Side Effects of Pet Vaccines: A Closer Look

My 1 and a half year old mail jack russel terrier had his 2nd booster shot and his rabies shot. The next morning he acts like he is sick and has ALOT of white film covering his entire eyes and he couldn't see. I had to put eye drops and clear it out. and wipe it out. Along with that he acted very tired and barely moving and that's uncommon for him to act all routy. I need to know if this is normal.

I have a rescued chihuahua female. Age unknown but muzzle is gray. Probably 5 or 6 years old. I was told to get her the shots she needs. Rabies, Bordetella and 6 in 1. She is so sick now. Won't eat, drink or walk. The vet says it is a reaction to the rabies shot. I am very worried. Have had her for 3 weeks. She was lively and fun. Now she sleeps and does nothing. Can she die from this?

My 9 month Kitty had the same reaction as Samantha's--pain at site of injection, sore abdomen, won't eat, sleeps all day, vomiting--my other boy is perfectly fine.

my pup got its first booster at 9 weeks 5 days later she has golf ball sized lump on bak of her kneck where her injection went in we are takig pup to vet today when it opens i will come bak and let u now what happens ......to daisy the pup' bye all.

My cat had her rabies and another shot yesterday afternoon. The second shot wasn't for feline leukemia, but it was a similar shot...maybe FIV? She was normal last night...playful and affectionate. Today, she never got out of bed. It's after 9 PM, and she has just gotten up, drank a sip of water, and has now gone to curl up in her carrier, which is her "safe place." She feels really bad and is hot to the touch, as if she has fever. Her vet is closed tomorrow (Sunday). If she's not back to' normal Monday, back to the vet we go. She's 6 and I don't remember her ever having this reaction before. I can tell she feels awful, but it is so scary and pitiful because I can't tell HOW bad she feels. She's an inside only cat, and it's tempting to not vaccinate her at all, but accidents and escapes happen, and I want to protect her the best I can. She also has asthma and has to have a steroid shot every other month, so I'm scared of putting too much medication in her tiny little body. Golly, I'm scared.

We had our 5 year old cat in for his booster for rabies and feline leukemia on Thursday 9/27/07 and he was sick so sick! He lay around all evening Thursday didn't eat or drink, did the same thing on Friday, cried if I tried to pick him up and was lethargic on Saturday most of the day. Could barely get up on the bed that evening...did eat on Sunday finally. Today when I went home for lunch he seemed to be his usual self wanting to play and ate pretty well. My question is this, is it worth the pain to have an indoor cat (who's never been outside, isn't allowed outside, shows no inkling to going out)be vaccinated for this? He's not any special breed....but much loved by us. I couldn't hardly stand seeing him in so much pain..any thoughts?

This comment is about vaccinations side effects on animals. I have a beautiful white cat who now walks on three rather that the normal four legs. Shewas diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her right leg, right around her knee. The remedy--amputation. Four years ago she went to the vets (in another town, another place) and had her rabies and boosters for other diseases, notably leukemia. When we arrived home she got out of the car and almost fell--the leg that had been injected was apparently too numb or too painful for her to use. This lasted for a few days, and for at least two weeks she was too ill to eat much or groom herself. Then about two months ago--in a new town and a new vet--she underwent her rabies vaccination in the same leg, (I have stopped the other boosters since that first episode) and sure enough she started limping. It went away, then came back along with a total loss of appetite. The vet felt the inevitable bump, and after many painful days of waiting for biopsies and getting second opinions, I decided to have the amputation. Powder Boo is alright now, a bit demoralized, but I live with the awareness that this cancer could easily have spread (although the vet did tell me that in cats sarcomas do not metastasize as easily or quickly as they will in dogs.

I had my 8-mos old chihuahua taken to the vet for her shots and just about an hour - two later, she developed somes hives, severe swelling, and itching. She only weighed approx 3 lbs then and the vet gave a combination of so many different shots. This was truly unsafe. Vets should at least know that small breeds can't handle too many shots given at one time. Just a comment...

all vets think of money. the more shots they give your dogs the more money they make.i won't take them back to vets. i give my dogs a shot at 12weeks and one at 6 months and that's it. too much drugs in their bodies. if you have kids you don't give shots every month i hope thanks.

i just had my 2 1/2 year old deer chihuaha vacinated with the rabies and bordatello shot today at 5:30 pm. needless to say, I was up at the vet emergency clinic at 10:00 pm. My dog had a high fever, shakes and cried when picked up. His breathing was shallow and he is very lethargic. After reading all the feedback i am now scared to death! The vet at the emergency clinic gave me rimadyl and told me to bring him back if he isnt better in 2 days which is probably what i will be doing because here-2 hours later there is no improvement. any suggestions?

My 2 year old cat has just had 3 booster vaccines (rabies, distemper & feline Luekemia) A day later, she is lathargic and the injection sites are teneder to the touch..Since she only goes out to the screened in porch I will probably never have her vaccinated again

I had a long haired Siamese cat who died at 19 years old, last year. She was spayed and fully vaccinated, except feline leukemia for about 6 years. She became an inside cat primarily, but was exposed to a variety of other animals we had over the years. She was completely and totally healthy for her last 13 years with absolutely NO vaccinations. I now have two one year old cats from the same litter (1 spayed, 1 neutered) and both have had inital Rabies shots. We also have a 9 year old dog, mixed lab who was vaccinated last year. I DO NOT want to have them vaccinated again, but I worry about heart worm. How can I get them tested annually without all the rest?

I have read all of the negative comments from everyone regarding vaccinations and I will admit seeing some allergic reactions in my time mostly hives and facial swelling that responded to antihistamines. When you have a puppy in your clinic that dies of distemper because it never received a puppy shot or you have to tell a small child that you were unable to save their friend because the puppy never received any vaccines and was too far gone with parvo virus to save, it is hard. At our practice we do talk about risk factors for vaccination and treat each pet individually. SC is a 3 year rabies state so we only vaccinate rabies every three years. I have done titers on some pets that did not have a protective titer even 6 months after vaccination and others that needed multiple vaccines to pass their titer test for going to foreign countries. Vets are not just out for a buck they have studied immunology and infectious diseases. Viruses can not be treated with antibiotics and often are deadly when contracted. If one of your pets dies unexpectedly rather than guess at the cause have the state diagnostic lab perform a necropsy. Vaccines have saved more pets lives than have injured pets from side effects. When the vaccines companies test for safety they give a 10 time dose of vaccine to see if it causes any ill effect on small and large dogs.

RE: METECAM -- I BROUGHT MY CAT IN FOR A SORE ON THE PAD OF HIS PAW, THEY GAVE HIM METECAM AND HE STARTED DYING THE MINUTE I BROUGHT HIM HOME. HE WAS 6 YEARS OLD. TOO YOUNG. WHY ISN'T SOMETHING DONE ABOUT THIS?

I have a rescue baby named Gizmo who is 2 1/2 years old. He is mostly chihuahua but has a little something else. I took him to the vet for his Parvo shot and the next morning he was vomiting. I tried to pick him up and he screamed. I took him back to the vet and was told he most likely had a reaction to the shot. His lipaise levels were high and he was still vomiting. I was sent home with antibiotic.I had a feeling that I was not being told the whole story and went back and demanded a copy of my dog's records. They gave my 11 pound dog a shot for a 123 pound dog! I was told it didn't matter, they get the same dosage! My dog will never return to that vet, ever. I am very careful about my dog's health and he only goes out on a leash. I know he was healthy when he went to the vet. It has been two weeks and he is still having some problems. He is due for more blood work at the end of this week. I feel like I paid someone to try and kill my dog!