Strange after vaccinations

[nimkii]

Took Abbie to the vet yesterday. She had her DHPP 3yr, Leptospirosis, Rabies 3 yr and her Bordetella. Is this too much.

She had head tremors today which she has never done. My daughter noticed it first then my sister and then I saw it. Her head shakes up and down very quickly and when you talk to her it stops.

Called the vet and we were told to watch her. Taking her in now, she's doing it more.

Any ideas?

[Drew Good]

Good Luck at the Vet's and let us know how you make out

Drew

[nimkii]

Called the vet and I was told to give her 50mg of Benadryl. I also called the breeder and she was shocked at all the vaccines she got at once. She was especially concerned about the lepto shots. Apparently it can kill a dog, makes the head swell. I didn't know this. Her vet gave his dog the shot and he had to rush it to the clinic to get the other drug that counters the allergic reaction. If lethal it will happen within a couple hours of getting the shot.

So I gave her the Benadryl but the tremors are still going on. I'll just keep an eye on her through the night. Hopefully she'll come around.

Anyone give their animals the lepto shots or all boosters at once?

[luvmylabs]

The vet I had at the time gave my 14 week old puppy everything at once including Lepto, Rabies and Bordatella along with the rest. Three hours later we were heading back in as my pup had a head the size of a pumpkin. Gave her a Benadryl shot and some tablets to give her for the next 2 days. Needless to say I don't use that vet any more.:angry: We suspect that the Lepto shot was the problem. Vet I have now says he would never give Rabies and Lepto at the same time to a pup.

[Kevin Hannah]

Hope she is feeling better and everything is ok. Not sure where you live exactly but maybe you could ask around with the people you train with and see where they take there dogs and consider giving another vet a call and see what they say as well. If you are not comfortable with the vet you are with right now move to another.

If you don't feel comfortable with the answers you get from your vet about this issue make some calls as soon as you can and see if other vets are giving you the same answers as you are getting right now.
You need to be able to trust your vet, if you don't then find one you do

Seems like a lot of shots to me all at once but I cannot say for sure, I don't thik my vet has ever administered that many all at once.
Really hope your dog is feeling better and everything works out ok.

Let us know,

Kevin

[nimkii]

She seems fine today. Took her training at Scugog with LOHRC and she was good. Lots of energy today.

[Drew Good]

That's good to hear that she is OK. I am heading in this week to get both my dog's shots and will talk to my vet before she does anything.

Drew

[Kevin Hannah]

Glad to hear she is doing better.

Kevin

[AD18]

When I got my pup last summer the breeder gave me a "puppy package". In it she had very strong feelings against giving her dogs the lepto shot and recommended I did not. Outright against it. When I talked to my vet they STRONGLY recommended giving it. They know how and where I work my dogs. Coincidentally, shortly after the shots there were a couple of dogs down Ottawa way got lepto and died. Damned it you do, damned if you don't. My vet did say to keep a very close eye on him for a day or two after the shots since they had a very, very few cases of bad reactions. He handled them fine though. Glad to see your dog snapped out of it on Sunday.

[nimkii]

Yeah she came through ok. A real scare though when you don't know what is going on. Anyways the vet called today and he didn't think it was the vaccines. He was leaning more towards siezures which I have seen and Abbie wasn't siezing. I questioned giving a dog 4 vaccines at once and he said that was fine. I don't know though, I'm going to start calling other vets to get some info as to what they do.

[dan]

our old vet gave both of the cats 10 times the normal dose of vaccines to them, he made an error with the decimal point when he calculated their weights!!!

they nearly died were hospitalized for 3 days, vet paid the bill!
not my vet anymore
dan

[Cindy Trann]

The distemper, hepatitis (adenovirus) parainfluenza and parvovirus antigens are all in the same vaccine. They are a modified live virus combo and as such can cause a sensitive dog to over-react and have an allergic reaction. It's pretty rare, and when it does occur usually causes a fever, soreness over the site of the injection, and very occasionally, facial swelling and hives. The Bordetella vaccine is given in the nose can cause nasal discharge, and sneezing for a short time, but that's about it. Lepto is another matter. I'm old enough to remember the severe reactions we used to get 15 years ago, but the vaccine is much different now, and I haven't seen a problem for a couple of years. And I've never seen it cause head tremors. That being said, all vaccines are given based on the risk to the dog of the disease versus the risk of side effects of the vaccine. All of my dogs get lepto because they are out in the field alot. Lepto is carried by skunk and raccoon urine, so if there are neither around your area, you don't need the vaccine. If there are, you have a decision to make. I have found that if a vet has seen a few cases of lepto, they are more likely to recommend the vaccine. It's a nasty disease that can be passed to humans. Many of the dogs affected by lepto die of kidney failure. As for the vaccines all given at once, this is an old argument that has never stood up to research. The only reason I can see for splitting vaccines is to try and determine which if any of the vaccines was causing the problem.
Sorry this is so long but I thought you'd appreciate the explanation. Also remember, the vet works for you. You make the decisions that are best for your dog. But that means, you also take responsibility if you make the wrong one.

[Kevin Hannah]

Good rely Cindy, it is nice to have a vet on the board that can help to explain some of the problems or issues we have at times with our dogs.

Kevin

[warren]

Its strange to hear so many accounts of lepto vaccine causing these kinds of problems. Lepto was almost a standard issue vaccine back in the UK over 30 years ago. At least with the vets I used. All my dogs were routinely vaccinated anually for leptospirosis.
I remember 6 years ago when I got my first dog vaccinated in canada and the vet told me the vaccines she was using, I asked her to give a lepto shot also. She seemed quite amazed and told me that they rarely give it and that it could cause side effect in some cases.
Funny but that vet now recommends lepto vaccine and I have chosen not to give it.
I appreciate the strains of leptospiros are probably different here to those in Europe and hence the vaccines different.
Its interesting however that lepto was given out almost as regularly as parvo and I never heard of a bad reaction with all the dogs that get vaccinated in the UK. The internet probably helps with the spread of info though too?
warren
PS.
Cindy, I did'nt realise skunks and raccoons carried it, thought it was mainly just rats. Lots skunks where I live I think I'l go back to getting the lepto shot. For the dog at least.

[Huntingonthebrain]

Let me weigh on this one. My wife and I lost a dog 2 weeks after we got him last year. Kidney and liver failure. Possibly a result of Lepto my vet thought.. How does one get it you might ask? This was my question to my vet. Stagnant water that has been played in by an animal carrying the disease. My drain pipe in the backyard dumps into a little bowl type area in the ground. I have skunks and coons and stuff in my backyard all the time during the night. This was likely the source. Our breeder said not to give them the lepto shot. My vet like has been said in previous posts recommended it. We did not even get to a point to give our dog the necessary shots as we had only had him a couple of weeks. As I said we lost the dog. Our next pup we got... when the time came we did get the shot. The vet said that Lepto was making a resurgence. Our vet did however give different shots at diffent times. Lepto I don't think was given at the same time as all the others. I will go back and look at my vac records and figure out what happpened when with the new pup.

[Drew Good]

Our vet did however give different shots at diffent times. Lepto I don't think was given at the same time as all the others.

My vet does not give the lepto shot with all the other's either. My dogs get the regular shots one day and then 2 weeks later they get the lepto shot.

Drew

[Huntingonthebrain]

Cindy, I did'nt realise skunks and raccoons carried it, thought it was mainly just rats. Lots skunks where I live I think I'l go back to getting the lepto shot. For the dog at least.


This is interesting because my vet said that coons and skunks would be the major players as far as carrying it in Ontario. He never mentioned rats

[warren]

huntonbrain,
this table shows primary hosts and animals effected for different strains of lepto.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1556&articleid=454

[be2man]

Here's a link to the U of G's Animal Health lab newsletter. At the bottom of page 4 are the serovars of lepto diagnosed and in what species in 2006. Dogs have the highest diagnosis rate but are probably the most tested as well.

http://www.labservices.uoguelph.ca/units/ahl/documents/ANwsl11-1.pdf