severe allergic reaction to vaccines

jacquik

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Feb 1, 2013
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harley and caesar
Hi I have a 10 week old male bulldog named Harley. He received a shot Saturday morning ( Da2p Merial Distemper #2 ) and 11 hours later had a reaction that landed him in the hospital for 2 nights. His symptoms were lethargy, increased respiratory rate, shaking, vomitting and low blood pressure. He's fine now but it was really scary.

The vet at the hospital says he should still get his next set of shots while premedicating with Benadryl but my regular vet says that his reaction was so severe she may caution against future vaccines except for rabies which is required by law. They are supposed to discuss the matter and get back to me. I'm wondering if anyone has had a similar reaction with their puppy and how it worked out if you decided to vaccinate again? Thanks for any info/advice!

Fortunately we had signed up for Trucompanion pet insurance as the hospital bill was $2200 and it was during the 30 day intro period so not even a deductable!
 

bullmama

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Has your pup had any vaccines prior to this? Yes it is not uncommon for this to happen.

Ask your vet to do a teiter test (sp?) To see if your baby is fully protected before making any decisions would be my suggestion. Also maybe one vaccine at a time, if they gave more than one there is no telling which one is the culprit.
 

Texas Carol

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Brutus & Cami live in Heaven
I agree with @desertskybulldogs and ask for the titres tests before deciding and
in the future if you decide to continue w/the vaccines and if you do, I would give
ONE at a time, spaced further apart AND change brands. This means you will not
be able to have your bully out & about very soon but a small price to pay for a
healthy bully.

My opinion only...I would probably NOT vaccinate other than Rabies and depending
on your state's law, only when you have too (in TX we can vaccinate for Rabies, 3 yrs
apart). Ask for the titres run each time, this will show if Harley has enough in his system
for protection w/out having a shot. Again, my opinion only, vets are giving too much at
one time, and too young. Little dogs get the same shot as big dogs...crazy!

Will keep you & Harley in prayers.
 

Sherry

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Jan 15, 2011
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Glad Harley has recovered, truly scary. Please keep us posted on the future what you and your vet have decided. It's good info to know for anyone else in the same boat.
Thanks [MENTION=8018]jacquik[/MENTION]
 
OP
jacquik

jacquik

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Thanks for all the advice I will post what the vets decide to do...next appt is Feb 16
 
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jacquik

jacquik

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Just wanted to update that we did the titre test with Harley and waited as long as we could to give him his 3d round of shots and everything went well. He has also had his rabies and lyme shots. He will always get only 1 shot at a time. We switched the brand of vaccine and gave him Benadryl beforehand. Also we switched vets and he said the reaction was probably due to the fillers in the vaccine and he buys vaccines with less fillers even though they have a shorter shelf life and it is more expensive for him to purchase that way. I almost didn't go for the lyme shot but on cape cod 80% of dogs get it. Also we adopted a 2nd bulldog named Caesar and he has had no issues with his shots...yay!
 

Texas Carol

Texas Carol....put the heart in EBN
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Brutus & Cami live in Heaven
Wonderful news, thank you for updating us.

Congratulations on the new addition, of course you need pics
posted here to prove it.
:p
 

JAKEISGREAT

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Mar 25, 2011
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:whew: Great news!

Now..looky here Buddy...you think just a casual.."oh and I adopted another bully named Caesar" is acceptable??
To US?? :hissy::hissy::hissy:

You better give more details than THAT! A proper introduction...please! :D
[MENTION=8018]jacquik[/MENTION]
 

mbd963

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May 12, 2013
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This is why I can't bring Ramsay home sooner... He still has to get his first set of puppy shots and the breeder wants to make sure that he doesn't react to them in a negative way. I suppose it's good that the breeder is caring for him, but I want my puppy now! Glad to hear everything is okay though!!
 
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jacquik

jacquik

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harley and caesar
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I know ..my bad about just throwing Caesar in there like nothing! That's his picture in my post..he's all white and 12 weeks old...we've only had him for 2 weeks. They are both pictured in my profile :)
 

kazzy220

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Jul 31, 2010
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Maggie (My Angel Baby 5/31/2012). Daddy (2 years). Linus (1year). Bella (4 years)
Thanks for the update and so glad to hear that everything went well in the end!! SO scary!! :*(

And Caesar looks a beautful bundle of bully goodness!! Just wanna squish him!! :yes:
 

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