I have been researching and stressing out over getting rabies and DHPP vac's for Hallie for over a month. I know I exasperate my vet at times :) but after what I went through with my last two kids, I am always terrified of something happening to Hallie so I am a very neurotic and nervous Mom over these things. Yesterday we went in for her allergy shot and somehow ended up skipping that and doing her rabies instead (she is 1 month overdue and we were going to wait until her current allergy flare up subsided before we did her vaccinations but she is performing at the state fair this weekend and they require the rabies certificate so we decided to give her the shot now as we were going to in the next couple of weeks anyway).
So of course, the norm for me.....this morning Hallie has been sick and eating grass and hasn't puked yet but she's wishin' she had. We've been out in the yard for 20 min, she got worn out so is now in my lap wrapped up in her new yellow fuzzy tweety blanket. My vet is closed today. I feel horrible, I HATE taking in a happy healthy dog and doing something to make them so sick and it always seems to happen to me. AUGH!
I'm just wondering if anyone has heard of this upset tummy thing with rabies shots and how concerned I should be and if there is something more I can do to help her. She has tended to a touchy tummy in the past so I am wondering if her predisposition to it didn't cause the shot to make her sick today. My cousin said she has some cats who are puny the day after a rabies shot. Anyone has this experience? Should I panic? Or should I say...should I stop panicking since I already am? LOL. :BangHead:
Hi DeeDee,
Sorry to hear about your baby. My boy, Frankie, has severe reactions to shots.
My vet said it's very common in doxies & some have systemic reactions which are worse.
Frankie swells up like a golf ball & can't walk with out screaming (yes, it's a scream not a whine).
They have to give him benadryl shots & I give him liquid over the counter benadryl
for a few days. He still screams & swells up with the benadryl but not as bad.
It makes me so upset. His final round of puppy shots made him so sick that
he threw up all night! It's not his belly either, he eats anything in sight
without a problem. It's the shots. I'm considering only letting them give him rabies
from now on. It's horrible & not fair to him.
My female suffers from stomach problems & the only time she ever got sick
was when they did 5 shots in one visit to catch her up. I'll never allow that again either.
I really feel for you & your baby. Try hard not to let her dehydrate from the vomiting.
My doc has also said it's ok to give them the minimum
dose of pepto to settle their stomach. All Frankie did was throw it up.
I'd definitely talk to the vet about other options.
Hope she's better soon,
Thank you SO much for responding Lisa. Your poor babies, it sounds like they get it even worse than Hallie does. It makes you feel like you are poisoning them doesn't it. I feel so bad for all these guys.
I had planned to give Hallie benedryl before her shots but this was decided right at the vets office so I didn't have a chance. I sat there at the vet for a long time after though in case she had a reaction there, she never did swell at all (she never has in the past either, I have only vaccinated her once when I first got her, now it's been 4 years so am doing it again, then it will be the 3 yr protocol from now on unless they learn something new on this in the meantime). Problem is my vet has seen doxies react from the BENEDRYL. Sheesh. So I hate to give her anything more than absolutely necessary. Hearing that Frankie and your female have had tummy problems with their shots too, convinces me this tummy thing with Hallie was from the shot yesterday. She has not thrown up yet, which is amazing considering how much grass she ate. I know you are not to feed them when they are sick but she started to act a lot better and was even playing with her toys with me so I gave her a small breakfast and she downed it like a champ. She seems ok now, she's back to sleeping in her new blankie. She seems perky and fine so I will just watch her like a hawk the rest of today.
I worries me what you said about giving the shots all at once. We won't be giving her the lepto but she will be getting the others (DHPP) in one shot. My vet says she can't get it separately but I read somewhere that they can but they have to buy it in bulk which wouldn't be cost effective for my vet as in this town I'm sure I'm like the only person asking for it. :P I'll ask her again though if there are any other options we can do.
I think the kid is going to be ok though she is looking better thanks again for helping put me at ease. :)
Dee Dee,
Just like with human babies dogs can feel kind of icky the day or 2 after vaccines I would just keep a eye on her... even if she did vomit it wouldn't be totally unexpected just so long as she doesn't get really down and lethargic or dehydrated and of course as long as there is no swelling. I remember when I took my son Jeffery in for his baby shots he would always get a low grade fever the day or so after and be really fussy... I can't imagine it would be much different from the dogs. I try not to compare them to children but sometimes it just makes sense!
Give Miss Hallie a belly rub from us hopefully she will be back to herself tomorrow :wink:
Hallie,
I sure hope you are ok after (http://www.coolsmileys.net/jobs/doctor.gif)
Mama got real sacred when they recalled the heartworm shot ... right after I got mine. I guess I am lucky and don't have any reactions to shots.
eLlIe
Thanks Jen and Ruth. If I had been told that an upset tummy could be expected before hand I wouldn't have been quite so worried. The little patoot ate her late breakfast and dinner like a champ and was more than rarin' to go to class tonight so off we went and she was spinning circles she wanted to work so bad. She had a ball and seems 110% thank goodness. Now to get through the DHPP and I can breath a sigh of relief. :)
DD,
Has she ever had a reaction to the DHPP before?
When I first got her, the animal shelter gave her the DHLPP. She had no reaction. Since then I have only given her rabies and bordetella. I was worried that she may have already been vaccinated and then the shelter double vaccinated her (since we don't know her history) so I have waited these 4 years to get her her DHPP again. (she had lepto the first time with no reaction but we'll omit it this time). Although it's good she didn't the first time, she'll probably be ok. She did have a bad reaction to a tranquilizer (forget the name I have it written down) when we gave her her allergy test though. She was real sick for a couple of days. She'll be ok this time though! She will she will she will she will.... :wink:
Oliver has reaction to the normal injections, I got them to give him a shot of antihistamines with his, but its like you say just a tummy thing. Luckily we don't have rabies down under. Angus used to get it to worm tablets. :idiot:
But what you are seeing is a secondary reponse. when they get there first vacination the body mounts a response to it, hence they are imune, then with each booster the reaction is faster and more strong. Its like when we used to get polio shots.
Hope you girlies getting better.
Heidi-Angel only got DHP after a few years, because she always had reactions - she was allergic to the preservatives in the shots. I finally ended up not having to have her get rabies, because she was allergic to the only preservative they use in those shots. We had a letter on file with the local dog licensing board. Because of Heidi, I never let my girls get more than one shot at a time! Good luck with HBB and her shots!
Gosh this just makes you feel like you are poisining your kid sometimes doesn't it. We just had another big scare yesterday I took in a urine sample just because (I do urine and stool at intervals to check) and her urine was so dilute they were afraid she might have kidney problems. So I spent all of yesterday crying and didn't sleep last night, I was to fast her overnight and collect urine first thing this morning, we just got home from the vet, her levels were PERFECT today. The vet was throwing her fist in the air and going "YES!!!" and we danced Hallie around and were cheering her and hugging her. Her little eyes were huge but her tail was wagging like "um...I don't know what's going on but okaaaay....I'm right there with ya!" I am so relieved....man.
Oh no ! What a scare. Catch your breath girl......and then give that Hallie BB a thousand smoochies !!!!