Side Effects of Pet Vaccines: A Closer Look

distemper reaction

I brought my 10 week old boxer in for his first distemper vaccination. All seemed fine, 2 days after he got the shot, my energetic puppy was unable to stand. The next day that the vet was open we brought him in and began testing him for lyme disease. It seemed very unlikely that he had lyme due to the limited exposure to the outdoors. We proceeded to give the puppy amox. and an anti-inflamatory med because the puppies joints were swollen. two days later the puppy is running around as if nothing ever happened. In between, we had x-rays and a full panel of blood work. We've come to our own decision that the vaccine was to blame. Now he is need of two more rounds of this shot and we are afraid to give it to him

My 4 1/2 month old french bull do had her DHLP/P-C3 vaccination. The next day she walked a little funny-her hind end seemed to over wiggle. Within a week she has only partial use of her back legs with the left being the worse. The vet has no idea or at least has not returned calls regarding any information they may have found. Bottom line she still is eating drinking, peeing and pooping like a regular puppy. She is bright and alert but her walking abilities are worsening. What shall I do? Is this normal or can this be from the vaccination? Will she recover and what can I do?

In response to "Maystar from Newport News, VA" -- If Oscar is indeed suffering from a slipped disc, you may consider locating a chiropractor in your locale who will manipulate Oscar's spine to correct the injury. At the very least, the chiropractor would be able to tell you if that is in fact Oscar's problem. If it is the problem, you may be able to save Oscar from surgery. We are fortunate enough to have an excellent chiropactor in our area (main clientele are humans) who will look at most any animal with a spine to see if he can assist them. I have taken two of our dogs (who play too rough) to him and he successfully treated them. One dog I had already taken to my vet and he had prescribed muscle relaxers and an anti-inflammatory -- this alleviated the symptoms, but did not cure the problem. The visits to the chiropractor cured the problem.

It is not uncommon for animals, like humans, to have a slight inflammatory reaction to vaccines. This can cause low-grade fevers, decreased appetite, and lethargy. Your vet SHOULD always warn you of these side effects. My cat had a reaction like this a couple years ago after she recieved her FVRCP and rabies vaccine. Since that time my husband and I have done a lot of vaccine related research. We have come to learn that although most vets will not tell you so, you should in fact NEVER give more than 1 vaccine at a time-especially to small animals. Many vets will do multiple vaccines at once because it is easier, and insures that the animal will receive the vaccines they are due for since not all pet owners are responsible enough to come back multiple times just for a shot. However, my belief is that it is worth it to make an extra trip or 2 (each at least 2 weeks apart from one another) to decrease my pets risk of having vaccine related reactions.

Poor pup! That doesn't sound like fun, and I'm sorry she had to go through this. Good news is that the medication the vet gave you should help quite a bit. The metronidazole (aka Flagyl) is an antifungal that is often used to help treat digestive infections/inflammation. I don't remember what class of medication Sucralfate is, but I do know that it helps ulcers heal by forming a protective coating over them. It is a good medication. As the ulcers heal they will first stop bleeding, and then should go away all together. Eventually your pup should not need anymore medication. I hope she feels better, and I would talk to your bet about future vaccination (or lack of vaccination) plans for this dog.

Vaccination Side Effects

We had a Golden Retriever who ended up with kidney and liver disease after she was vaccinated and died a year later. We gave her all the recommended puppy shots but did not have her regularly vaccinated because we didn't believe it was necessary. When she was 6 we brought her in and had her vaccinated for Rabies, Lymes & distemper. A month later we brought her in to have a lump removed and they tested her blood and found the problems. She was so sick we had to put her down less than a year later. She was perfectly healthy before those immunizations and I am convinced that is what killed her.

vaccination reaction

Our dog was impounded and given a rabies and dhpp-bdin, without our consent. Since then he has lost weight and continuing too, diarrhea and vomiting (this has stopped) and is now refusing food. We don't have the money to take him to a vet.

My border collie puppy was vaccinated for distemper and rabies. He is very ill now, I took him back to the vet and was told he has ditemper,they advised me to put him down. I refused ths advice, I said a prayer and now I am giving him a mixture of (125ml cup jungle oats,1 rooibos teabag, 2ml teaspoon salt, 3(250ml) cups of water boiled for 30 minutes and cooled in the fridge) also mix (500ml milk, 2 raw egg yellows,1 teaspoon vanilla essence,125ml condensedmilk. Mix well, keep in the fridge) I mix 1 teaspoon Honey, 20ml jungle oat mixture, 50ml milk mixture, add a little boiling water to warm the mixure. I give him this 4 times a day,(3 days and counting!) He is improving each day!

We adopted a 6 week old chihuahua, Max(his mom is a rescued miniature chihuahua, father is not known). Max weighs about 2 pounds. His first vaccination was given between 6 and 7 weeks. A friend gave him the 7 in 1 vaccine. After about 4 hours, I noticed swelling on Max's whole neck, and it was very tender (no swelling around his throat). Called a friend who works with a vet, she said to give him children's Diphenhydramine, but wasn't sure of the dosage. I gave Max 1/2 ml of liquid Diphenhydramine, (Children's Benadryl) repeated the 1/2 ml dose 3 hours later. I gave him another 1/2 ml dose 4 hours after the 2nd dose. By this time the swelling had gone down some, he seemed to feel better, but I just wanted to be sure he was going to be ok. By morning, the swelling was gone, he still has a little bump where the injection was done, but other than that, he seems fine.

Both of my boxer dogs have had reactions to distemper shots

You guys are being ridiculous. While it's a true tragedy that a puppy passed away, it really is quite rare. Matter of fact, humans can also get an anaphylactic reaction to a drug or a vaccine - does that mean that we should let our kids die from polio instead? and CHARCOAL???? Are you kidding me? What do you think would be the action for such a drug? Well, where does it go? The STOMACH, that's right. So, since the vaccine is not given orally (but is instead injected IM or SC) charcoal will do absolutely NOTHING. It's only action is to slow the absorption of an ingested substance, so that it may be excreted faster and hopefully have less of an effect on the animal/human. Come on, people, get your medical facts straight before you tell other people to put their pets at such a risk. Perhaps there is a doggie or a cat dying right now because somebody listened to you and didn't vaccinate their pet against things like rabies or FCV. My cat almost died from FCV - don't think for a moment that I didn't wish that he had a vaccine instead! To this day he has side effects from the DISEASE, not the vaccine. People resist modern medicine so much - never mind that we live twice as long, and cure 100 times more diseases for both humans and animals. Yes, there will be isolated cases of tragedy. But for every one of those, there are thousands of lives saved that would have been otherwise lost. Can't you see that? If your pet is highly allergic, then let your vet know. I don't think they are out to kill them. Kind of a bad business, you know.

thank you for your posts, my dog just got one and he has been moping around, lethargic and not his usual self. He is usually very hyper, but now he is the opposite. hope he is ok. we didn't even get the option to wait and try something else. please let him be alright. thank you.

Reaction to Lyme Disease Vaccination

My three year old Pomeranian received a Lyme vaccine on April 4, 2009. I lost her three weeks ago; she was only 3-1/2. On the night she received the vaccine, she began to flop to the side and couldn't find her food dish - it was the saddest thing I'd ever seen. She couldn't control herself, she would walk in circles. We took her to a neurologist the following Monday and the final diagnosis was enchephylitis/menengitis. There was necrosis in her brain like something had triggered an autoimmune reaction. Although, no one will say or admit that the Lyme vaccine may have been the cause due to an allergic reaction, I really have to wonder! We knew this was a terminal illness, but what triggered it? We were able to keep her for only five months following, but she was constantly on meds to fight back the autoimmune disease. I will definitely not allow the Lyme vaccine to be given to her sister who is still healthy and providing much joy in my life. This was such a devastating experience for us and her sister.

I took my lil puppy in for vaccine she is about 9 weeks old . She is vomiting and sleeping alot I am very worried about her. Hopeing I can update with a possitive note later praying she is ok..

My cat Pinot, 1.5. years old, had his immunizations yesterday and has been tired, lethargic and sore for 24 hours. I am quite surprised and disturbed by this as the vet never mentioned any weird side effects like this. Pinot had 3 shots: Rabies (3 yr), FVRCP, and Leukemia. I am not sure if the reaction was because he had all 3 at once or what. Any feedback is appreciated.

My 4 year old cat was vaccinated yesterday and has become very ill. He received his rabies and leukemia shots and within 2 hours was unable to walk straight, almost as if he were intoxicated. His eyes were dilated funny and looked as if they were only half open. He lost control of his bowels on the floor and has been sleeping continuously. He has never exhibited any of these behaviors before and I am certain they are caused by the vaccinations. He seems to have great discomfort when I move him and he cries like he is miserable. I hate this! I'm going to search for other solutions to remedy these side effects and find an alternative to vaccinations for my pets. Putting my sweet cat through this seems very inhumane!

My puppy's reaction to Rabi shot

My 4 lb. Chihuahua puppy got a sore bump where she receive her first 16-week Rabi shot. Is this normal? Thank you.

We have a Golden Retriever puppy, 11 weeks old. The breeder told us that when he received his 1st puppy shot, he had a "possible" reaction one day later. The pup was lethargic and wouldn't get up or walk. He was taken to the vet who was not sure what was wrong but put the pup on steroid medication. When we got him, he was a happy, healthy puppy with no problems that we could see. We told our vet and gave her the records from the breeder's vet. When it was time for our pup's 2nd shot ( DAPP-CV), we "pre-medicated him with Benadryl. He was fine until the 2nd day after the vaccination when he vomited, became lethargic and just very sick. The vet kept him and gave him IV hydration and medication for 2 days. We took him home today. He is alert and eating, but is unable to use his back legs and yelps when he is picked up. He is incontinent of urine and stool. So far we have spent $575 which wouldn't bother me at all if he was well now....he isn't. I can only pray he recovers. I will NOT let this beautiful pup have any more vaccines... EVER!!

This past April we took our two cats into our new vet to get their distemper shots done. This new vet required us to get those shots for our pets to be seen by them. For the whole time I've had my cats, one for 14 years and one for 7 years they have only ever recieved their distemper shot, not the rabies vacination. So we took our cats in for their shots and there was a BIG mis-communication between us and our vet. When the vet came into give the shots they gave our cats both the rabies and distemper shot. I honestly didn't think to ask why they had two needles. I know this was a big mistake on my part and it was our fault for not saying anything or asking why two needles. So after the shots when we paid we realized that we paid for rabies shots. I was very suprised and said to my husband that well it can't hurt them but next time we won't get those for them since we never had before. Well a week after the vacinations were given our younger cat who is 7 years old came down with a Urinary Tract Infection/UTI. He had never had a UTI ever in his whole life until a week after the vacination. My husband and I immediately both thought that it was related to the rabies shot since he had never had one before and now all of the sudden a UTI! So we took him in to be treated and I asked the vet could it be related to the rabies shot. Well naturally the vet said no, that it would have nothing to do with it. But then why would they say anything different? They make money off of it! Both of our cats are indoor cats, and have been their whole lives so this is why we don't get their rabies shots. I will not be so irresponsiable again when it comes to vacinations for my pets. I personally feel it was because of the rabies shot but who knows. I know my pets and I take very good care of them so I personally feel that the UTI was caused by the rabies vacination.

I just found this site through a friend and am blown away by the number of reactions pets have had to vaccines. I too went through something. I currently have two cats who got their combo shots every year as recommended by the vet. One year after the shot one of my two cats (a black mix breed) retreated under a desk and stayed there for over a day not eating, drinking or using the litter box. Every time I even came within a few feet of the desk to talk to her she would growl, hiss and lunge out if I got too close. This was very uncharacteristic behaviour. It was the weekend so there was no vet to take her to immediately and resolved to take her on the Monday morning but by the Sunday evening she was sleeping under the desk. She accepted food and water I brought to her there and seemed exhausted. By Monday morning she was up and about and fairly normally though a little quieter and less playful than usual. She was like that for a couple of days before she started playing again. A few months later a friend in Nova Scotia got her black mix breed cat vaccinated and the cat deteriorated in a matter of days and died. Of course she believed it was the vaccines but her vet naturally said no. Since then I only do rabies vaccines every 3 years (much to my vet's chagrin) and have had no problems. I had no idea just how many people have gone through this and seeing all these stories has just validated my decision. Thank you to all who have submitted homeopathic suggestions such as Thuja and charcoal...something I plan to stock my medicine cabinet with me.