My dog almost died last night

[jackio Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close jackio]

We took our dog to the vet yesterday for her shots. She had received her first set at the pet store (she is a rescue dog from the pet store, but that is another story), and this was her second set. She got the 5-in-1 distemper shot plus a rabies.
In the car on the way home she lay down and closed her eyes and I remarked to DH that the vet visit must have taken a toll on her. When we got home, she began to shake, vomit, and have diarrhea, and was unable to walk. Turns out she had an allergic reaction to the vaccines. I called the vet and was told to come back immediately for a Benedryl injection. When we got there she was dehydrating and going into shock. They gave her the Benadryl plus a steriod. Her muzzle had swollen up by that time and her eyes were shutting closed from the swelling. Then they pushed fluid into her back between the skin and her muscle and gave her a hump like a camel, to re-hydrate her. They wanted to keep her on an IV but I told them I would watch her.
She didn't have any more vomiting, and last night I gave her a tablespoon of chicken and rice and she kept that down. This morning she had more energy and ate 1/4 cup chicken/rice. The swelling has gone down on the muzzle.
What a scare! I have heard of children being allergic to shots, but not dogs. They said they will have to pre-medicate her before any more shots, but I don't know if I'll let her get anymore. We will see.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Wow - glad she is okay......

[1950bing Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 1950bing]

Keep a close eye on your dog. Call your vet to get instructions on what to do with the weekend coming up. Exp. has taught me that things can change on weekends so get your plan in now for emgs.Good luck !

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

Glad your dog is doing better.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Jacki, how awful, and frightening! I'm glad she is on the mend. Can they figure out which vaccine she was allergic to? I can understand your not wanting to try it again. I am pretty sure the rabies vaccine is the only one required to maintain the dog license (and there are ways around that), and if she is relatively isolated most of the time, it may not be worth the risk to vaccinate further.

[catwgirl Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close catwgirl]

Wow, that would have scared me to death!! Glad your dog is better. Phew!

[Keitht Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Keitht]

I have heard of children being allergic to shots, but not dogs. They said they will have to pre-medicate her before any more shots, but I don't know if I'll let her get anymore. We will see.

I can understand your concern, but the vet now knows about the potential problem, and has ways to address it. The comparatively low risk of future problems is greatly outweighed in my mind by the horrible way an animal suffers if it contracts distemper.

[Gracey Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gracey]

Jacki, something similar happened to my little maltese. I was at work on a Saturday and my husband took her for her shots. Well when I came home from work that afternoon I asked my husband where the dog was, He replied "ever since we came home from the vet she has been hiding under the bed" I looked under the bed and you wouldn't even known that it was the same dog she was so blown up and her breathing was labored. I knew enough to get benadryl in her immediately, she had this same reaction to some type of bug bite at our cottage before. Then off to the emergency vet since our vet was closed by that time. Well same thing, IV's then they wanted to monitor her overnight. Well that incident ended running about $600.00 all over a vaccine. Needless to say, husband got Hallelujah for being so stupid not to think something was the matter with sugar for hiding under the bed most of the day. That is not her normal behavior.
Monday I called our vet to tell her the story, she told me it was probably this one type of vaccine (I forgot which one) and it was not uncommon for some animals to have an allergic reaction to it. Well now it's marked on her chart and she doesn't get that one updated at all, even with premedicating with Benadryl. So ask your vet for their best guess as to what vaccine might have caused this. So glad that your pup is Okay!

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

We took our dog to the vet yesterday for her shots. She had received her first set at the pet store (she is a rescue dog from the pet store, but that is another story), and this was her second set. She got the 5-in-1 distemper shot plus a rabies.
In the car on the way home she lay down and closed her eyes and I remarked to DH that the vet visit must have taken a toll on her. When we got home, she began to shake, vomit, and have diarrhea, and was unable to walk. Turns out she had an allergic reaction to the vaccines. I called the vet and was told to come back immediately for a Benedryl injection. When we got there she was dehydrating and going into shock. They gave her the Benadryl plus a steriod. Her muzzle had swollen up by that time and her eyes were shutting closed from the swelling. Then they pushed fluid into her back between the skin and her muscle and gave her a hump like a camel, to re-hydrate her. They wanted to keep her on an IV but I told them I would watch her.
She didn't have any more vomiting, and last night I gave her a tablespoon of chicken and rice and she kept that down. This morning she had more energy and ate 1/4 cup chicken/rice. The swelling has gone down on the muzzle.
What a scare! I have heard of children being allergic to shots, but not dogs. They said they will have to pre-medicate her before any more shots, but I don't know if I'll let her get anymore. We will see.

What a terrible scare that must have been for you. I am so glad for you and the dog that she is OK.

[timeos2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close timeos2]

What a frightening thing for you and the poor dog! Glad to hear he has recovered.

Be sure to tell any vet that your dog sees in the future about the problem. One of our cats apparently had a bad reaction to a common medicine. The first pill we would give him wasn't a problem. Then he'd get another and sort of fight it. By the third or fourth he was biting & hiding- if we forced it down hom he would develop a crazy walk & fall - it was affecting hos balance & he was probably feeling sick. I noticed it once - then a second time when he was treated for an infection - same result. The third time my wife took him in and they again gave him the same antibiotic (I forget the name now) and sure enough - he got sick again. So for the rest of his life (we lost him at 14 last December) whenever they suggested an antibiotic I had to be sure it wasn't the "common and safe one" most cats get. They never properly noted it in his records (or didn't read far enough back to notice). It pays to watch out for your animals especially if they are known to have a problem.

[StressCadet Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close StressCadet]

Jacki,

I hope your pupper is feeling better now. I have been through this twice. I own mini dachshunds. The Lepto part of the 5-1 vaccine is notorious for reactions in dachshunds and/or small dogs- so we don't give it. My area is not at high risk for this disease so we just don't do it.

That said, my Greta girl may have very well had a reaction to the Rabies. We are on 3 year here and she had not had one in 3 years. We premedicate now as well.

I also lost a dachshund due to an odd/rare immune related skin condition that may have been caused by the vaccines he received through puppyhood. We stopped vaccinating him straight away after he was diagnosed. He regularly visited a specialist and lived about 3 years-but it was very expensive to treat him.

I am on the fence on the whole vaccine thing-but because I travel and don't have friends willing to take on my dogs-I have to board and this requires the vaccines. During the time with Ace, my Vet boarded him special for me due to his condition.

Google the name Dr. Jean Dodds...she is kind of revolutionary in trying to get the vaccine protocol changed to more time between vaccines as well as stopping at a certain age. She feels that we tend to over vaccinate fearing the diseases-when our pets usually have sustained immunity from previous vaccinations. If one is serious about not vaccinating but wants to know if their pet is still immune-you can do blood work called Titers to evaluate immunity level. Another route is vaccinate for each disease seperately to pin point the reaction.
It all depends on the owner and your commitment to your pet.

I think I am getting long winded here-but this is something near and dear to me and I have done a lot of studying. Hope that it helps.

Give your pupper a belly rub for me

[JudyS Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JudyS]

I'm glad your dog is better, Jackio!

I had a similar problem with one of my cats, although fortunately it was not as severe. We shoved half a Benadryl down his throat as soon as he started vomiting (he did NOT like that), and it helped a lot. The vet also gave him antihistamines via injection.

StressCadet, your information sounds very helpful. I should look into this.

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

Jackie,

So sorry to hear that your dog had such a terrible reaction. What a horrible scare for you, and the poor dogie. I'm so glad that she's on the mend.

I would be careful about vaccines, in the future. My brother's dog is currently going through a terrible ordeal brought on vaccines. I'm only realizing now the many complications that dogs can experience from them.

[IreneLF Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close IreneLF]

I'm glad that the dog is OK. Sorry you had such a scare...it's awful when you think you are doing the right thing for your pet and then something like this happens.

Don' know anything about dogs and vaccines, but remember hearing from the local animal shelter (where my cats came from) that there is no reason to give them leukemia shots, (as long as they are not around any other cats) and that the vaccine for this was suspect (in her opinion). Having had cats who died from leukemia even though they had the shots, I passed on giving these cats this shot.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

I'm glad you caught in time. Most people don't think about dogs having allergies but they do.

We have a Scotty that had a rough go of it for about a year. She did fine on regular dog food but, at about a year of age started having dermititis issues with her feet, around her mouth and around her hind end. She ended up with mites under her chin and the treatment for that almost killed her.

We finally got things straightened out but, she's on antihistimines, a vitamin for her coat and a limited ingrediant diet dog food. Any plastic food or water bowels are gone and the ceramic bowels are put through a santizing wash every other week, sometimes more frequently if they appear to need it.

I've had dogs all my life and, while I've had odd things happen, food allergies haven't ever been one of them. We watch her pretty close whenever something new is introduced to nip any issues in the bud before they happen. That one year probably cost me the price of 3 Scotties but we wouldn't give this particular little girl up for the world.