Replied By Peggy (Amelia, Ohio) on 07/12/2008
I too have had problems with my chihuahua and the bordetella vaccine or nasal spray. She has same exact symptoms. Before she was spayed she had received the vaccine. All was fine, then after they spayed her she got kennel cough from the vets and the tube for anesthesia caused her to develope tracheal damage. She was on antibiotics and had nebulizer treatments for three months after. The was 6 mths old then. She is 2 1/2 yrs old and I took her for a routine visit this past Sunday. They insisted she get the shot but I told them of her reaction when she was spayed and said no. They said we can do the nasal spray and made me feel less of a good parent to my little girl so I agreed reluctantly. They gave her steroids and benadryl before the treatment and put her on amoxicyllin. She has been back to the vets again and received another steroid shot and benadryl injection and changed her antiobiotics to tribessin. She is still sneezing, running nose, severe reverse sneezing to where her whole chest sinks in. They say nothing can be done, she will be ok. Not in my book. This issue is not over. To boot, they charged me for the second treatment even though I did not want her to have the stuff in the first place. She is never boarded or around a bunch of other dogs. They make you feel like a bad person if you don't get the shots or nasal spray but then you feel even worse after you do and they have a bad reaction. Not sure what to do at this point.Replied By Joyce (Joelton, Tn) on 07/12/2008
Hello, at this point, my suggestion is to find you another vet and stand up to them when you feel a treatment is likely to be adverse instead of beneficial. Classic example of this, is when a relative's two pups came down with parvo and were taken to vet for treatment. One died and one survived. Our not-quite year old shephard mix exposed to them came down with it a few days later. Realizing that vet's therapy was only 50/50 chance of survival, went the route of 2 grams of Vitamin C dissolved in l quart of water and dribbled into her mouth (she was beyond drinking on her own) frequently, had her back on her feet and drinking the next day).