Side Effects of Pet Vaccines: A Closer Look

I took in two stray kitties in 2005 and they have been in for spaying and shots as needed since then. One of them, Annie is 8 pounds and Buffy is 12 pounds. Over the past 2 years when they got their shots Annie has suffered terribly. She cries, licks, runs around frantically, won't let me near her and is just miserable for about 2 days whereas Buffy is fine. I asked the Vet about it after the first bad reaction as I was worried Annie got too much medicine or something and the Vet told me the medicine was premeasured so each cat got the same amount regardless of their weight which I thought was strange. Anyway, my girls are due for their yearly shots soon plus their rabies also and I am leaning towards not having Annie get any shots at all which I hate to do since she is an inside/outside cat as I also have 2 rescued dogs and a doggy door, but I don't want to put Annie at risk for the adverse reaction to the shots.... I am SO confused as to what to do. I love my furry kidz so much and I want to do what is best for them but I'm not sure what IS best for them.....Any help out there?? Vicki

My little pug puppy got the following vaccinations this morning: 'distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus, parainfluenza, leptospirosis'. She has not been eating all day, is normally very active but have been sleeping all day, and vomited twice.

On December 5, 2009, I took my perfectly healthy, 7 1/2 year old calico kitty, Margo, to the vet for her annual 'wellness visit.' Arbor Ridge gave her rabies and distemper vaccine. A few days later I noticed she squeaked and cried out if I tried to pick her up. I took her back to the same vet (big mistake) and he diagnosed Margo with some sort of back injury, perhaps from jumping off a high object, he said. She is an indoor cat and had never been sick even one day in her life up until then. He then sent me home with Medicam to give her. It worked until it wore off and then I read about the lethal side effects. I returned to him when Margo didn't improve. He again encouraged me to give her Medicam. He also sent me home with Tramedol, a pain reliever. I then tried a so-called natural vet who took many tests, barium, x-rays, consultations, etc. costing me alot of money. They determined Margo was not passing urine and stool. They gave her an enema and expressed her bladder (very painfulf or her.) This vet also recommended Medicam which surprised me and then referred Margo to the UW School of Veterinary Mecicine for further tests. They ran many tests and couldn't locate a reason for her pain when handled. They gave me Lactulose and some capsules to shove down her throat which was terrible for both of us. They gave her so many drugs that it is a miracle she has survived.

I finally consulted with a reputable pet communicator who asked me if Margo had had any vaccinations lately. I said she had, indeed, had shots right before all this happened.

She then went on to say that the needle had hit a nerve making it painful for Margo to squat and suggested an acupuncturist. I took her advice and the acupuncturist also gave Margo a chiropractic adjustment. She recommended TRAUMEEL (a safe, natural anti-inflammatory supplement)and THUJA (used for bladder irritation) to ease Margo's discomfort. I am also giving her prune juice each day. The veterinarian at the UW Vet school wanted me to keep Margo on the Lactulose and said 'We don't know the effects of prune juice." Interesting! They also sent me home with antibiotics to start giving Margo several days before the tests for any infection that would call for them, were back from the lab. She was hospitalized there for two days because they wanted to do a cat scan and an MRI but the neurologist upon examining Margo, said she didn't feel that was necessary. They had given Margo a form of morphine when she stayed there in the ICU unit. She was given a phentanol patch to relieve pain which didn't work one bit. She is urinating and deficating but still is sensitive to being picked up. She was just fine before those vaccines!! The vet, of course, is taking no responsibility and the others who examined and over medicated Margo are being quite evasive about the reasons for her predicament even though I had told them over and over that Margo had been perfectly healthy before that 'wellness visit.' I guess that is all part of the "Code of Cover-up."If anyone has any other suggestions please write.

Mari

dog dental vaccince side effects: I took my 3 yr old Maltese into the vet to have her teeth cleaned.She is only 4 pounds! The vet told me about the new dental vaccine that they have been reccomending to smaller breed dogs. I told them to go ahead and give her the shot while she was under. When I went to pick her up she seemed ok until they set her down and I tried to pick her up. She cried out in pain and then started to whimper. I set her back down and she was just pitiful! There was a large knot where the shot went in but I was told this is normal. She couldn't move for the first 24 hours at all. Not to eat, drink, or use her pee pad. We are now going into day three and she can still hardly move. If you try to pet her from mid back down she cries out then will whimper for hours after. If anyone has any ideas, I would love to hear them.

Sickness after shots: This is just to ask what is happening to my kitten. He is 6 months old. I had his first booster shots done 5 days ago and he has not been "right" since,. He is listless, unhappy, has a tiny mew, meows loudy before he vomits, which he didn't vomit before, sits with a sad look on his face... a distant look in his eyes. He has not eaten in two days and seems to be interested when I ask him but he won't eat it. I thought maybe the food was "off" a bit.. so opened another can... but no way. He didn't even want to have his "cookies" which I purchase from my vet. He is a ragdoll, lynx points cross and has come from a reputable breeder in our area. Thank you

i have a poodle/havenesse mix and 8 months ago i took him in for his booster, and that will be the last time i do that, we thought we were going to lose him. i wont do it. he is 6 years old and there is alot of contervsory over vaccines and how often it is needed. we as humans only get one, not every year so why in animals,, is to make the vets richer? we must remember that it is a business.

Normal side effects? I have an adorable 4 year old 1 pound female Shitzu name Tosh,she got her annual shots as well as rabies shot this past Sunday, ever since then (almost 2 days) she has been laying there not moving, she would not eat or drink or move by herself. Her body in aching because whenever I try to pick her up she would cry. The vet told me this is normal and to give her baby aspirin every 8 hours... this morning she started to breath heavily, not sure what to do, I paged my vet and waiting for a call back... was wondering if anyone experience similar issues with their pets. I might just take her in to be checked just in case... thanks in advance for any reply!

I took my 5 year old pekingese in for her annual vacination booster which included her rabies and canine 7 way. After receiving her shots on that Friday, she vomited and was unable to walk. She also had a moderate fever. After contacting her vet for a weekend emergency consultation, her vet advised to simply give her an asprine a day until she was better. It took her over five days until she was able to walk and over two weeks for her to walk without falling over. This was a terrifying experience as I was unsure if she was going to pull through or not. Although her vet advised this was a common reaction, I disagree and I am uncertain of having her receive the boosters next year.

I am concerned if it was a problem with the vaccines or in how they were administered.

I did note that the vet used the exact same injection site and gave the injections back to back. Allowing the vacines to be contained together under the skin. I am not sure if this made any difference but it did concern me at the time of being too hurried.

My cat had a rabies and FVRCP vaccination 0n 1/23/09. The next day he was lethargic, not eating, but is drinking, walking slowly and with some difficulty. He is 12 years old. I believe the rabies vaccine makes him ill. He is an outdoor cat so I believe the risk outweighs the possibility of the disease. This is not the first time he has been ill after a vaccination. However, he seems very ill this time. I will watch him closely for the next couple of days before calling the vet.

My kitty Elmo is seven years old and like a dutiful mother I vaccinated him yearly until the fateful day after his sixth year of the shots he went into a breathing/asthma attack, spit dripping from his mouth, an actual moan from his lips, and when I went to pick him up he went limp. We rushed him to the emergency room, 1000 dollars later they tell me he had an "allergy" attack and tried to claim that the shots had nothing to do with it. yeah, right. Had I not been witness we probably would have lost him. So needless to say I started checking into this and do not plan to vaccinate him every year. Thank God for this site, for all of you angels, for Ted, and for our higher power. xoxo Cara

I have an 8lb Rat Terrier named "Bella". When she was just one year old, she had a reaction to her 1yr (7-Way) booster vaccination. She experienced a mild case of aniphylactic shock along with hives, in which she was treated by an ER vet. Since that time, the vet says she can no longer have that type of shot, or next time it WILL kill her. She had received a 7-Way vaccine for her puppy shots and never had a problem. It was the one year booster that she'd had the reaction. To this day, she no longer gets any kind of regular vaccinations due to obvious health reasons. I feel she is covered for life.

Just this past friday, Bella was taken once again to my vet for her 3yr Rabies vaccination booster. She ended up having a reaction to her rabies shot this time. Again, she's never had a problem with rabies before and this was a booster. Bella had vomited on the ride home from the vets, then within an hour of that point, she'd broken all out in hives. I gave her 1/4tsp of childrens liquid benedryl, which helped the swelling to subside. It is required by law to have a rabies vaccine, but next time I will see if I can get an exemption from it for my Bella, or demand that the vets keep her for an observation period after administering and treat as needed.

Please find attached photos of my Bella, while going through her reaction to the rabies. Her little face was so swollen that she looked like a bulldog. I will also include a photo of what she looks like normally so you can see the difference. I feel these vaccine boosters are over-rated! Especially for an indoor, 8lb dog. I wished I could contact these vaccine companies personally to report my dogs reactions, so they could keep records of such.

Anyway, thats my report... my dog Bella has had reactions to her vaccination boosters, and so has her sister (Zoey) as reported by Zoey's owner! The same issue, vomiting & hives.

Regards,
April

My dog had a severe allergic reaction to her 3rd (16 week) C5 injection. She is a Foxy cross Maltese, very small build. About 20 minutes after she had the injection (we had reached home) her eyes started to become blood shot. Having severe allergies myself, I saw the sign at once and said we better get back to the vet. Minutes later her face, ears started swelling, so we got in the car and rushed her to the vet. She stopped breathing on the way, so my husband had to give her mouth to nose/mouth. Once we got there they gave her a steriod injection and she lost control of her bowels. Thank GOD that she recovered.

We haven't gotten her immunised since then and she is going on 6 years old. She has gotten kennel cough since then (we also have a dog with addison's disease so have to go to the vet every 25 days) but on the whole has been healthy.

My 3.5 year old Golden Doodle is extremely sick, she has been vomiting for 1.5 days and cannot keep down any food or liquid. She is scratching herself, and her nose is a little swollen. Today is 12.17.08, she had her vaccines on 12.09.08. Last year, again about 1 week after her vaccines, she became ill in exactly the same fashion! Had I known for certain that last year her vaccines caused this she would not have had the "booster" shots this year. She had the following: DA2PP Booster, Rabies Canine 1 yr Booster and the Bordetella Vaccine. The vet was not surprised, unlike last year when they had "no idea why Alphie was so sick". Now I know for sure why! The vet said to take away her food and give her only small amounts of water - too much of either will make her vomit. Small amounts of water and ID food, along with Pepcid AC and Benadryl. Rice and Boiled ground beef are also ok to feed her - although nothing - NOTHING - stays down.

My 14 month old shihtzu was in for her annual3 days ago. Without looking at her file, the new vet gave her rabies, dhlpp, and bordatella all at once. within 5 minutes in the office she immediately began vomiting and losing control of her bowels. The vet took her to the back, and gave her some fluids under her skin and something for nausea. He told me she would be woozy for a few hours when i got her home, and when he handed her to me she was like a barely breathing puppy corpse. When we got home, she was extremely lethargic and her gums were tacky, and she started to have bright red bloody diarrhea. I called the emergency line for the vet and met him at the clinic, where he gave her more fluids under her skin because he was unable to find a vein bc her blood pressure was so low, and he also gave her some benadryl. We took her home again, hoping she would feel better in the morning. When we woke up, the bathroom was covered in blood from her stool, so we rushed her back to the vet where they admitted her. She has now been there nearly 48 hours, and all the vet can say is that I should not bring her home because she might not make it without her IV> ...anyone else had issues like this? I am devastated!

we took our very fit 11 yr old cocker spaniel fo his yearly booster,after he seemed very sleepy & 3 days later he was very sick ,has lost his appetite, been very lethargic & has had conjunctivitus.We took him back to the vets & they gave him an antibiotic injection & some medicine to settle his stomach.We are now 10 days further on and still there is no improvement.