The short answer is, yes, they absolutely can. Anytime you put something foreign into the body of a living creature, there is a potential for a reaction to that said something foreign. Vaccines are no different. You're putting a modified form of a virus, or in some cases, bacteria, into that cat and sometimes their immune system might go overboard with its reactions towards that particular item. So yes, they can have reactions.

Yeah, absolutely. We know the positive effects of building immunity by injecting those vaccines. Sometimes, however, they can have a more negative response, such as mild swelling or pain.

Having another dog helps. I have two dogs so, if I got a puppy, they would get to socialize together. If you don't have a second dog at home, you could take your dog to a friend's house, to a relative who has another dog that is friendly, calm to be around, and of course vaccinated so that they don't risk infecting your new dog. Once they're fully vaccinated, you could go to a dog park, join a socialization or a training class with your puppy, or go on a walk. One of my dogs, Mowgli, likes to stop and sniff and say hi, and if the other dog looks friendly, then we'll let them greet each other.

That's an excellent question, and it’s one that a lot of people struggle with. It depends on your kitty and what they like. Suppose the kitty is one that just loves treats and is very food-motivated in general, like this little girl here. In that case, we can get medications compounded into a chew—sometimes even into a liquid that's flavored with chicken or tuna or something like that. A lot of those cats will take it right up. Other kitties aren't so easy. Sometimes we have to give pills if that formulation is not an option for cats. We can pill them by holding their head here, opening up, and popping the pill down the hatch. Now, she is a very good kitty, as not all kitties do that. There are other little things that we can do, like transdermal formulations for medications where we can just rub a little bit of a lotion on the inside of the ear. They think they're getting “scritches,” but we're giving them medicine. There are injectable medications. There is a whole list of different options. Again, it depends on that cat.

Yeah, there are a few on the market. The vast majority are not going to be safe. We don't want to be giving pretty much anything at all unless we know for sure that you've run it by your vet. Many medications on the market can cause potentially life-threatening or gastric changes, so call your vet before giving anything.

I would not.

NSAIDs like the ones we humans use, such as Tylenol or Advil, can be very toxic to dogs and cats, especially if, as I said, we're not considering the appropriate dose. You should never give those things to your dog or your cat. NSAIDs prescribed by a veterinarian can be considered.

Aha, yes. The unfortunate answer is yes, they can. There is an injection site tumor called a fibrosarcoma that they can sometimes develop. I have been in practice for 21 years and I think I have seen three in 21 years. Is it common? Obviously, no, it’s not common at all. In fact, there've been a lot of changes to vaccines in probably the last 10 to 12 years or so, and I'm just randomly picking that timeframe, but around there, to where they changed it. It used to be due to what's called the adjuvant, the carrier in the vaccine. They would put an additive in vaccinations to stimulate the immune system and it's thought that a lot of the adjuvants in some of the vaccinations, particularly the old leukemia vaccines, were thought to be the ones to do that. To my knowledge, that adjuvant has been changed or taken out completely. I don't know for certain, but I can tell you that I have not seen a reaction that way in many, many years—it’s probably been double-digit years since I've seen one of those cases, but it is possible, unfortunately.

There are some over-the-counter medications out there, but we have to be extremely cautious because they can cause problems in our kitty friends. There are very few things that we use these sorts of things to treat. Before starting any over-the-counter medications, we recommend consulting with your veterinarian just to make sure that it's safe that we get proper dosing and that we're treating them for the right thing.

It’s good to ask how much food to feed your kitten and how much exercise they need. Especially if you're unfamiliar, ask for good resources. Where's the closest emergency facility in case your regular veterinarian is closed? That's always good to know so you're not scrambling at the last minute. We like to give all that information ahead of time, and we direct people to our website, prestigeanimalhospital.com. We have these client resources for a guide to cat care where they can find all that information. Because it can get overwhelming at the visit, we give them a reference to go back to that summarizes what we discussed.