened?!?!?? Lump at the injection site! What are the freaking chances?!?!?!? Our vet was on top of it and had me bringing her in bi-weekly at no charge to check the growth and she kept accurate measurements from visit to visit. She contacted the rabies vaccine manufacturer stressing that this cancer happens to 1 in 10,000 cats, and how on EARTH could it happen to 2 unrelated cats in the same household with different lot #'s on the vaccine?!?!?!? She got them to agree to pay for pathology and surgery should that become necessary since the first surgery/pathology cost us a pretty penny.... $$$$

THANKFULLY, after watching it closely for 3 months and the lump shrinking the whole time until it was gone, surgery was not needed. Our vet did decide at that time though based on the strong adverse reaction Molly had to the vaccine to avoid giving her any more in the future so long as we don't go to another vet who will require proof of vaccination and our cats continue to remain indoor cats.

They give the vaccine in the hips/hind legs now because when they used to give it in the scruff of the neck and this sarcoma would occur, the risk of survival was very slim... now though, if they don't get the entire tumor, they can amputate a limp and the cat can still go on to have a full life. Thankfully our vet got all of Anastasia's tumor (though it did extend to the margins on one side but we've been watching the site closely for 4 yrs post-op and all seems fine )

Good luck to you and your cat!!! Thinking of you.... ((((HUGS))))

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

Fibrosarcomas are very rare. The type of vaccine and even the manufacturer is a factor in the incidence. I work in a seven doctor vet hospital and we probably give 25-50 cat vaccines daily. At the most, we only see one fibrosarcoma per year. Granted, when we do see one, it has a horrible prognosis, but the incidence of upper respiratory infections, feline leukemia and the legal/health ramifications of rabies outweighs the risk IMO. The current recommendations is to put vaccines in an 'expendable' body part like a lower back leg, rather than the scruff or over the ribs.

As for indoor cats not needing vaccines, my brother's indoor cat caught a bat in their house. Bats are huge vectors for rabies and had he not been vaccinated, he would have had to have been quarantined for five months as per state guidelines.

Running titers on every vaccinated cat would be great, but titers usually run over $50 each and requires a blood sample each time. Very few cats will allow collection of a blood sample without full restraint and a surprising number even require anesthesia.

FWIW, the current research is showing that any skin trauma (fight wounds, severe allergies, trauma, etc.) can lead to fibrosarcomas in cats. So we'll have to see if the incidence goes down as vaccines use less adjuvent.

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

I forgot to add that we see rabies reaction lumps very often. They are usually firm, smooth and sometimes feel rubbery like a pencil eraser; while fibrosarcomas feel like small hard clusters of grapes. Benign rabies reactions can show up even a few weeks after the rabies vaccine but tend to shrink down and vanish over time. I would say that these occur in one out of every 100 or so vaccines and can be in either cats or dogs.

 

[TAKitty]

Thanks for the information. I would have had him vaccined, but I really wish I had known that there was a risk. I am also upset that the vet did the injection in the scruff of the neck and not his leg.

We go back around Sept 4 if the lump doesn't go away by then.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

The veterinary community has been aware of vaccination related cancers (and other immune disorders) for many years.

The problem is that there's a fine line between disease prevention and problems related to the vaccinations themselves.

They've tried to look at many things. Rotation of injection sites, for one. And also vaccinating no more than is absolutely necessary (though the latter is tricky for a variety of reasons - debate about illness prevention and profit loss being two of the biggest).

In a quick search around the web, there seems to be more acceptance of minimalist scheduling than there was years ago (when I first discovered it as it related to some autoimmune diseases my dogs developed). In the past it seemed to me that more responsibility fell on pet owners in having to do their own homework, know this could be a problem, inquire about vaccinations and request minimalist scheduling, etc. Now there seems to be more discussion about it broadly, which is good. But definitely something for pet owners to research more.

Here is one link. http://www.avma.org/vafstf/ownbroch.asp

You can find more by googling vaccination related cancers in pets, though be sure to stick with reputable sites. There seems to be a lot of information available from the holisitic veterinary community, as well as from other countries, if you search around a bit.

Good luck. I hope your cat only has a local reaction to the shot.

 

[C.Ann]

Should he have informed you? Probably.. Would it have really made a difference? Probably not.. You said that you would have had your kitty vaccinated anyhow, so maybe it's better that you didn't have to worry during the interm..

Hopefully your kitty will be fine.. When will you know anything for sure?

Adults face similar situations whenever they receive any sort of vaccination - there's always the possibility of this or that - but many times it makes more sense to take the risk of having it rather than opting out..Unfortunately medicine isn't an "exact" science - regardless if we're talking about pets or humans..

I'm really sorry that you are having to face these concerns now..

 

[Aimeedyan]

Rabies vaccines are notorious for leaving a temporary lump at the injection site. I'm surprised your vet immediately suggested cancer (rare) and not the normal lump (common).

I do wish more vets would give their clients information on vaccines and the risks but I suppose we as pet owners hold responsibility to research it, too, just like we do vaccines for our children and selves.

I titer my animals; it's worth the extra few bucks a year instead of shooting them with unncessary medication. They don't need annual shots and it's a risk each time I do it.

 

[torinsmom]

Rabies vaccines are notorious for leaving a temporary lump at the injection site. I'm surprised your vet immediately suggested cancer (rare) and not the normal lump (common).

I do wish more vets would give their clients information on vaccines and the risks but I suppose we as pet owners hold responsibility to research it, too, just like we do vaccines for our children and selves.

I titer my animals; it's worth the extra few bucks a year instead of shooting them with unncessary medication. They don't need annual shots and it's a risk each time I do it.

So, can you do the titer for rabies? I would rather do that if it's an option. I don't do the other vaccines as my cats are inside. They all got exposed to calicivirus when the new kittens came in(the kittens HAD been vaccinated) and so that vaccine would not help at this point anyway.

Marsha

 

[kldmom2000]

Fibrosarcomas are very rare. The type of vaccine and even the manufacturer is a factor in the incidence. I work in a seven doctor vet hospital and we probably give 25-50 cat vaccines daily. At the most, we only see one fibrosarcoma per year. Granted, when we do see one, it has a horrible prognosis, but the incidence of upper respiratory infections, feline leukemia and the legal/health ramifications of rabies outweighs the risk IMO. The current recommendations is to put vaccines in an 'expendable' body part like a lower back leg, rather than the scruff or over the ribs.

As for indoor cats not needing vaccines, my brother's indoor cat caught a bat in their house. Bats are huge vectors for rabies and had he not been vaccinated, he would have had to have been quarantined for five months as per state guidelines.

Running titers on every vaccinated cat would be great, but titers usually run over $50 each and requires a blood sample each time. Very few cats will allow collection of a blood sample without full restraint and a surprising number even require anesthesia.

FWIW, the current research is showing that any skin trauma (fight wounds, severe allergies, trauma, etc.) can lead to fibrosarcomas in cats. So we'll have to see if the incidence goes down as vaccines use less adjuvent.

Very good insight! Thank you for sharing So sorry to hijack the thread, but I have a question for you MickeyMouseGal... our vet determined that because our cat had indeed been FVAC-positive, the risk of vaccinating her in the future is too risky based on studies that were done and the very strong chance of recurrence....

Now, in Molly's case, she had the reactive-lump shortly after being vaccinated @ 4 months old. Our vet chose to do the same with her as with Anastasia because she did have a rare side-effect. I know being an indoor cat is not fool-proof for rabies (like you mentioned, bats...), but for our vet, she will continue to offer them care w/o the vaccine so long as they are indoor cats.

Ok-so now the question, has your practice ever re-vaccinated a pet that had the benign reaction only to have them actually end up with FVAC after a subsequent vaccination? I'm just curious since Molly is barely a year old and I do hate not having her vaccinated any more at such a young age where Anastasia was 8 when she developed the cancer..... BUT I can't risk raising Molly's chances of getting FVAC....

Thanks so much in advance! TAKitty.... thinking of you and your cat!!! Hoping it's just a benign reaction!!!!

 

[TAKitty]

When will you know anything for sure?

(

I find out around Sept 4 what the next step will be.

Rabies vaccines are notorious for leaving a temporary lump at the injection site. I'm surprised your vet immediately suggested cancer (rare) and not the normal lump (common).

He got the shot weeks ago. The "feel" of the lump is what has him concerned.