Allergic reaction to Lyme shot?

[purpledoggy]

I had Hotchkiss neutered two weeks ago and had him get his first shot for Lyme disease while at the vet. They told me to bring him in two weeks later for his second shot and he will need a booster annually. Yesterday I took him in for his second shot. They made me wait 20 minutes in the office to make sure he didn't have a reaction and we left and he seemed fine all day. This morning I heard him crying in his crate and when I came downstairs he had vomited all of his dinner. He continued to vomit three more times so I called the vet. They told me it might be a reaction to the vaccine and to give him 25 mg of Benadryl. I did but he looked so miserable and was drooling everywhere so I ended up taking him in. They said he was dehydrated and gave him sub q fluids and drew blood work. His labs came back fine so the vet told me he might have a stomach virus but he's not running a fever. He's never had a reaction to any of his shots before and I'm worried this might have been a reaction to the Lyme shot. I don't think I will be getting him the yearly booster after this. Has anyone else had this problem with shots a full 24 hours later? He stopped vomiting after I gave him the Benadryl so that leads me to believe this was a reaction and not a stomach virus.

 

[MaplesMommy]

It is very likely he got sick from the vaccine!
I would not continue with it! If you live in a 'high risk' area you should get a titer test for lyme done. The test will tell you if your dog has already developed antibodies or not.
Annual booster are the biggest 'bs'. Please always do a titer test before vaccinating. Why inject a disease and risk your dogs health for something they are already protected against.

 

[purpledoggy]

He is still a puppy and since I take my dogs walking in the woods a lot I wanted to protect him. I should have listened to his regular vet who told me not to get it but the intake vet made it seem like a good thing to do when I brought him in to be neutered. I'm not getting my other dog vaccinated for Lyme after this.

 

[davidh]

We don't vac ours for Lyme here, but it sure sounds like a reaction to the vac to me

 

[purpledoggy]

The vet tech who answered the phone when I called the first time said it sounded like a reaction to the shot and to give him Benadryl. When I brought him in the vet who saw him (not his normal vet) said it was too late to be a reaction to the shot and that it was a stomach virus. He hasn't vomited at all after the Benadryl and kept water and chicken with rice down without a problem. That makes me think the vet who saw him didn't know what he was talking about. I wonder if he will have reactions to shots from now on or if there is just something in the Lyme shot that didn't agree with him?

 

[MaplesMommy]

Like I said earlier: Get a titer test done before you vaccinate. Especially now that you know your dog is sensitive to the vaccines.
It is very likely that you wont ever have to vaccinate against the common disease such as Distemper,Parvo etc again if your dog had his puppy shots ,preferably one round after 16 weeks of age. They usually last for at least 7 years, often even for a life time.

 

[Tgirl]

Usually if they are going to react to a vaccine, they do it pretty soon. I wouldn't think it would take that long for him to have a reaction.

 

[MaplesMommy]

The really severe allergic reactions where the dog collaps and goes into an analphylactic shock usually happens minutes or hours after the vaccine. However it is in fact possible for the dog to show allergic reactions months after the vaccine.
Plus the lyme vaccine being a bacterial vaccine (and full of mercury but that isnt the question) weakens the immune system so other potential causes for the sick dog are possible as well.

 

[2bullymama]

Never had an issue with the shots,..... hope you little man is feeling better

 

[purpledoggy]

He was fine after one day. Honestly I think if I would have just waited for the Benadryl to kick in he wouldn't have needed to go to the vet but I got worked up plus it was the weekend and I didn't want to roll the dice and end up at the emergency vet. He did have me scared though, he seems to like to do that to me :/

 

[Jakeyjake]

Like I said earlier: Get a titer test done before you vaccinate. Especially now that you know your dog is sensitive to the vaccines.
It is very likely that you wont ever have to vaccinate against the common disease such as Distemper,Parvo etc again if your dog had his puppy shots ,preferably one round after 16 weeks of age. They usually last for at least 7 years, often even for a life time.

I agree with getting a titer test done. I hate to over vaccinate my dogs. I relied on titers in the past when we owned our bull terriers and it worked out great.