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Reaction to rabies shot I took my dog to her new vet for her stupid rabies shot last night because it is a law here in Massachusetts that you have to give them the shot. She seemed o.k. but was a little wheezy. This morning she started shaking and wheezing and practically falling over. I freaked out and called the vet and they told me to bring her right in. She just layed on my lap like a dishrag in the car. They gave her a Benadryl shot to stop the reaction and gave me Rimadyl pills because the vet thinks that where they gave her the shot is sore and that is why she was falling over. The vet said she would sleep most of the day because of the Benadryl. Has anyone had their dogs have a reaction to a rabies shot and should I give her the Rimadyl?? I am so afraid to give her anything. And how long is she going to be so lethargic from the Benadryl? I am supposed to bring her back in a couple of weeks for her distemper shot that has 4 other vaccines in it too. I do NOT want to give her anymore vaccines, but I don't want to leave her unprotected either. Any advice on vaccinations and if my dog is going to be o.k. would really help. She is my first dog and I am so upset right now at the fact that she could have died from this effing shot. |
yes i have read on here some having reactions such as this. my cedric was very lathargic his first rabies but no other symptoms. this does happen and from what i remember reading it was better in a couple of days. i would only do one vaccine at a time in the future. that is how i did all of cedrics vacc as he can be sensitive to them. good luck i hope your baby feels better in a couple of days. |
I am sorry to hear your little one had a reaction. I personally would NOT give the rimadal. This is just my opinion but i doubt the "almost falling over" is from pain from the shot and adding more drugs to her system isnt necessarily a good thing. Benadryl is a standard presc. for reactions.You should monitor her closely and get her to a vet you trust if she doesnt improve. Also, you mentioned "new" vet. Did you change vets for a reason? Hoping she feels better soon! I forgot to add: how old is she? You do not have to give her vaccines if you choose not to, there is a lot of evidence out there that shows they immunity for a much longer time than the three year intervals some vets do. have you looked at the vaccine stickies on this site? I would recomend you look at at protocols recommended by Dr. Jean Dodds |
I'd be sure that when she has to have another in six months or whatever the puppy protocol is, that your vet gives the steroid(I think it's a steroid or corticosteroid or something like that) and the Benadryl first, waits a while and then administers the vax. Be sure you don't give any other vaccinations with it or any other meds to your little one on that day either unless it's something she has to have like heart medicine or insulin or something. Also, I would let them keep her and watch her for the rest of the day where she can get immediate intervention if she has a reaction and this time quits breathing or something. That rabies vax always made Jilly lethargic and she usually slept the rest of the day she got it. I think back then, they got the thing every year and she always had a lump at the injection site literally for weeks. Tibbe had his last one in Jan., 2011 and isn't due another until January of 2014 but as I recall, he wasn't exceptionally lethargic after it and he never has a lump after shots. With all of the woodland and wild critters that seem to be moving into the suburbs for food as their own habitats are invaded for human use, it is a worry that they will carry more rabies into the pet population as they inevitably have run-ins and bite. Sadly, if they are infected with the virus, the unprotected pet is in for a terrible, likely fatal brain/CNS infection. The incubation period for this disease can be up to a year and some say way longer than that, but I don't know if that is in humans only or humans and larger pets. If the bitten pets don't die, and most do, the pain and other symptoms are truly terrible. I hope your baby is feeling better soon. |
Yes, my little Ace had a horrible reaction to the rabies shot. He was only 2.7 pounds. The day after his shot he was wobbly and looked dizzy, then had diarrhea for about two days. He didn't want to eat but we made sure he stayed hydrated with pedialyte. It took about a week for him to return to his old self. I personally would not give your baby any other drugs at this point because they are obviously trying to cope with the rabies shot, and that is a lot on their little bodies. I find it appalling that they give the same amount of the vaccine to a 3 pound dog and a 70 pound dog! Some of these little guys just can't handle it. I would definitely have titers of blood drawn next time when the rabies shot is due because it will prob. still be in your babies system and they won't need it. |
Beanie is almost 16 months old now. She had one rabies shot by the breeder (her vet only gives 1/2 of the shot) and has had all of her other shots. In Mass., you HAVE to give the dog the rabies shot a year after the 1st shot, then 3 years after that. But I did some research and there is now a way to request a waiver if the vet will sign something saying she had a bad reaction. I will certainly go that route. She is supposedly "due" for the core booster shots. But why do I have to give her these shots if she is at a VERY low risk of getting anything? She doesn't go near other dogs, I don't take her walking in parks, she is never off leash and is in the house most of the time. If these dogs are at such a high risk of vaccine reaction and at a low risk for getting the diseases they are supposed to prevent, what sense does it make to put them at such a risk? It would be like giving your child the measles/mumps vaccine every year. Or giving yourself a tetnus shot every year. As far as her going to a new vet, I had taken her to a vet last April (I got her in Feb.) to get her heartworm medication and the vet was horrible. She was totally against buying a dog from a breeder and did not like Yorkies. She told me Beanie had luxating patella, grade 2 and 3 in her knees and that she would need surgery right away. She also told me that her heart "sounded funny". I was in a state of shock when I left. I had to take her back there awhile later because she had very dry skin and I saw a different vet who was wonderful, but was going to leave the practice. She didn't say a word about her knees and said her heart was fine. This new vet place examined her head to toe (including her knees) and said she looked to be totally healthy. They didn't say a word about her knees being bad and said her heart was fine. They also said that it was up to me if I wanted to give her any more vaccines. I really like this place. When I called this a.m. crying because I thought my dog was dying, they brought us right in and only charged me $12.00 for the Rimadyl (which I am NOT giving her). There was no charge for the follow up visit for the vaccine reaction. I will certainly check out the vaccine threads here to see if I am going to do this core vaccine booster. If I DO decide to do this, she won't get anything after that for a very, very long time. |
This does not sound like a life threatening type reaction, especially if they felt they could give her a med to take home. I personally would give the Rimadyl. It would help her with the discomfort she is having. But...that's just me. As for vaccines...they are very important especially in young dogs. My vet follows the AAHA recommendations. https://www.aahanet.org/Library/CanineVaccine.aspx While you think your dog is not susceptible she is .. just taking her to a pet store..or heck, even to a vet is risky for a dog not vaccinated. You have no way of knowing what other people are doing with their pups. Good luck with your decisions for your pups. |
My little girl is ten, and I am so stressed out when it is time for her rabies shot. She weighs 5-1/2 lbs, and luckily is not due for that vaccine until 2015. With her last shot, she lost her hair in the area where the needle was inserted, limped from soreness, and was very lethargic. I always keep her in the office for at least a half an hour after the shot just in case she has an immediate reaction. I am already losing sleep about the rabies vaccine due 2015. She will be a much older Yorkie by then, and it may be too much for her. I will have a good conversation with the vet before having that done. Good luck with your fur baby. |
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I don't know if they diagnosed it but there is a condition, cutaneous vasculitis, that it may be. There is another condition but I don't recall the name of it. You really need to have a discussion with your vet about this and even perhaps with a dermatologist...next time could be much worse. One of my son's dogs had a really bad reaction to one of her shots and her vet has marked her chart and will not vaccinate her again. |
I'm sorry your pup suffered this unfortunate reaction. I hope he's feeling better. It's very important for this to be reported and it also needs to be entered into your pups files. These types of reactions are considered *rare* only because the reporting of these types of cases is rare.This is the only way we all will know just how frequent this type of thing happens. Without this info on record it never happened. I hope you get your exemption, once a pup suffers from one the chances of it happening again is more likely than not and the reaction could be worse. Reporting Reactions | Truth4Pets Your Dog's Vaccine Reaction: | Truth4Dogs States Allowing Medical Exemptions for Rabies Vaccination | Truth4Dogs |
I'm very sorry. :( Initial pup vaccines are very important, and I like to get them one more time at one year old, but after that we no longer do any DHPP or any of that. Unfortunately like you the law for rabies is every 3 years, which I just think is way too much, but we follow the law. I wish they would at least make it every 5 years. Good luck!! Check out some previous threads on YT about vaccines. |
Well, I am happy to report that Beanie is showing no ill affects after her reaction to the rabies shot. THANK GOD. She is her usual, nutty little self. Thank you all for the information and concern. I did some research and I can apply for a waiver of the shot next time because she did have a reaction. How can it be o.k. to give an animal something that makes them so sick!! Plus how can it be o.k. to give a 5 lb. dog the same dosage as a 100 lb. dog. I just don't understand why so many dog owners just take this so lightly. Like well, gee whiz, it is NORMAL for the dog to have a reaction. And I don't just mean Yorkie owners, I mean ALL dog owners. |
For the 4 in 1 vaccine you can request them to separate the shots. I do. She is only 16 months old - and distemper is a very nasty disease. Subsequent years as I am doing now, I titer. You can read about titering - I believe the library has a sticky on that. Titering is not "cheap" here in Toronto Ontario - it costs even more to do than the vaccines. You can inquire with your vet their costs to titer prior to administering any more vaccines. |
It is not normal for a dog to have a reaction to a vaccine. True vaccine reactions that would lead to serious issues for a dog are actually very rare. Rabies, distemper and parvo are killers....and keep in mind that rabies is also a threat to humans. Vaccines save a lot of animal and human lives. |
Unless my dogs ever had a life threatening reaction to rabies I would continue to get it. We get raccoons and possums in our yard not worth the chance of not vaccinating |
Our two Basset Hounds had a very bad reaction to the rabies shots and they are now are the the exemption list. Our little ones did fine on them but we almost lost both our hounds in one day. Anyway I never intend to put them through that again. My friend's shih tzu almost dies from the shots also. She is also on the exemtion list. |
Glad your baby is doing better!! Riley had a pretty severe reaction to the Distemper combo vaccine a couple months ago... Broke out into major hives and started panting really heavily about 7 hours after... He got it on a Saturday morning and we ended up in the Emergency Vet at around 10pm that night. I spoke with his regular Vet a couple of days later and was relieved when he suggested that we do "titers" from now on... I'm not exactly sure how that works since DC law is rabies and distemper vaccines every year in order to renew their mandatory dog license. I figure I will just deal with that when the time comes. |
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The drug companies in this country have manufactured threats to both humans and animals and they don't tell you the truth about how long a vaccine lasts. And no, I am not some crunchy, granola nut that I don't believe in any kind of medications, but like I said I know enough about the industry to be very leary of anything that is put into MY body or my dog's body. I worked in the medical field for a very long time and I saw what, supposedly "good" medicine did to people. I also worked in the holistic medical field and I believe in that type of medicine along with convential medicine. So I will ask for a rabies exemption next time. I have decided that I will do the core vaccines on her one more time, but after that she is done. My dog is not going to be exposed to racoons, or any other animals so she is NOT going to get anything that is going to make her sick because there is one in a million chance of her being exposed to that animal. Anyway, I hope this doesn't sound insulting to you but I feel very stongly about this and my feelings are built on a core of knowledge about the human body and much reseach on the canine body. |
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I am one of the people who suggested you get an exemption. :) Let me simply reiterate what I said and what you quoted..... It is not normal for a dog to have a reaction to a vaccine. True vaccine reactions that would lead to serious issues for a dog are actually very rare. Rabies, distemper and parvo are killers....and keep in mind that rabies is also a threat to humans. Vaccines save a lot of animal and human lives. If everyone refused to vaccinate because of their fears of them, there would be more cases of rabies in animals and humans. Facts are facts. The drug companies did not create a fear of rabies. Since we have made rabies vaccines mandatory, domestic animals are not a threat to humans....prior to vaccinations they were a threat. There is no holistic way to prevent rabies or distemper in animals. As for reactions...there IS a difference between a side effect of something and an actual reaction. I am sure you do know that. :) |
I believe what is key here at least for me, is how often "truly" do you need to vaccinate? It is not great to give vaccines if a dog already has an immunity to a particular disease.... thus titers. I will always make sure my dogs are protected against rabies, distemper and parvo. Althoug for distemper at least even vaccinated dogs can get this. It is rare but it can happen. And that doesn't mean one shouldn't make sure your dog is protected against all. And for SportChick, there is no need to apologize when presenting a different opinion. All opinions are welcome, and that is a great boon for a public board for I believe those very different opinions can create an opportunity for expanded thought. |
I absolutely think vaccines are important. I'm certainly not for just ... *not* getting them. I think that's irresponsible. But I do think that a lot of vaccines are a lot of crock and definitely made for the medical industry's benefit. What about the controversy with the Guardasil vaccine ... a vaccine that had very controversial side effects and testing done, and then was made MANDATORY by a governor who's #1 campaign sponsor was the man who owned Guardasil?!? I know, comparing apples to oranges (guardasil vs. rabies) but I just truly believe vaccines are such HUGE money makers ... there is NO reason to need a rabies vaccine every 3 years on a family dog who lives in your house 99% of it's life. A But unfortunately, that's the law, so I must follow it. One dose of rabies vaccine costs the vet about 61 cents. The client is typically charged between $15 and $38, plus a $35 office visit. The markup on the vaccine alone is 2,400 percent to 6,200 percent—a markup equivalent to charging $217 for a loaf of bread. You can't tell me there's not ulterior motives somewhere in there. |
O.K. Ladyjane, maybe you live in an area where rabies is prevalent. I do not. So, if drug companies didn't create a fear of rabies, then who did?? I had a dog when I was about 5 years old and extended family members had dogs. No one worried about rabies, nor did they get rabies. And that was a LONG time ago. Nor did we worry about all the other unvaccinated diseases and dogs lived a really long time. Maybe you have had experience with rabies and people getting rabies from rabid dogs, but I haven't nor have I heard, read or dealt with rabid dogs in any of the cities I have lived in for the past almost 60 years. Sorry, I don't agree with you. Just like I don't agree with the notion that we should all get flu shots, shingles shots, cervical cancer shots because we MIGHT get any of those. I prefer to work on keeping myself and my dog healthy rather than sticking a needle into either one of us to ward of something that has a minimal chance of happening. Again, please don't think I am trying to be insulting, I am known for my holistic leanings in my circle of life. I drive everyone crazy. ahahahah |
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I am simply saying that the facts are out there and vaccines have cut down on rabies cases. Also, I don't get all of those vaccines you are referring to and don't know what they have to do with the topic at hand. This link will perhaps help you to understand why you have not heard of or feared rabies: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/vet...ion_rabies.pdf From that link: By 1960, mandatory vaccination of dogs in the United States largely controlled canine and human rabies. This immune barrier has been established nationwide at a cost of over $300 million annually. Cats are also vaccinated for rabies but it is not mandatory and feline rabies is now more common than canine rabies in the United States. With the widespread vaccination of cats and dogs in the United States, most endemic human rabies is a result of contact with rabid wildlife, particularly bats. |
I am always worried about reactions to shots. I would not give her the Rimadyl. There have been some terrible reactions to it not only in small dogs but big ones as well. Bleeding in the stomach. Do some research for Rimadyl and see if it would ever be something that you would give. I always tell the vet I will not give Rimadyl to my dogs. |
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I don't want anyone to think that I am dead set against vaccines for canines or humans, I DO belive that there is a place for them. I just believe that drug companies have capitalized on the fears of pet parents and have pushed drugs and vaccines on us to the point where they are hurting our animal kids more than helping. I believe the same about we humans who have been brainwashed into thinking that taking a pill or sticking a needle into us will either fix everything or preclude some illness/disease that we have a minimal chance of getting. I agree with Brister, it is all about money. And I am certainly not against making money, just not at the expense of health. Anyway, thanks for you input and information. I always do my research before I make decisions and I SO appreciate all the help I have gotten here!! |
I understand, but it is better to compare apples to apples. The other things were not what I was referring to and you were quoting me, so I felt I should clarify. Rabies vaccine was not a drug manufacturer's money maker...well, let's just say that was not the motivation of it's creation/discovery. I am certainly not talking about the others...trust me, I have my own feelings about some of them and don't partake. :) |
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