Pitmom420 (Houston, Texas) on 11/04/2011
Got two of my dogs vaccinated for parvo/distemper at a local shelter clinic and within 10 days displayed all the signs of distemper. My pitbull, Max, is 6 months old and had it the worst of the 3 dogs - he was sick for nearly a month and there were at least 5 times we thought he was going to die on us.
He has managed to recover mostly but is still very clumsy, has diarrhea and overall looks very skinny and fragile.
If your dog contracts this virus, don't give up. Request Dioxycycline and Clavamox as well as supplelement the animal with 1/2 tsp of food grade diotomaceous earth in the food. I even used a nebulizer with Albuterol to get Max thru the respiratory phase. Don't be afraid to use DM cough suppressant and decongestant for stuffy noses and Benadryl for a runny nose. Flexiril and massage for facial tics or tremors as needed.
These poor dogs literally have 2 1 gallon ziplocs full of every medicine and supplement I could think of.
Max is ok for the most part - my German Shepard Charlie is only exhibiting the runny nose and has a facial tic on his right side that is permanent.
Your dog can recover with dedication and research on your part. I have realized sadly that MANY of the vets out there know NOTHING about distemper. You are going to have to be your own expert.
Good luck. People can email me at if they want advice:
gulfcoastmom8008(at)yahoo.com
Annie
Lynnette (Olympia, Wa) on 08/22/2011
I have an Italian Greyhound (neutered male) 3.25 years at time of vaccination. Tim had 2 vaccines Leptospirosis and Bordetella, both by injection. 14 hours later he had a status-epilepticus seizure that endured 1 hour.
After the single seizure he was placed on Phenobarbital. I now work with a holistic vet and have moved him to Sodium Bromide and supplements.
Corrin (Baltimore, Md) on 05/19/2011
I recently took my Jack Russell mixed breed to get his distemper, rabies, lymes, lepto, and bordetella vaccines. Two hours later he was limping and refused to use his back left leg. I called the vet to find out which limbs were injected. The back left leg was injected with the lepto vaccine. After a restless night of watching over him like a hawk, I woke him early the next morning only to find that he was now limping on his front right leg as well and refused to move at all. Apparently the front right was the destemper injection. My poor baby was in so much pain he was shaking and crying and got very upset if he was touched. I rushed him to the vet where he was given morphine and anti-inflamatories. After 48 hours on pain killers and anti-inflamatories he is better. He still has two red lumps that look like injection sites and there is a large amount of red skin around the injection.
I found out that the same thing happend to my neighbor's small terrier. The distemper vaccine almost killed her little angel.
Cindy (Council Bluffs, Ia, Usa) on 11/28/2009
My dog had his annual vaccinations a week ago and a large lump has developed in the past 4 days. He is a pekingese/yorkie mix and is 1 years old. The lump is nearly 2 inches across. The vet told me just to watch it so no remedies have been tried yet. No other symptoms are present.
Jlogan (Los Angeles, Ca) on 09/10/2009
Distemper Booster: Bad Side Effects
My 2 1/2 year old, male French Bulldog went in for a set of booster shots on 9/03. On 9/09, he started to uncontrollably bob his head up and down. Unluckily for us, we have experienced this same reaction when we took him for his 1 year set of booster shots. After the initial 1 year booster shot reaction, I researched a lot and could only find a few connections between vaccines and his side effects. The vet was very cautious to not associate the head bobbing reaction to the vaccines.
Now, we know for sure after this last shot on Thursday that the head bobbing reaction was caused by getting a vaccine. The first time, he was given Rabies, Distemper, Parvo and Bordetella. I tried only giving him the distemper shot alone this time would avoid any potential harmful side effects. This did not work. Last time the head bobbing lasted for a full 24 hours and went away. Now we are on day 2 and the head bobbing continues. I just want it to go away.
The vet is telling me that the head bobbing is only disturbing for me and that it is not harmful to the dog. It is really sad.
Nancy (Gap, PA) on 06/09/2009
Friday my 7 year old 10 LB toy poodle had his yearly vaccinations. On Monday, he was honking like a loud goose, choking and spitting up foam. We rushed him to the Vet and he developed Kennel Cough as a result of the Bordetella vaccine. He is on medication and is very sick and just lays around with this sad look in his eyes. I will never allow him to have that shot again. Since he is never around other dogs I feel secure in doing this. I'm also reading that Lymes vaccine has a lot of side effects too. I probably will only allow rabies vaccine from now on....because it's the law!
Yogakathy (Ulster Park, NY USA) on 05/27/2009
vaccination reactions immediate and delayed: Sweet Patootie, 1 1/2 year old bichon frisee, had facial swelling just hours after his vaccination - I think Bordetella injection was the only different one. 6 months later he developed near-fatal auto-immune hemolytic anemia, and barely survived a week in intensive care - almost at the point of getting a transfusion. He did live, but died prematurely at the age of 11 1/2 years. Unknown cause of death. I resorted to having his titers tested yearly, and they really do stay high enough for years after vaccination.
Amie (New Britain, CT, USA) on 11/04/2008
My Italian Greyhound (16 weeks old) got her distemper booster earlier today - the 3rd set of the vaccination in a set of 3. Now she seems to be really sore in the shoulder where she received the shot. A large lump has appeared.. it's really, really soft, almost like a giant blister under her fur and skin. That's the best way I can describe it. It's not so much like it's swollen, but more jiggly. I'm pretty worried about her now because she shrieks in pain if you rest your hand against it. I don't know if this is a normal reaction or if I should be worried. She has had a tendency to overreact (quite vocally) to certain things, such as loud noises.
Steph (London, UK) on 10/21/2008
Has anyone heard of side affects occurring a month after a dog's booster? Within 4 weeks of her shot, my dog started to lose her claws. This happened on every paw and now 2 and a half months later, she only has one claw left. Then last night, she had a severe fit for the first time ever. She is nearly nine and has had no health problems like this before. Although I have had her on fish oil, vit e, vit B3 and anitbiotics for a month now to try to boost her immune sysytem, I am also worried her seizures could be caused by these pills?
She is lethargic and her eyes are very dull. I am so worried about her but cannot get any real help from the Vet. He has taken bloods yet again. The first time was a month ago and they showed nothing wrong!
I found something called SLO on the internet which described her nail symptoms to a "T". It's an auto immune difficiency. That in itself means nothing though as they lump anything they can't diagnose into this category. I am really worried now that she is fitting though as that has no relation to SLO. Anyone out there with some advice?
Lisa (Bastrop, Tx) on 03/04/2007
I have just read that epilepsy in dogs can be contributed to booster vaccinations. I have a terrier/border collie mix that I rescued from the pound in 1994. She was estimated to be 8 mos old. About 18 months later she began have epileptic seizures. I have moved a few times since then, but I will be going through my files to see if I have any medical records for her dating back to 1995. It would be interesting to see if she had received any shots close to the onset of the first seizure. She continues to have seizures at random and have become more severe over the years.
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