Yorkie puppy dies after 1st shots!!!
 

I am writing this because I am on the internet searching for information on vaccines because of the death of my 6 week old Yorkie today. My 4 year old Yorkie, Nyla, had a reaction last year after getting her shots that made me rush her to the Vet. The day after I got her shots, I returned home from work to find her laying in the closest barely able to raise her head or walk around. I took her to the vet and within a few hours she was up and walking again. Nyla had her 3rd litter of puppies 6 weeks ago. I took them in yesterday to get their first shots and was shocked to find one of the two puppies not able to use his back legs today. I rushed him to my parents and by the time I had gotten there he was not able to stand at all and could barely lift his head. He also had diarrhea which eventually had blood in it. The Vet was closed but met me over at the pet hospital anyway.(before he met me he told me to try honey thinking his sugar was low after the shots...this was not effective) He tested him for Parvo=which was negative and tried several different things such as 1 mg Reglan, .4 mg dexamethasone, 3 mg ampicillin, and giving him sugar water. His temp was 94 and I'm told it should be 101. The puppy did at one time stand up and walk around but then eventually collapsed again. The vet gave me a tube of sugar water and some soft food to try for a little while and let me know I should probably take him to the emergency clinic if he did not get better soon. I left and within 10-15 minutes he was getting worse and making strange noises..I tried to rush him to the clinic with the puppy in my lap...he kept gasping for air and just died right there in my lap. I was right by my parents so I just ran into their house and handed him over to them wrapped in a towel and kept screaming, "Is he not alive? Is he not alive?" My mom told me he was dead and I just ran out of their house bawling! I have been bawling ever since!!!! I just don't know what happened. This puppy has been healthy, jumping around and playing for 6 weeks now! his brother is just fine still, but what happened since the shots yesterday?? this is one of the worst things I have ever experienced...to watch that little puppy dying and I couldn't do anything. He just kept looking up at me and I had no clue what to do. My mother said she found some info on the internet that says small dogs might need to wait until 12 weeks to get their shots..but I wish the vet would have told me that!!! I just can't stop picturing him in my lap gasping for air and then just stopped breathing.....it was horrible.

I'm so sorry that happened. :(

I don't know anything about reactions to vaccines, so I can't help you there, but I just wanted to say how sorry I am that you had to go through that. I can't imagine how hard that must have been. :(

So sorry you had to go through such a painful ordeal.
Things like that are another reason why I don't let my babies go until they are at least 12 weeks old. My vet starts their 1st shot at 9 weeks.
So so sorry for your lost.
Did the vet do a necropsy to find out what happened to the poor little thing?:sad:

Oh, how horrible that you had to go through that. I am so sorry for your loss. You are in my prayers.

how many shots did he get??

i know skoshis got his around the same age because his breeder started his first one and i got his rest done by my vet. but he was fine

do you know how many shots were givin?

Oh this is terrible... I feel horrible for you and the puppy... I'm so sorry.

I looked on the invoice they gave me and it said "Puppy Shot and Strongid G."

Well, I'm not even sure what a "necropsy" is...but I did not take him back after he died b/c they were not open...the vet had just came back in after hours because I was a mess...I'm still sitting here shocked and trying to figure out what I could have done differently to prevent this....

Take a fecal in from another puppy to the vet tomorrow and have them check it for coccidea first and then giardia. We had puppies die two days after their shots with symptoms just like you are telling us...nothing to do with the vaccine at all! The vaccine will compromise the system and if they have coccidea it will go crazy in them. Even if they checked on the puppy that died - check on another pups!! We took a pup into the ER vet (eventually didn't make it) and we had everything checked out and the results showed nothing - the puppy was too far gone. GO TO THE VET!! COCCIDEA PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE - give nutrical/kyro syrup to the other pups...coccidea causes horrible horrible hypoglycemia in puppies. Let me know what happens!

PS Servere Hypo can cause brain damage making it so the pups could have no back legs control. (this happend also to the pup I mentioned).

PPS I am not a vet so I can't say the above is 100% but I REALLY think it's worth going into the vet for...a fecal is cheap and the meds are cheap if that's what it is.

Thank you! I will because now I am watching the other dog like a hawk because I am sooo scared it will happen to him too! Thanks again!

I am sorry that happened. I understand how devistated you are. I don't know what might have happened, but I am very sorry that he didn't make it. He was beautiful.

On another note..if you ever have a pup go down again (unable to stand or even in the start of it all and shaking perhaps throwing up bile) get out your kyro syrup and rub on their gums....it could save their life.

Soooo very sorry to hear you lost a pup...I know how if feels and it feels as though your heart is going to break!

OMG I'M soooo sorry! Your story brought tears to my eyes :(

oh, how sad! I'm so sorry this happened!

That is sad! so sorry.... only 6 weeks of life.... my...my.... :( Atleast he knew that he was loved and lucky to be with someone like you....and the family..... Little pup you will be missed!!!!!!!!

We are sorry for yor lose. You are in our thoughts and prayers!!

My vet doesn't give first shots until 8 to 9 weeks, and then keeps them at the office all day so HE can watch for reactions. But as others have said, it may not have been the shots at all.

I have heard about it when my contractor gave me a kitten.. He said ask the vet first about giving her (kitten) a first shot because the mom had allergic reaction and almost died when they gave her the first shot.. I don't know what age was the mom when she got the first shot... I can't remember what happened either....sorry...

I am so sorry for your loss. Great information from Wendy, she went through so much heartache too. I hope your other pup is just fine!!!

I am so sorry to hear about your little puppy.
Do you know what vaccine your vet gave him?
I would make sure it didnt have leptospirosis in it,this is not recommended for young puppies, especially small breeds until much older or not at all.
This vaccine can cause the crippling side effects you describe in your puppy.

This story just broke my heart. I am so sorry that you have to have this memory, it's so sad.

My heart goes out to you.

I wish I knew more about the vaccine side - I'm hoping some of the breeders on here will chime in.

I'm so sorry.....praying your other baby stays well.

I sent you a P.M.

I am so very sorry for your loss. I would definately have the other pups and mom checked out very thoroughly.

I am so sorry for your loss! I too, lost a beautiful puppy at 6 weeks, seemed healthy one day, critical the next.
My vet says, 6 weeks is a critical time for pups. They begin to lose some of their immunity, but the shots don't always protect at 6 weeks... By 8 weeks the shots will definately kick in. She will not give a small puppy the shot until 8 weeks and sometimes 12 weeks depending on the size.
Breeding and raising pups is certainly an education! Hope all of the other ones are doing great. Try not to be to beat yourself up. Maybe it was something that needed to happen to protect the puppy for it's future. Who know? Doesn't make it any easier to deal with. We cry for days over the loss of these tiny little jewels!

Ok this has me scared out of my mind now!! My puppies are supposed to go get their shots today...they are 6 and a half weeks old!! I just read this to my hubby and he and I both now think we should wait to get them their shots.

I just am not sure what to do now.

I am so sorry that this happened. My Yorkie Ellie had a life threatening allergic reaction to a vaccine that she was given. When she was a puppy she got the normal puppy shots. When we brought her home she got the Rabies shot and DHPP. Ellie is 6 now and last fall we took her to a new vet for some shots (we had skipped a few years) and they gave her Rabies and DHLPP-C. See when she was smaller and went to a different vet they left the "L" and the "C" out of the DHPP. The L stands for Leptosporosis and in my opinion this vaccine should never be given to a Yorkie. Ellie either had a reaction from the rabies shot or from the Lepto in the other shot. It is more likely to be the latter because she had never had it before as far as I know. A half an hour after she had these two shots she threw up, fell over (collapsed) and was unresponsive. Her eyes couldn't focus on you and she was in shock. We took her to the vet and he gave her 2 shots and she was ready to come home within 15 minutes but I don't know if she would have made it if we hadn't taken her back. Here is what we are going to do to prevent this from happening again. No More Lepto Ever. She will only get one shot per vet visit and she will be premedicated with Benadryl 15-20 before. I don't know if your pup had a vaccine reaction but I do know that all those shots make me very upset.

I am so sorry for your loss. :(

I agree that you should check to see if they vaccinated for Lepto. Yorkies tend to have bad reactions to it. If your vet insist on giving it they should wait until the puppy is at least 12-16 weeks old and never before 8 weeks. I dont vaccinate against it at all. I think it is mostly for dogs that are confined it cages with alot of other dogs or dogs that go hunting and come into contact with resevoirs and contaminated water.

Oh nooo. I am so sorry this happened to you. I cannot imagine what you must feel, but I think you did everything you could have. Again sorry you had to go through that.