Side Effects of Pet Vaccines: A Closer Look

I have three terriers. Welsh, Irish and Wire Fox. The Fox Terrier is 15 and because of reactions to vaccinations, I now have all boosters given separately. Last April, 2007, I took my 3yr old Welsh Terrier, Maggie, to get her DHPP. She had been very healthy up till then. She was very lethargic for the first two days and would not eat. Then, she started walking with her head cocked to the side. She stumbled when walking and seemed disoriented. It was a very busy time for us...we were packing to move from CA to VA in ten days...my father was dying and in the care of hospice. It wasnt until about five days after Maggie was vaccinated that we realized how serious her condition was. We took her to the ER Vet about May 2, 2007. Blood work and urinalysis were normal. The vet performed a neurological exam and said that she had a serious neurological problem. She was concerned that the live virus from the vaccination might have crossed the blood brain barrier and actually caused her to contract distemper. There were also a lot of other neurological diseases that could be the cause. She told us that the only way we would know what was wrong was for her to have a CT scan and a spinal tap. She told us that these tests would cost about $1500-2000. We of course decided to go ahead with the tests. She sent Maggie home with us and told us that she would contact us in the morning. She wanted the tests done ASAP because the next day was Friday and if the tests werent done by noon, they wouldnt get the results until the next week. She called us very early the next morning and told us to have Maggie in San Diego at 9am. It was an hr drive for us and we left her off and were told that she could probably go home that night and that they would have some of the results by then. We called to find out when we could pick her up and were told that she needed to stay overnight because her blood pressure was very high...and they didnt have the results but would in the morning. Called early the next morning and was told that Maggie should stay thru the day because of blood pressure...and they still didnt have the results. By that evening, they wanted to keep her overnight. We told them that we were coming to get her. I was sure that blood pressure was from her being nervous...and they promised they would have results when we picked her up. We drove down to get her and were told that they still didnt have the results...seemed strange since that is why they needed to perform tests before noon the day before. Sent Maggie home with Prednisone and antibiotic. In the meantime, we moved out of our house and spent the next week with my family. My father died that week. We were on the phone with the vet daily...one week later there were no results from the tests. The final bill was $3,500 but we had no idea what was wrong with Maggie. She was no better...still stumbling and cocking her head to the side. She was no longer playful and slept all of the time....and peed constantly because of the prednisone. On the 17th of May, we had to leave to drive to VA. The Rx had run out and they renewed them. The vet had no explanation for the lack of test results. We started to realize that somehow the test results must have been lost. There was no other explanation for no test results ten days later. The vet kept putting it off on the lab. On the second day of our trip to VA, the vet called me on my cell phone and said that all the test results were normal. My question to him was, What is wrong with my dog? After all of that time and money, they were telling us that there was nothing wrong with her. She wasnt better though. We took her off of the prednisone and the antibiotic. We had been stopping every hr for her to pee while we were driving. It has now been over a year. Maggie is now back to normal. It was a gradual change. She no longer cocks her head to the side. She plays, runs and eats normally. The one lasting side effect seems to be with her personality. She has become anti social. She doesnt like to be held and growls at us when we make her do something that she doesnt want to do. She never acted like that before. Our new vet in VA does not want her to have anymore vaccinations...except for the Rabies. She said that it is the law that she has to have that one. She is four now and is due for the rabies in a couple of weeks. I am hoping that it doesnt cause the same problem that the DHPP did. We will never know for sure what caused Maggies neuroligical problems but I have to believe that it was the booster shot that she received.

I lost a beloved female Australian Shepherd, Belle, that I bred and raised... to her "MINIMAL" vaccines. I NO longer use ANY! Please check out my website for the complete story and photos of her decline. http://pinecrestaussies.tipod.com (In Memory of Belle) I'm trying to spread the truth, so that other animal lovers truly know what HARM vaccines can cause. I also suggest you join the JstsayNO2Vaccs / BeyondVaccination Lists at YahooGroups.com. READ the book: Natural Immunity, by Pat McKay. HTH, connie & the RAW Fed Aussie Pack.

I took my orange tabby in for his rabies, lukemia & distemper booster yesterday. He also got 2.25 Drontal pills for worms. When I came home after work last night he was aggitated. I thought he was hungry but he ignored the food I put down for him. Later I noticed he was licking his legs and paws, couldn't get comfortable laying down, and he was breathing rapidly. He wouldn't let me hold him or pet him for long. I called the vet at home. He suggested i give Mulligan half a Benydril. It took another 45 minutes for that to work. He is still sleeping this morning and hasn't eaten.

I had another cat that had the same reaction to his rabies booster. What is going on here! One vet told me it could be a reaction to the medium used in the vaccination. If so, why are they still useing it! I am going to email the WSU and Cornell Vet schools for more info.

re: lyme vaccination for pups -- my pup dobie just got his first lyme shot and it was the scariest thing ever, first he lost control of his bowels and then he fell down and peed, he is a little tired now but i hope he will be ok.

Had litter of Pugs Parvo Vacc. 19th June, on way home checked pups, one was near death, back to Vet -- steroid injection, ok now.

After a week my 6 yr old choc lab started having diarehha. I thought it might be his food so decided to switch it and after 3 weeks of very very loose stools. I realized it is not the food. It was the vaccination. I have him on canned dog food to give his stomach a break. No change.

About 3 months ago I took my dog into the vet to get her second DHLPP (it was a series of 3) and first Rabies vaccination. She was 14 weeks old. About 3-4 hours after her vaccinations she started throwing up, had diarrhea, and would not eat or drink anything. I brought her into the emergency room and they did a test on her that indicated she had Parvovirus. They also said they had ruled out any possibility of a false positive from the vaccination given earlier that day. Now, my uncle had given me the pup about 9 days prior to me bringing her into the vet, and had already taken her in for her first set of DHLPP at 6 weeks old. None of the other puppies he has contracted Parvo, and I hadn't been bringing her anywhere where she could have picked this up. SO, I don't know if this is possible, but I think the vaccine gave her Parvo! Poor dog, she was in the vet hospital for 5 days. She is fully recovered now but I refuse to get her vaccinated again!

about the dhlpp vaccination -- my liter of 9 boxer puppies had there shots on saturday the 14th and now today on monday the 16th there all running fevers and have diahreea and will not eat or drink i have been giving them baby asprins a half of one 2 x daily and 1cc of benadryl 2 x daily does anybody have any suggestions they were fine before they were given to them eating and everything thanks so much and be blessed

my boxer had a fourth combo shot (parvo, lepto etc) along with her first rabies shot. She's 6 months old. She's had diarrhea since, for three days now. Is it from the vaccine? Our last boxer had a rabies shot at 6 months and was spayed that same day. She made it through surgery and then died when they reversed the anesthetic. Coincidence? Please post questions on the site with latest posts.

My 12month old min-pin passed away on April 5th. He had a adverse reaction to an immunity booster shot which was given to him twice, and had a total of 4-vaccines by the time he was 9wks. He developed a lg bump behind his left upper shoulder which later turned into Melenoma sarcoma. I always felt the vaccine caused this, because he yelped after the final shot, and a day later it turned into a hard lump, and 2-months after turned into cancer. We tried every method to save his life, but all that did was buy him time. I want to know what these vaccines contain, and why he had to have so many?

My 7 year old lab had a severe reaction to a seven way vaccine. I gave him the shot and within 5 minutes he had collapsed in the yard. I rushed him to the vet where he recieved 2 shots of eperinephinand a steroid shot (in less than 30 minutes from the origional shot). the vet had checked on him an hour later he showed some activity. When the vet returned two hours after that he was dead. This was the same shot I had been giving him for seven yrs, just this time it was fatal.

Last year when I took our cats for their vaccinations ( rabies, feline leukemia, distemper). Right after we got home. Our six year old cat, Fuzzy (American short haired orange and white tabby, neutered), had a severe allergic reaction to them. He was vomiting every few minutes and panting , and shaking and then started having diarrhea; all at the same time. We had been the last appointment of the day so our vet was closed. We rushed Fuzzy to the emergency clinic where they told me that it was not uncommon for a cat to have a reaction to a vaccine that they may have had before with no bad reaction. They gave him steroids and fluids intravenously, and he survived. Today, with much trepidation I took the cats for their annual vaccinations. My new vet gave fuzzy his shots along with a shot of benedryl, and some prednisone tablets to take home with me for him just in case. They told me also that I could bring him right in if he had a bad reaction. He is fine. However our 18 month old cat, Twinkie ( neutered male american shorthair cream and white tabby) is having a reaction this evening. He received rabies, distemper, and feline leukemia vaccines. He is feverish, lethargic, doesn't want to be picked up or have his abdomin touched ,and won't eat or drink. I will be up tonight monitoring him , and may have to take him to the emergency vet.

We have 4 miniature dachshunds. They had their 5 in one annual vaccine plus a rabies shot. All 4 of them had severe swelling, itching and disorientation reactions. 2 of them vomited. They had cortisone to ease the reaction. The vet said it happens to one dog in a thousand. So how come in our case it was 4 out of 4? Sad Truth is most (not all) vets and the health authorities do not care about the short term and long term side effects of the poison vaccines injected into our beloved animals. Of course it is difficult to pinpoint a long term side effect - but given the immediate horrid short term effects, there must surely be negative long term side effects as well.

My poodle was vaccinated a few days ago and I also found two lumps on him. One of his shoulder and the other under his arm. The one under his arm doubled in suize in less that 24 hours but then disappeared. If these are normal side efects, why wasn't I told by the vet or the groomer (had him groomed that day too). I have been freaking out all weekend. I found my dog a year ago and this is 1st time I got him vaccinated and they knew that. I am sad and very scared right now.

More sad news about vaccinations? I had my 4 year old Norwich Terrier vaccinated for DHPP and Leptospirosis in December per our "regular" plan with our vet. Clancy was a spunky energetic dog.Three months later, in early March Clancy became lame in his right front leg. We initially thought it was just a leg injury but, it turned out he had cancer. Three heartbreaking months and thousands of dollars later we had our be-loved dog put to sleep. We didn't know about the risks of over vaccinating. With a heavy heart and a hole in our lives we won't make the same mistake again.