Side Effects of Pet Vaccines: A Closer Look

My 11 month old recently adopted female Golden Retriever just got her first Lyme vaccine. Within 12 hours she has diarrhea and its been two days. I believe this is a direct result of the vaccine because nothing else has changed and her stools were find up unto the vaccine.

We took our Miniature Daschund, Hannah in for her third distemper vaccination yesterday and she had a severe reaction. The first shot gave her a reaction and we had to take her back to the vet for steroids, I questioned them on whether this shot was really necessary given the severity of her reaction. They indicated it was and that if we pre medicated her she would be fine. We did pre medicate for the second shot and there was no reaction. Yesterday she began vomiting, loose stools, face began swelling, eyes swelled shut, veins in ears swollen and she was obviously in pain. She went back to the vet for steriod injections and benadryl. We have to give benadryl every 12 hours for 2 more days. There will be no more distemper shots for this dog, she is too valuable to us.

My two year old Maltese/Shitzhu went for his annual vaccine/booster & rabies shots. When he got it done this time he wouldn't stop yelping and when I picked him up from the table he lost control of his bowels. He instantly had pooped all over me and continued to yelp. The vet said this was normal when they got a rabies shot. (This was his first rabies shot) I took him home and he was very lethargic and did not want to be touched on his back. The next couple of days were the same.

Five days later I noticed that he had a bump on his shoulder and a patch of hair was gone. I rushed him to the vet and was told that he had an infection, probably from a bee sting which caused this. I asked if it could be from his shots and was told that it wasn't. They put him on antibiotics and within a week the bump was gone.

After a month I took him back to the vet because the area was still red (no swelling), and still had no new hair growth. The vet then told me that he probably had allergies and put him on a new dog food. (Something he does not want to eat)

It is now a year later and he still has a bald spot on his shoulder. We have since then switched vets but I am very reluctant to give him or my other dog their boosters or rabies shots because of this.

Currently have a 17 week old Standard Poodle puppy going through the same thing, after all tests, and several antibiotics we are treating him for nasal mites. The vet doesn't think this is the problom but all symtoms cleared within 24 hours of giving Ivermectin.

My dog has IVD, which was diagnosed on his 9th Birthday, after a severe symptom outbreak, shortly after receiving the combo vaccination of Bortadella/Parvo/Leptosporosis. After an MRI, steroids & ongoing weekly acupuncture, he had his mobility back until the annual vaccination was again due. To be conservative, I asked that the vaccination be separated. Therefore, he had Bortadella, Parvo & Leptosporosis vaccinations separately, 2 plus weeks apart. That is why it was easy to determine that 24 hours after the Leptosporosis vaccination, he had back disc/pain/ambulatory problems as severe as the year before. He was on steroids for a month until he could resume acupuncture weekly again. His chart was marked "No Lepto." However, he continued to have intermittent setbacks until the most severe one 5 weeks ago. He was again treated with steroids which helped but did not get him fully functional. Yesterday, I had bloodwork done for the neurosurgical consult. Today, I was informed that he now has hepatitus/advanced liver enzymes which could be caused by steroids but is also caused by Leptosporosis. You requested feedback for negative reactions to vaccinations so I hope this will be useful.

My 4 year old neutered male cat had booster shots for rabies and distemper yesterday. Since then he has been lethargic and not eating.

Lymes Booster Side Effects

Our 3 y/o Chihuaua had a Lymes booster shot when she was about 2 y/o. They apparently give the same dose no matter what size they are. She weighed appr. 6 lbs at the time. She was really sick for two days with flu like S/S. She recovered, but now she has been getting front and back leg tremors. It started with just one side, but I noticed it has gone to the other side as well. We didn't realize until after the shot that this condition has been reported. We are sick to death about it and and know her quality of life is now affected and quite possibly her length of life also. We have not found any remedy :-(

I have a 11 month old bloodhound. When she was 6 months old, she was spayed. About a week later, she became lethargic. I took her back to the vet, fearing an infection. He treated her with ampicillan. A few days after that, she started developing neurological symptoms, i.e. walking on the top of her right, front paw. I immediately took her back to the vet, He placed her on a steroid and Bactrin, She improved, but her symptoms worsened when weaned from the steroid. She was falling, lost the sight in her right eye, was walking on her paw, and seemed to have generalized right sided weakness. He referred her to a neurologist, who did a spinal tap, which showed a virus.-unspecified. The treatment changed to high doses of Batril, Ammoxocillan and steroid. Her condition has improved somewhat, but not a great deal. She is no longer faling or walking on her paw, and has regained some sight, but since being weaned from the Bactrin, is now rounding. This has been going on two weeks now. We have raised the steroid to 40 mgs twice a day. With very little improvement. We have considered more Batril,,

The original vet has now found another dog that developed similiar symptoms, and who was in the hosptial at the same time.

Any ideas? suggestions? She is only a baby, could these side effects be from the vaccine?

ANSWER TO KELLY FOR DOG SICK AFTER VACCINATION

Hi Kelly

I think giving the best food to your dog would be a good start to help in recovering.

I have 2 suggestions:

1)Here is a link about "how to grade dog foods" and about finding out good dog foods. http://www.whisperingpinekennel.com/articles/article_dogfood.html

2)I would add to the feed Blackstrap molasses (BSM) and maybe to the water some Raw Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV). Don't force feed with these. Let your dog use his instinct. Animal instinct is probably better than ours when it concerns food. You can even try some kelp. BSM, ACV and Kelp added to good quality food will provide a lot of minerals, and will help in building back health. See these 2 links for further suggestions: http://curezone.com/forums/am.asp?i=944174#i1
http://curezone.com/forums/am.asp?i=1230640
You can try that forum for other suggestions.

If you try the suggestions let us know how it goes.

Good luck

I took two Blue Merle Cardigan Corgi pups for distemper shots. At ten weeks old, this was to be their second shot. The first was done by the breeders vet. We were informed that they would act tired for the next day, and not to worry. While waiting for my husband to pay the bill, the male had a bowel mishap. As the vets assistant went to clean it up, she noticed that it was very mucusie look to it along with a white stringy effect. They put a sample under the scope and detected coccidea eggs. The dogs were given Albon Oral Susp.-5ml first day,2.5ml for the next 8 days. This was done on Sat., by Mon. The male was vomitting, had the runs and began shivering, we went back to the vet for the next three days, we were told to be patient. The third day, after keeping the puppy for a few hours, the vet called, saying that they could not tell what was wrong, and to take him to an emergancy clinic. We took them both, she was starting to act the same way. The male was taken in immediatly, the female waited to be examined before being admitted. We were called the next night, telling us that the male was in horrible pain and needed to be put down. After his actions were described to us, we both agreed not to let him suffer like that. The girl was kept in intensive care for 5 days, and was tested for everything known to man. Everything came back neg. We racked our brains, trying to come up with a cause for all this horrror and told the vets every little detail of the two weeks that they lived with us, and, nothing! We brought her home on the 6th day, paying a vet bill of slightly over $10,000. We still do not know what happened to our babies, the only thing not mentioned was the vaccines.

I rescued an abandoned lab about a month ago, took him to the vet who decided to give him Rimadyl and Simplicef for a sore on the pad of his foot. He seemed to react fine so a few weeks later I took him in for his rabies shot, 1st round of Bordetella and DHPPC shots. I went back 2 weeks after the for the second round of Bordetella and DHPPC and scheduled him to be nuetred in 4 weeks.

Within those 4 weeks my dog became sick and began to vomit a yellow bile. When I took him in to be neutered his platelet count came back really low and the vet put him on Doxycycline and Prednisone. We tested for tick titers that came back negative and they still don't know what is wrong with him.

I'm so angry that the vet didn't wait longer between vaccines and antibiotics before scheduling him for surgery. If she hadn't done a blood test before surgery, my dog would have bleed out on the operating room table.

And now I can't afford to keep taking him to the vet and don't know what to do.

My Old English Bull Dog had puppies on 10-9-08, given amoxocillin 2x a day for mastitus, doing great... she went for stitches to be removed 10 days later. On this 10th day the Doctor noticed she was due this week for her parvo yearly shot. He said it was safe for the mom feeding pups to have this shot. Now 24 hours later she has a low fever and the 'runs'... I am taking her in tomorrow because there has been no change in diet and where we live, there is no contact with any dogs, 'pets or strays'... I am afraid of what this could be, because with the antibiotics and her mastitus being gone, and still finishing her meds, there is no reason at all for the runs and low fever.

My Boxer had her 16 weeks vaccine to help prevent the Bordatella virus.5 days after her nasal vaccine, she developed not just a little runny nose, but a full blown infection. Yellow mucus shooting out of her nose when she sneezed. Major pleghm and rolling cough from her throat. Presently taking Doxycycline with no improvement. Now going to Guelph University for further testing. It appears the vaccine did this to her. Now I find out most people do not recommend giving your boxer this vaccine. Boy is my dog sick right now. I hope she gets better soon.

I have a 2.5 year old Chihuahua, I took her to the vet (20 October 08) for her annual rabies vaccination and booster. I was in the morning at around 10:00. Everything was fine and I left the house at 14:00 that same day, she was still perfect. When I returned home an hour later, she came to greet me at the door as she always does, to my horror I noticed that her whole head was severely swollen, her eyes almost shut closed. I immediately took her to the vet. He gave her an adrenaline injection to help the swelling go down and kept her there for observation. At 5:30 that afternoon I went to pick her up, lots of the swelling had gone down but not all of it. At home she was very uncomfortable and in pain, she was limping as the legs that got the adrenaline injection was very sore, she was moaning and couldn't lie down for 2 mins. I phoned the vet and he said it was very unusual and i could bring her in to get something for the pain, so I did. Only at around 22:00 that night did she fall asleep. Today (21 October 08) she's doing much better, she doesn't seem to be in any pain and is walking fine. She still has swelling especially under her chin which worries me. The vet said that it's a debate if this swelling is from the rabies vaccination as something could have bitten/stung her. I told him that we live in an apartment and have not insects/spiders in our home. The possibility of something like that are very slim. I don't believe that it was anything else but from the rabies vaccine. What are your thoughts on this matter?

Bodhi, our 4mth old long-haired dachshund went in for his last parvo-multi shot, and his first ever rabies shot (in hip) on 10/15/08. He was tired and slept for a day, but bounded back to normal on the second day. Early in the morning on 10/18/08, Bodhi had no muscle control or tension from his midsection back; total hind quarter paralysis. Within an hour he began vomiting yellow foam (7 times in two hours). He slowly began to regain some strength by hour three. The emergency vet was certain it was the rabies vaccine, and suggested the shot was given too early (Washington law requires the first shot by six months). Bodhi still has periodic quivering spells, especially when he is sitting still, but mostly he has his control and temperament back.
Pfizer, "Rabdomun", killed virus, 1ml. (single dosage), no batch number. SN#S724897A, Exp. 7/17/09.

Nancy, first let me offer condolences for your beloved companion.It is tragic to loose a dear friend. Are you sure it was the vaccinations, and not pet food? Remember not too long ago it was a big awful mess with the pet food industry?

I have a little Chihuahua he was a puppy, and getting his puppy shots. He probably weighed about 3 or 4 pounds. I noticed after his second set of shots on his hind quarter it was swollen. He ended up having a big red bump, eventually lost all the hair. It was almost a year before any of the hair started growing back. The vet never admitted it was from any vaccinations. Although it was the site of the injection.

At 2 years of age I had to take him to an allergist. Separate from his regular vet Whom by the way I had changed, I wasn't happy with his original one. The allergist inquired about his bald spot. I told them what had happened he said "He not only lost his hair feel this." I put my fingers on his bald spot and could feel a dip, and indentation. The little guy lost muscle mass as well. He will never regrow his hair, he is 3 1/2 years old now. I guess they should not have given him the vaccination cocktail. I am also on the fence with vaccinations. Are they necessary? Do they do more harm than good? As a responsible and loving pet owner you want to do the right thing.

Pet Death from Vaccinations

Homey was a mix breed of approximately 102 pounds that was 10 years old. He went for a checkup the beginning of February 2008 and was given a clean bill of health. They also gave him the 3 yr Rabies, Corona and DLPP shots.

In March he was becoming lethargic, didn't want to play ball, didn't want to go for walks and it was quite unusual since he always did. The middle of April he started drooling a lot, wouldn't eat, had sever diarrhea and vomiting and his entire hind end didn't even support him for going to the bathroom.

Took him back to the vet and they ran bloodwork and said he was fine and put him on a different diet including two different antibiotics (why he needed them if nothing was wrong...I don't know). That didn't help so we took him to a holistic doctor to see if he could help find out what was wrong. At the time we had no clue it may have been related to the vaccinations. One week after seeing the holistic doctor, he passed away. I am devastated, as this wonderful family member was always in the best of health, taken care of as you would a child and stayed in the backyard as our guardian.

Not much more to say other than after reading information on your website, thanks so much for the insight. I wish I would have known this before they vaccinated and killed him.

vaccination of puppy

my poodle and bichapoo were both vaccinated for distemper and rabies, per state requirements in Texas. The bichapoo lost all her fur, developed ulcers in her mouth, and her eyes became dull. I tried to talk the vet out of it, since I'd recently learned that all dogs get the same dose of these vaccines, from tiny to large. The dose is the same. I needed the rabies to get her accepted on a plane and at the groomer.

I am now giving her raw meat diet, a homeopathic remedy for vaccinations, liver support (milk thistle) and a mushroom for immune boosting. I found an honest vet in Falcon Colorado who admits the problem and has the remedies.

I will never again have my dogs vaccinated. Now I have learned that heavy metals are in the vaccine as well.

This is criminal in my opinion. The vets make a lot of money on vaccinations, and some have admitted that we over vaccinate. One time will last a dog's lifetime.

It's all about money.

I feel terrible for having my precious healthy puppy's life almost destroyed for listening to the FDA requirements.

We must keep talking about this and change it. It is animal cruelty at it's worst.