soldiers shots

[dachiehome]

last wed i took soldier for his shots and borditella, all was fine until friday evening, half of his face swole up and his skin turned red , he was scratching and running around crazy. clinic was closed and vet on call was out on a call. poor baby i was panic stricken, we put ice and calomine lotion on him and kept the air on all night and in the morning he was fine, i dont think i slept all night for fear he would wake up in destress. my last visit to the vet was pumpkin my daughters dachie and she had a bump come up on her hip that lasted 3 to 4 mos, we had it checked neumerous times and vet kept saying it will go away. i am getting to the point where i am afraid to take the dogs for shots. what is wrong are we over vacinating? or crappy vet? my friend had her kitty die 2 days after shots this spring. any info apreciated cathy

[catstamm]

Well I don't think it's the vets fault if the dog has a reaction to a shot....
But yes I think most vets over-vaccine.
I think there are quite a few posts on this subject also.
How often do YOU vaccine? How old is soldier? Is there a reason you felt Bordatella was neccessary? What are your dogs exposed to?
The new VMA standards are to vaccinate every 3 yrs, when it use to be once a year.
If I do give my dogs vaccines they only got DHPP...I don't do Bordatella, Lepto or Corona...
I just licensed the girls and HAD to get their Rabies shot, but as a precausion I gave them each a benedryl before we left the house.
It's very important that we educate ourselves, be proactive and "Discuss" the care of our animals w/ our vet....not just do whatever the vet tells us.

[oceangirls]

Agree with Cat, I don't think it is the vet's fault, although they probably should be better about alerting owners to signs of a reaction. Make sure you tell the vet about it so they can add it to his chart and give a pre-med in the future that should prevent the reaction (or you can give Benadryl yourself as suggested).

Like she said, he may not need all the vaccines he is getting, especially if he is rarely around other dogs, not kenneled, etc... discuss this with your vet.

[Tex]

ITA with what's been said so far....there is a great chart on a website around here somewhere (I think Patt may have posted it, or may know where it is). I think it's a good chart of what each vaccine is, what it is given for, how long it is effective, and how high/low risk of a reaction is. It helped me to decide what shots to get for my 2 and which ones not to do. If I can find the thread or chart, I'll come back and put a link here....or if anyone else remembers what I'm talkin' about, feel free to add the link!

[bsquared]

My vet told us that dachshunds, red doxies especially, seem to have allergic reactions to the lepto and lyme vaccines. Lyme is very important for us to get because we live in the Holy Land of Lyme Disease here in CT. In any case, she won't give the two vaccines at the same time and she does half the vaccine in one spot and half in another. My brother's rat terrier/chi mix had an allergic reaction to one of the above (can't remember which). They were half way home and Josie started to swell up and couldn't breathe. They had to rush her back to the vet and get a Benadryl. Thankfully all turned out okay.

[areese]

I dunno...I've not heard of a delayed severe reaction to vaccinations...
Laika had a reaction to lepto and it happened within 15 minutes. Prob. even quicker but by the time I noticed the swelling it had been that long. Such a sudden and acute reaction to something over 2 days before seems odd.
I'm wondering if he got stung or something on Friday. Laika swelled so fast I could SEE it-she looked like a bloodhound (Or Andrea's Dolly ) within 5 minutes and had red hives on her belly...and she HAD been rubbing her face in the car but I didn't pay enough attention.
Not to say some vaccinations aren't necessary but don't assume they are not. You can have titers done...but if you aren't putting your dog in a bording kennel often I wouldn't get bordatella...and ask them about lepto...my vets hadn't seen a case of it ever in the 17 years they had been in practice in the area so I skip that.

[dachiehome]

thanks for all the info, i have a small grooming business home based. so i feel my dogs need borditella because of dogs in and out, i also do rescue and bring dogs in from many backgrounds, i have seen when a dog gets stung but i dont recall the red rash skin and rubbing and scratching. i worry a lot over soldier and a hair missing is alarm for me. i have read that the leathal whites will only make it to 6 or 7 years because of skin cancer, i slather him daily in sunscreen, but this one really scared me? cathy

[Patt]

Usually adverse reactions are soon after the vaccine is given. But, anything is possible b/c all dogs are different. I would advise your vet of the reacations, this way he will note it on Soldiers chart for next time. Exactly what vaccines were given? My vet pre-treats dogs with vaccine allergies 30 mins before the vaccine injection. In the future you might want to consider a titer instead of the booster. I titer my adult dogs and don't give the DHPP (Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvo and Parainfluenza) vaccine unless needed.

[Rileybugg]

No advice, I'm just glad Soldier is doing better! :hearts: