Close

You must be logged in to love this post! Please sign in:

Close

You must be logged in to follow this post! Please sign in:

Mitchells' Mummy (Bedford, United Kingdom) on 11/16/2010

My 11 week old puppy, Mitchell, had the 2nd dose of his puppy injection last week, the next day he appeared "odd" and over the next couple of days he changed from being our family playful puppy, to a zombie like state, with eyes glazed, head held down and pacing a circuit around the edge of the room - bumping into objects, then standing still with no reactions to anything. It was horrific and extremely distressing, he seemed to perk up and the next morning seemed playful and chasing his toys etc. Then by lunchtime, he went back into this vegetative state, so we took him to the vets, telling them he didnt seem right since his injection. The vets said that they hadnt seen anything like it, by this time he was dribbling, and slumping down. He was admitted immediately and had blood tests, which came back normal - his Nuerological tests showed that he had neck ache and loss of vision in one eye. And a suspected bad headache.

I searched internet, and mentioned to the vet that it has been reported that these can be symptoms of Canine Distemper and considering he had been shot with a dose of the live vaccine, surely this was an extreme adverse reaction to his injection. The Vets agreed and started him on antibiotics and painkillers, after contacting the vacine company - Pfizer, they agreed to cover initial investigations and treatments. Later yesterday evening he was no better and the vets called thinking he may need to be transferred to a specialists vets, who require a £1000 - £2000 fee UPFRONT. And the vaccine company would NOT pay this......... So if he doesnt improve, the decision would be down to us, whether or not we pay the money, for treatment, that may not help him, or have him put to sleep. I am livid and distraught, as at NO time was I informed of the risks to these standard injections (I was told he may seem a little tired and may get a lump at the injection site)

With Kids injections (MMR) you are told of the risks, can make an informed decision and then you are given a leaflet stating side effects of the injections and what to do if you notice this. Surely this is something that vets should be doing, I feel guilty that I didnt get Mitchell to the vets sooner and he had to endure 3 days in and out of pain. I have no idea if he gets better, how it will effect his long term health, does he now have mental issues ? Has anyone else experienced problems like these ? Are vets warning of the possible side effects ????

REPLY         

Replied By Linda (Queen Creek, Az) on 12/09/2010

Michelle, we recently experienced the same thing with our 15 week old pup. When he received his second set of shots he was feeling well and was not eating a lot. Then about 3 weeks later he was better; and had put on 4 pounds. Our vet gave his third set of shots and then took blood and xrays of his hips because he was limping. The blood came back that his rbcs were low and wbcs high; so they put him on an antibotic.

Another week went by and I took him back to the vet to have a recheck on his blood work and he was back to being not perky, just laying around, could barely walk and I was feeding him daily with a spoon; but at least he got food in him. He was drinking and moving his bowels; which were soft. Our vet then put him on predinsone to kick up his rbcs and increase his appetite; but instead had the reverse effect, he didn't want to eat. The Predinsone did help increase his rbcs from the previous blood work and his wbcs went back to normal but then all of sudden his platletts drop; that was why she put him on predinsone.

Another week went by and he was no better, we finally took him into the vet again because on Saturday 12/4/10 I took him out and he did his potty and then fell over. I picked him up and call the vet right away. When we got to the vet she said, OMG he has a fever of 104.6 we need to put him on ice to get his temp down then she said, I am sorry but he will not make it through Sunday, we said what? What is wrong and she said, I have no idea, our little man was in pain when you touched him all of a sudden. We were then told she recommended we put him down to avoid his suffering.

We are still overwhelmed with this whole situation and still no answers. We paid $1200.00 US money to make him better and he died. I believe it was from his last set of vaccines that put his immune system in a spinal downturn. No one wants to be responsible, we CANNOT bring him back; but we did everything that we were told to do by the vet and we need closure as to why. Good luck on your journey of trying to find out, I wrote the manufacturer Merck; but I really am not expecting to hear back. Our little boy should have NOT died! Best of luck

EC: So very sorry to hear of your loss. May you find healing on your journey.

REPLY