Side Effects of Pet Vaccines: A Closer Look

We picked a pound puppy (mix breed), healthy he seemed and around 3-4 months old. Took him for his first check up and vaccination and all went well. Within 7 days he started to lose energy and within 24 hours was lethargic and not eating or drinking. Then the swelling began in his neck. He was diagnosed with puppy strangles which is a swelling and thickening of the lymph nodes. He didn't have open sores on his face, which could occur, but was so ill. He is a small dog (10lbs) and had baseball size swelling on each side of his neck. Steroids are the only treatment with antibiotics to cover him while on them. It has been difficult. The swelling on the side of his neck ended up being abscessed and broke... While discusting - at least it found relief for him. December 25, 2010 he got sick and it was on meds till mid February 2011. His abscess never healed completely till the beginning of March 2011. By the end of March the swelling is back on one side and the Vet doesn't seem optomistic. Vet didn't want more steroids but we are only keeping him on antibiotics. We shall see. I have been reading your articles and may try to remove the food and start giving him a natural diet. Never will he have another vaccination - this has been hell. There has been more then one occasion we thought we were going to lose him and the amount this has cost keeps growing. If anyone has any remedies for puppy strangles would love to know.

Hello, I just found your site after yesterday's extensive search about the pet vaccines.

My Charlie is 1 1/2 year old Maltese boy. He received his Lyme Disease vaccine yesterday. Last year he was absolutely fine, but yesterday he developed the aggressive allergic reaction within 20 minutes. I eneded up driving like a lunatic back to the Banfield Animal Hospital. He started to shake his head, scratch his eyes and ears and almost banged his little head against the car window as I was holding him to calm him down. I was terrified.

They administered 2 shots - Benadryl and some steroid one to stop the attack.

Till this day I didn't know there are 2 kinds of vaccines - core and non-core... I pay for his Health Plan with a Banfield Animal Hospital at Petsmart and on numerous ocassions I was looked down for asking too many questions or refusing some advised treatments, because I simply did not think he needed X-rays and tests costing over $600 after having a slight diarrhea.

They charged me another $95 for those 2 shots he was given and sent me home with a baby Benadryl.

After reading all those stories here - many heartbreaking - I decided not to give him any more non-core vaccines. I even read that Giardia vaccine is not effective against the actual disease and it is only in experimental stage.....!!! Now how horrible it sounds?

Are they experimenting on our pets with all those chemicals???

I think all drug companies do that - with pets and with humans as well.... trying all those new drugs, having all those ads on TV and then after few years you learn those so called miracle drugs harmed the liver, kidneys, heart or caused stroke, cancer or even death.

I want to thank you for creating this site and allowing us - pet parents - to share our stories and allowing us to warn others about the effects of drugs and vaccines. I hope many lives will be saved in a future because of warning and articles published here.

My heart goes to all families, that suffered through the ordeals and through the loss of their beloved family member.

Thank you again,

Katie & Charlie.

hello! i would like to ask what is the side effect of anti rabies vaccine? my poodle terrier 1 year and 10 month old had a vaccine last friday, now, tuesday she's kinda weak, withrawn and her nose is dry. What does this indicates? is this normal?

My dog is about 80lbs mixed breed. Boxer and maybe mastiff and something else. She received a rabies canine 3 yr (made by pfizer) and bordetella and dhpp vaccines at the same time. About 6 days later she became lethargic. 7 days later she refused to eat and started drooling slimy drool(she is not normally a drooler). That evening she had diahrrea that was slimy and yellow/brown. 8 days later she developed a high fever over 104 degrees F and her diahrrea became blackish and her eyes were bloodshot. She looked miserable and had her tail between her legs like she was in pain. My vet told me to give her 4 baby aspirin every 6 - 8 hrs and if no improvement or she worsened to take her to ER. Her temp got up to 105. 6 and I took her in. Her liver is swollen and white blood cell count is 1000 when I am told it should be 7000 or higher. Her protein in the urine is a little high. I forgot what they said about globulin.

So far she has shown no improvement and they want to try a plasma transfusion if this continues. I was told she has extreme abdominal discomfort and has to have pain medication. I don't think it was caused by anything she ate because I have a smaller dog in the house who has eaten everything she has and been everywhere she has and is not ill. The lot number was not listed on the receipt. Some sites say to report the side effects to the drug company? is this wise if I may end up sueing them?

Curvee; Your dog may get dehydrated if he/she has diarrhea much longer, try giving your dog rice, chicken, cooked veggie, I make my food for my pets fresh especially when they are sick, the rice will absorb any impurities in the tummy and other ingredients is the nutrition your dog needs because the loss of it. Good luck.

I was reading on line about all animal's shots etc.

I think after a certain age they do not need as many shots any more just the basic's. Again there are places that sell needles and the serums for dogs where you can lean how to give your pets subcutaneous and that's just lifting up a thin layer of skin to give your pet the shot. It's only cost is about $40.00 I get mine at agway supplies.

Here is a web site for you to read up on. it's very interesting to know, good luck.

hubpages.com/hub/whatadogreallyneeds

My dog received his vaccinations last Thursday. Within 2 days, he became listless and disinterested in any activity. However, he seems to be fine now. Interesting to me was the greatly reduced heart rate (around 40 bpm for a couple days). It is now back to normal and he has his same high level of energy. I hesitated to get vaccines for a 10 year old dog, but I did wait three years. I see no reason why dogs should get them every 3 years and the research I have read in journals of veterinary medicine indicate that most dogs are over vaccinated. Now that he is a senior, I probably will forego them in the future. According to the literature, he should have lifetime immunity at this point. We don't vaccinate humans until the day they day, so why should we do this with our animals? My dog also has many food allergies and is on a limited ingredient diet.

I recently had 9 puppies vaccinated at 9 weeks old and within 2 weeks they all had severe bloody diarrhea. While in the vets a gentleman over heard my conversation and said he had his dogs booster done a couple of weeks previous and that she also had the same problem, then a friend had had her dogs booster done and again the same thing... Now one of the pups was diagnosed with giardia as was my friends dog, its seems too much of a coincidence that they all had vaccinations 2 weeks prior to all having severe diarrhea ( they were all fit and well before receiving the vacs) now I have been told that it is not possible to get giardia through the vaccine and it has to be ingested. Just all seems too coincidental to me... pups were labs, the guy in the vets was a lab cross and my friends dog is a parsons russell...

My dog is a Chihuahua mix with Pomeranian. He had some lethargy and fever the next day after recieving his shots. However, he has had diarrhea for the past six days. It is very hard watching him feel like this.

My chi died of vaccination side effects. It was obvious since the day she got vaccinated that something was wrong. She was vaccinated near her heart and NOT amazingly after that moment everytime I touched or picked her up she would cry or yell. I couldn't understand at first. I thought it wud go away. But nope it stayed like a dadly parasite lurking on my baby's body and waiting to finish her off. Finally 5 months later she had respiratory problem one night and then I got her X-Rayed and her heart was enlarged! I cried at the vet office. Then we did EKG and nothing (According to the other vet) was wrong but slightly abnormal. 1.5 months later her health deteriorated and she started losing weight despite good diet and she passed away after a slight stroke.

Plz. note that she had NO health problems until this vaccination. I shouldn't have got her vaccinated coz I know she would be alive today otherwise. She was my heart and soul and I clearly let her down and contributed to her death - killing her. So PLEASE other dog owners, once ur dog is vaccinated 1st year, NO NEED to revaccinate them.

I had adopted her from a shelter and she was with me for almost 5 yrs. In these 5 yrs, I gave her complete holistic care with 100% vegetarian homemade food and she thrived on it. Before when I adopted her her hair wud fall but not anymore. She ate lots of fruits and fresh veggies each day but its sad to say that of all things my stupidity and me going against my instinct and vaccinating her killed her. So plz. everyone as dog owners and dog lovers, say NO TO VACCINATIONS.

I have a female maltese DOB 10/04/10. She was quite ill with bronchial pneumonia when I got her on January 9th 2011 so her vaccines were delayed a bit... On Jan 30th she was given rabies vacine... No reaction... On feb 8th she received her first injection of CDV-CPV A2 ped vaccine.. With no reaction ...

But today feb 28th upon getting the last of her shots which was CDV- A2 Adult vaccine she had a very bad reaction Within 30 minutes I had to run back to the vet office with her... Her eyes blew up like swollen little golf balls with bright red rings.. It was horrific.... The vet administered benadrly as well as steroids and kept her at the office for observation. I don't know if I will be able to bring her home later today as I was advsied to call back at 5:30 to check her progress. Please advise me on what steps I should take... The vet said the vaccine was from the same lot given earlier in teh month... But I am so hesitant to repeat any vaccines ever again. Who Do I report this reaction to ? I m a nurse and if this was a human reaction I know who to call.. But not fir a canine... So please advise Thanks Maggie

WARNING!

My 10 week old Wolf/husk high content hybrid has been severly congested (to the point of choking) since the eveing after his Bordatella vaccine 13 days ago. Steam and a towel with vapor rub on it just outside his crate at night helps but, I will NEVER give him that vaccine again and am hesitant to give him ANY vaccines in the future.

I just took my two shih tzus in for shots -- they are 8 1/2 years old and have had these before. However, this time, within an hour of coming home, they were both lethargic. As the day progressed, they had fevers, were sensitive to the touch (even in places away from the site of the shots), had no appetites, and continued to be tired. Two days later, they seemed to perk up a bit. However, I am still concerned that there might longer term problems. The vet said I could bring the dogs back in -- I didn't want to do it in freezing weather if the dogs seemed to be getting better but now I'm concerned. Advice anyone?

This is a deadly drug for any snubnose dog. Why must we give it to dogs at such a young age. They already have weak systems, this has cause upper respitatory infection everytime. Why not wait until they are older with a stronger immune system. Giving so many vaccines at one time is very unhealthy. If they want these dogs to get vaccinated then must the sale age greater.

To all who read the above post-By the grace of God, Bianco survived the ordeal-and is back home and doing well-It was quite a trauma but are happy that all ended well for our little guy

We have taken our 12 week old lab puppies to vet for follow up booster shots. We have 3 puppies. One of the puppies after having the vaccine now is not eating, drinking, and has diarreah and dry nose, and lethargic. We are taking Hershey back to vet today to see if this is a complication. Jack & Honey are fine.

Thank you so much for this site and for everyone sharing their stories. I wish I had of found you 5 years ago. Maybe my 12 year old dog would not be suffering so much now. I am going to try the Apple Cider Vinegar and yogurt. Just finished to bouts of antibiotics for paws and then for her ears. It is worse than ever before now. Hives are showing up on her snout below her nose and around her eyes. Paws and ears are raw. She had an allergic reaction about 6 years ago after getting her shots. I suspected it was the shots. I have renewed hope. Thank you all so much. I will let you know how it goes for her.

Our 10 week old husky puppy had her parvo vaccine yesterday. About a minute and a half after being injected she went into a grandmaul seizure. The vet said he'd NEVER heard of that happening before and he said he's pretty sure she has epilepsy. It was the SCARIEST thing I've ever been through, she seized in my arms. After looking through all these responses and all Im even more firm on my belief that the shot caused the seizure. So far she's not had anymore. But we will be trying the Coliander leaves in her food, and are waiting to hear from the vet to see if DSMO or whatever is aproved for dogs in our state. If so we will be trying that too to make sure there is no long term effects. We LOVE this puppy and dont want to lose her. So a warning to other husky owners, BEWARE.