Our doxie mix Penny just had her annual vaccines this afternoon and seems to be having a bad reaction. She's very lethargic and shivering on-and-off, and when she moves she whimpers.
This is the first time we've done shots with her. We adopted her last year and she had her shots a week or so before we got her.
She had rabies 1-year booster, lepto annual booster, DHPPC 3-yr continuum.
Now that I type that, it seems like a lot.
Is tonight just 'watch closely' and if she's still not good tomorrow then take her back?
Anything I need to be particularly looking for?
Thanks in advance for any advice. I have 4 other animals and I've never had one have this kind of reaction.
Re: Lethargy/shivering after shots - advice?
Can you take her temperature? Definitely sounds like a vaccine reaction and I would call my vet for further advice. If she's sore/lethargic but otherwise ok, vet may advise you to give benedryl. If a more severe reaction, you may need to bring her back in and have them give her an injection of dexamethasone to alleviate the reaction. Definitely watch her closely and if she seems worse or has a fever, I'd be more proactive in contacting the vet.
Be sure to remind your vet know she had a reaction the next time she is due to be vaccinated. The vet may even chose to give her a shot of dex as a precautionary next time as well. Most vets will split up the shots to avoid this, and not charge you the extra office visit. I'd recommend that.
Thanks for the reply. We watched her through the night and it was just a bad reaction, rather than an allergic one. Thank god. She's better today...not 100% and still favoring her leg where she got two of the shots. I'm hopeful she'll be totally fine tomorrow.
I will definitely let her vet know about her reaction and we'll do better for her next time. Poor girl.
My dog had a bad reaction to shots once. We normally gave his shots a week apart so there would be no chance of reaction, but we had a new vet, and I didn't even think about it. Shadow got very sore, and yelped every time he moved. He barely slept. The vet gave us something for the pain, and he was better in a few days. His chart now says to separate the shots so there is no chance of reaction anymore.