Abscess/ lump at vaccination site???

[havingalook]

3 of my kittens have got a lump on their necks where they received their final set of vaccinations/ Rabies.
Could it be an abscess? Or a reaction? They are playing normally, happy, eating normally etc, they just have a small hard lump between their shoulders..

Will get them into the vet's tomorrow and ask (politely) if she's been a little rough or if it's normal. I've never seen it before and 3 kittens out of 5 that were took in??? that's a large percentage.

Anyone else experience this with vaccinations? They had them almost a week ago, but I've been sick with girl-flu (a cold but I don't handle colds very well) so I haven't been playing with them as much as usual, my husband has been in charge of kitty duties while I sneeze, sniff and whine.

 

[Brooke]

3 of my kittens have got a lump on their necks where they received their final set of vaccinations/ Rabies.
Could it be an abscess? Or a reaction? They are playing normally, happy, eating normally etc, they just have a small hard lump between their shoulders..

Will get them into the vet's tomorrow and ask (politely) if she's been a little rough or if it's normal. I've never seen it before and 3 kittens out of 5 that were took in??? that's a large percentage.

Anyone else experience this with vaccinations? They had them almost a week ago, but I've been sick with girl-flu (a cold but I don't handle colds very well) so I haven't been playing with them as much as usual, my husband has been in charge of kitty duties while I sneeze, sniff and whine.

None of my four have had any lumps from injections that lasted more than a day or two afterward, but they're all adults... it sounds like maybe a mild reaction? If they were abscesses they would feel warm to the touch and painful. If it were a severe reaction, the kittens would be unwell. I don't think it's anything to worry about, but just as well that the vet will be seeing them tomorrow just to be sure! I imagine the vet will tell you they'll go away on their own in another week or two...I'm curious what you find out, so please keep us updated!

Hope you're feeling better soon! Colds are no fun.

 

[havingalook]

Thank you.

They aren't warm and they don't care about me 'playing with it' so they aren't tender. I feel awful that I only noticed them as they were having a bath.

So either a mild reaction, or possibly bruising from the vet being a little rough? She sent the assistant to get a different gauge needle for one of the kittens (a thinner one) so i'm thinking the others had a thicker needle and she forced it in, maybe.??

Will call her tomorrow and take them in.

 

[susi794]

My vet constantly tells me they have very thick skin--so it may very well be that she pushed hard and that left the lumps. Do keep us informed though. And get better soon, my friend!

 

[Brooke]

Thank you.

They aren't warm and they don't care about me 'playing with it' so they aren't tender. I feel awful that I only noticed them as they were having a bath.

So either a mild reaction, or possibly bruising from the vet being a little rough? She sent the assistant to get a different gauge needle for one of the kittens (a thinner one) so i'm thinking the others had a thicker needle and she forced it in, maybe.??

Will call her tomorrow and take them in.

Could be...it probably happens more often than we know and just isn't noticeable on furred kittens!

 

[havingalook]

My vet constantly tells me they have very thick skin--so it may very well be that she pushed hard and that left the lumps. Do keep us informed though. And get better soon, my friend!

She always saying how much thicker it feels compared to when she injects others, but 3 out of 5 is more than an ooops. So maybe she's just forcing it through and bruising them, thats why 3 of them have it as she could have been heavy handed...?

Thank you, i'm such a cry baby where colds are concerned, just seem to have spent the last month either with a cold myself or looking after kids with the sniffles.

 

[Maggies mommy]

I hope ur kittens r ok..... And I hope u feel better soon!

 

[PitRottMommy]

3 of my kittens have got a lump on their necks where they received their final set of vaccinations/ Rabies.
Could it be an abscess? Or a reaction? They are playing normally, happy, eating normally etc, they just have a small hard lump between their shoulders..

Will get them into the vet's tomorrow and ask (politely) if she's been a little rough or if it's normal. I've never seen it before and 3 kittens out of 5 that were took in??? that's a large percentage.

Anyone else experience this with vaccinations? They had them almost a week ago, but I've been sick with girl-flu (a cold but I don't handle colds very well) so I haven't been playing with them as much as usual, my husband has been in charge of kitty duties while I sneeze, sniff and whine.

Unlike other members (lucky!) ALL 3 of my cats have reactions to vaccinations. Baldwin at almost 2 years of age still bears a pea-sized knot from his final FVRCP/Feleuk/Rabies vaccination.

Buffy and Buck were vaccinated the day that we picked them up, I can tell you exactly where that is on their body...because they too have little bumps.

As long as behavior continues normally, don't worry. A knot up to the size of a pencil eraser is normal and should go down with time. For those of us that are worried about this showing up on the viewable parts of their cat (even for show people), vaccinating under a rear leg is common and doesn't change the efficacy of the vaccinations.

 

[admin]

Yes, when Leonidas had his rabies vaccination he had a small lump in the area, the vet said it is normal on some cats, but did go away after a while. Just keep an eye on it!:Laugh:

 

[Haji the Sphynx]

Haji had a lump right on his behind where the injection was. It was about an eraser sized lump that went away after about a month. Vet said to just be patient. It wasn't red or painful and just took time to go away. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about.

 

[havingalook]

As long as behavior continues normally, don't worry. A knot up to the size of a pencil eraser is normal and should go down with time. For those of us that are worried about this showing up on the viewable parts of their cat (even for show people), vaccinating under a rear leg is common and doesn't change the efficacy of the vaccinations.

Behaving normally. Alert, eating well, playing, running around.. Called her and she's closed til Monday so going to wait and see if they reduce over the weekend and see her next week to get them checked over.

Do you recommend vaccinating in the leg anyway? I've been thinking about tumours that are supposedly caused by vaccines and think it would be safer to have the vaccines in the leg, just in case anything needed removing (I know it's extremely rare and not sure if it's been 100% proved) Would appreciate your opinion on the best site to have their vaccinations in future?

 

[PitRottMommy]

Behaving normally. Alert, eating well, playing, running around.. Called her and she's closed til Monday so going to wait and see if they reduce over the weekend and see her next week to get them checked over.

Do you recommend vaccinating in the leg anyway? I've been thinking about tumours that are supposedly caused by vaccines and think it would be safer to have the vaccines in the leg, just in case anything needed removing (I know it's extremely rare and not sure if it's been 100% proved) Would appreciate your opinion on the best site to have their vaccinations in future?

My recommendation for any cat is to vaccinate in a rear leg. Fibrosarcoma is uncommon, but it's best that it's away from the heart and internal organs--just in case. If FS happens, a leg can be removed. If it happens in a front leg, the prognosis isn't good. Therefore, I vaccinate and I have my cats vaccinated in a rear leg for everything.

That being said, fibrosarcoma has been found to be genetic. So don't get too alarmed at the sound of cancer occuring from vaccinations. Its extremely uncommon.

 

[havingalook]

Thank you for the reply. That's what I was thinking (that it would be easier to remove a back leg in a worst case scenerio)

Thanks again for the replies.

 

[havingalook]

Update;

The lumps feel a little bit smaller already, though they are still there. Saturday morning the girl had an angry looking mark on her shoulder so I took her to the vet and he gave me a cream/ ointment for it. I asked them to black light it as it was round and angry looking, it's not ringworm and he thought it was a reaction. Today though its scabby, which made me think hmmmm as it doesn't look like a rash it looks like she hurt it...

This morning I caught one of my cats popping the door open into the laundry room and coming out with an angry looking mark on his head, almost like a human bite shape. Its a burn from some lightbulbs above the sink, he touched his head against one of the spiral type and now its a little scabby but not red or angry (put some antibiotic cream on it and it looks so much better already).

Looks like madam, didn't have a reaction site, didn't need black lighting (haven't seen ringworm in cats myself but know its possible, as it was a sore looking circle I was paranoid and made him check) and didn't need a 60mile car trip to see a vet. Seems like madam has lent against a normal lightbulb hats above the sink and burnt her shoulder. Today its scabby but when I rubbed some antibiotic cream on, the scab lifted a little, I'll leave the scab alone and make sure it doesn't get infected. It's a little red/ sore looking under the scab but not terrible.

Moral of the story;
1) Start looking for a new vet (long story)
and
2) please, please be careful of our little heat seeking babies. I didn't know they knew how to pop the door open but now it has a childproof catch at the top of the door.

 

[Brooke]

Update;

The lumps feel a little bit smaller already, though they are still there. Saturday morning the girl had an angry looking mark on her shoulder so I took her to the vet and he gave me a cream/ ointment for it. I asked them to black light it as it was round and angry looking, it's not ringworm and he thought it was a reaction. Today though its scabby, which made me think hmmmm as it doesn't look like a rash it looks like she hurt it...

This morning I caught one of my cats popping the door open into the laundry room and coming out with an angry looking mark on his head, almost like a human bite shape. Its a burn from some lightbulbs above the sink, he touched his head against one of the spiral type and now its a little scabby but not red or angry (put some antibiotic cream on it and it looks so much better already).

Looks like madam, didn't have a reaction site, didn't need black lighting (haven't seen ringworm in cats myself but know its possible, as it was a sore looking circle I was paranoid and made him check) and didn't need a 60mile car trip to see a vet. Seems like madam has lent against a normal lightbulb hats above the sink and burnt her shoulder. Today its scabby but when I rubbed some antibiotic cream on, the scab lifted a little, I'll leave the scab alone and make sure it doesn't get infected. It's a little red/ sore looking under the scab but not terrible.

Moral of the story;
1) Start looking for a new vet (long story)
and
2) please, please be careful of our little heat seeking babies. I didn't know they knew how to pop the door open but now it has a childproof catch at the top of the door.

Yikes! I'm so glad you figured out what was causing the little sores on the kitties. I had an issue with Nelson a few months ago - twice he had quarter-sized sores on his hind leg and I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out where they came from. They looked like burns, too, but I never found anything that would have caused it. Fortunately they healed up quickly and he hasn't had any more.

For what it's worth, I was also concerned that what Nelson had might be ringworm and what little info I was able to find told me that ringworm on a sphynx doesn't necessarily look like it does on people (meaning, it might show up as a patch of bumps instead of a ring like it does on humans!) It's easy to spot on pets with fur, because they'll get a bald patch, but that doesn't help us, does it?!

 

[havingalook]

They are smarter than the kids, the kids never go into the laundry room and until now I've always left the lights on above the sink as i'm in and out of there all day.

I know, its scary as I thought "well its round" but i've only ever seen ringworm on a dog and on a person (don't I sound lovely, will have to add a disclaimer that I don't have ringworm myself ) and both times it was a ring shape. But he scraped it and black lighted it, as black light doesn't show it 100% of the time.

They are both looking a little sorry for themselves but thankfully it's not a nasty burn on either of them (though it looks like a person tried to bite his head, lol)

 

[PitRottMommy]

They are smarter than the kids, the kids never go into the laundry room and until now I've always left the lights on above the sink as i'm in and out of there all day.

I know, its scary as I thought "well its round" but i've only ever seen ringworm on a dog and on a person (don't I sound lovely, will have to add a disclaimer that I don't have ringworm myself ) and both times it was a ring shape. But he scraped it and black lighted it, as black light doesn't show it 100% of the time.

They are both looking a little sorry for themselves but thankfully it's not a nasty burn on either of them (though it looks like a person tried to bite his head, lol)

I learned my lesson against heat seeking babies too. Baldwin got stuck behind the stove when he was just a wee one and burned his leg quite badly. As an adult, his wound is about the size of a quarter. You can imagine what it looked like when he was just a wee one.

 

[susi794]

So sorry about their little burns, but glad you found out what caused it--they are into something every minute, aren't they? Sometimes I wonder how any of them ever live to adulthood.

 

[Maggies mommy]

thank goodness u found out what was causing it!!!!

 

[BareOnAHotTinRoof]

I gave Baron his vaccinations a few weeks ago and he still has a large knot the size of a flattened shooter marble where he got his rabies. I've just been doing warm/wet compresses and massaging it as much as possible. Seems to be getting smaller very gradually. Dang Ft Dodge... Of course it's the 3-Year vaccine too, so that plays a big part of it. I should have looked around town for the 1-year, it causes less reactions.

I really hope it's gone by December 19th, there's a Christmas show in Belton. But if not, we can always wait for the National show in Houston in January. Poo!