Bad Vaccination Reaction!
by Ellyn
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
I had a terrible experience last night, that I think my Maltese friends should know about. I took Buddy to the vet for his one year set of vaccinations,DA2LPPC Booster, Bordatella, Rabies ad a heartworm test, and everything went fine. About one hour later, his face, eyes and body turned red and extremely swollen! He was pawing and pawing his face and crying. I called the vet, but by this time it was 7:15 in the evening, and they were closed. So, I put Buddy into the car and raced him to the Emergency Clinic. While we were driving, he was panting, and the swelling was getting worse and worse. Then, his breathing slowed down a lot, much slower than normal, and he started to go limp. So I am driving with one hand, and holding him in the other one, and shaking him and talking to him, to keep him awake. This was so scary, because I didn't think we would make it to the clinic in time, and I didn't want him to fall asleep or go unconscious. We finally made it to the Emergency Clinic and the vet gave him a shot of prednasone and Benedryl. The poor little thing, while I was holding him, he would just laid his head on my shoulder and neck. Buddy is not normally the cuddly type. He loves to be petted and scratched, but he really doesn't like to be held too much. After the shot,he started to get better pretty quickly, but was still lethargic. I took him home about 10:00, and he just followed me around all night, and wouldn't let me out of his sight.
The vet told me to buy some pediatric Benedryl and give him 1cc if I saw any more symptoms.
Luckily, this morning, he was back to his happy, extremely peppy self, and was playing (and tormenting!) Bailey all morning!
The next time he goes in for shots, he will have to get them one at a time, then I will keep him at the vet to see if there is a reaction.
This was VERY SCARY!
DISCUSSION:
Ellyn, I am so glad Bailey is ok...I hear so much about bad reactions to shots. Ditto on giving them one at a time...
Libby & Buster
Ellyn: I'm glad your baby is doing good. It's a shame that happened. ITA about giving one at a time and staying at the vet's office. I know when my girls go in for their shots--I get so nervous that something bad will happen. From now on, I'm going to sit in the waiting room for an hour after their shots. It's better to be safe than sorry. Thanx for telling us your story. Take care!
Angel
Ellyn, what an awful experience. I imagined it being one of my babies and felt your terror. So, so, so glad Buddy is okay.
Marie
Taffy and I are also very happy that buddy is ok. It's a fear I think many of us have. So glad you reacted quickly and drove safely!! Taffy had her first "adult" rabies shot, I was scared too, but she did fine!! Huggs to you and Buddy!
Robin M. & Taffy
Ask your vet if your Maltese received the lepto in his booster. Lepto is usually what causes these reactions. My Maltese had all his shots at once with no problem, but we always leave out the lepto. How scary this must have been for you. I'm glad your baby made it. Thanks for sharing this with us-----
April B
I had a similar experience a few years ago with my 3 lb. Yorkie. She was given her rabies and the other vacination together. When I got home she became very lethargic and almost went into shock. She was rushed back and had to have an injection to counter act the others. I find it best with the little ones to give one at a time.
Glorya
So glad Buddy is OK again. What is DA2LPPC Booster ?
Janine
Ellyn, How terrible for both you and Buddy. But thank you for telling this story so we will know what can happen. I'm very glad Buddy is back to normal. I'll bet it will take longer for you to recover than it did for him.
Sandee
Ellyn, I had the exact same thing happen to Truffles the first time she went in for shots. Fortunately, I was able to get back to the vet during hours for help. The second year, the vet only gave her 2 shots in hopes that she would not have a bad reaction, but she did. When I returned, he already had a shot read for her 'just in case'. She was fine then. He told me to give her baby benedryl 1 hour BEFORE bringing her back for the other 2 shots. I did and she did not have a bad reaction. That is what I will do in the future. Baby Benedryl before the shots. That is a good all purpose medication to have on hand for other Maltese uses as well. I give it to her 1 hour before a flight, and he suggested it for a week for eye-staining. He claims that eye staining is many times caused from allergies and that one of the allergies is to dust mites in the house. Anyway, glad everything worked out OK for your Buddy. I can imagine that scared you to death; it would me if she had gotten that bad.
Linda P.
Janine: On the DA2LPPC, DA=Canine Distempter-Adenovirus, L=Leptospira Bacterin, PP=Parainfluenza-Parvovirus, C=Coronavirus. The 2, I think means type 2, not sure on that one.
This is the most common vaccine give to puppies starting somewhere around 6 weeks of age and after about 4series- 2 weeks apart and then 1 year booster after that. We don't give the Lepto part though until their 1st year booster. Some breeders leave out the Corona part also, we don't.
Jay
Ellyn, how scarey! Now I have to worry about Tasha with her 1 yr. old shots?????? So glad Buddy is ok.
Dottie
Thanks Jay for the information. My vet doesn't give lepto. Alex had Distemper, Parvo, Corona and rabbies in september. And the he got a parvo booster in march. No problems. My late lhasa had the same shots for years and we never had any problems.
Janine
All, Thought I would send a follow up on my Buddy. I stopped by and talked to my vet on Saturday morning. He said it probably was the "Lepto" part of the booster that caused the severe reaction. He said that before his next shot, perhaps we should give him 1cc of Benedryl one hour before his vaccination to prevent another reaction. We will procede very cautiously in the future...
Ellyn
Truffles bad reaction to her shots was not because of 'lepto'. My vet does not give Truffles lepto due to her small size. So her bad reaction was due wholely to the shots, not lepto. I didn't want anyone to feel that without the lepto influence, there would not be any reaction; there still could be.
Linda P
Snowball had a reaction to her vacinnation too. Her eyes got very red and swollen and it really scared me when her entire face actually swelled up. I immediately called the vet and brought her in. He said that she was having a reaction and that to alleviate the problem from ever happening again she would need to have a quarter teaspoon of Benadryl before her next vaccine. I'm happy to report that she had the Benadryl and had absolutely no reaction to her next vaccine. It concerns me to see her get so swollen because you automatically think that she could be having some constricting airways. Fortunately my worries did not come to pass and Snowball was perfectly OK a few hours later.
Kathy
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