Rabies Vaccine - Advice Needed.

[shyvas]

My cousin's baby pug has been given a rabies vaccine and has developed an allergy. She comes out in hives, vomits and becomes very poorly. She has this reaction every week and all the family are so concerned that they have got me worried too.
The vet gives her a histmaine injection which helps for the first few days.

Do you think that the vaccine could be the cause ? Are there any longterm treatments against a reaction due to a vaccine ?
I was wondering whether homeophathic medication could help the poor mite.

 

[mlp]

Yes, the vaccine could be the cause - some animals die from allergic reactions to vaccines. How many successive injections is she being given? I have never had to worry about puppy vaccinations, but grown dogs only require one vaccination per year for rabies. (There's also one available that lasts several years, but my vet says that one is harder on the system.)

I have the dogs vaccinated against rabies only because it's legally mandated. I refuse to vaccinate the cats against rabies because the risk to them is so low as to be practically nonexistent, and because the rabies vaccine is the one with the highest risk of vaccine related cancers.

ETA: O.K., I just checked, and puppies do indeed get a series of rabies vaccines initially. I also found this, and hope it's helpful:

In their 2010 recommendations, WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association)[1] emphasized the importance of administering non-adjuvanted vaccines whenever possible, as vaccines that included these immune-stimulating agents were shown to increase adverse vaccine reactions in pets.

 

[shyvas]

She only had one shot. Eversince the vaccine she is ill with a allergy reaction.

Overhere in France, dogs don't get rabies vaccines as there isn't a risk of catching the disease.

 

[ledboots]

Burdock root and canine digestive enzymes can help allergic dogs. Also for symptoms, ground oatmeal in the bath water. I have given healthy dogs benadryl, 1 mg per kilo up to 25 mg for miserable hives and wheezing. It depends on the dog though; I would check with the vet. Poor doggie!

 

[shyvas]

I'll copy and paste the info and e mail it to my aunt. Poor little mite ! Thanx !

 

[Pickle Juice]

Your cousin may be able to find a vet who will do rabies titers to see if a vaccine is needed. Some places accept these where proof of rabies shots is required by law. I take it she lives in an area where rabies may exist and there are laws requiring the vaccine? I ask because it is very popular amongst vets to insist on selling very expensive heartworm meds to people who do not live in areas where there are heartworms. Where meds can be as damaging as what they are supposed to protect against it is always good to makes sure they are absolutely necessary, and unfortunately you can't always depend on a vet to be completely forthcoming.

 

[Wolfie]

In my state puppies get a rabies vaccine at 4 months, a booster at a year and thereafter get a 1-year or 3-year vaccine. Which really sucks because both the 1-year and 3-year actually last longer than that, but the law says you get it every year or every 3 years. My dogs do because they're out and about. My inside-only cat is illegal and will not be vaccinated for rabies.

The series is for the D6 vaccine (distemper, parvo, etc.) Don't even get me started on how that one is overdone, but at least it's not required by law so you can make your own call on it.

 

[mlp]

Wolfie, do you have titers done for the distemper?

With my cats, I have basically gone to a no vaccination protocol - cats tend to be especially susceptible to vaccine-related sarcomas (and I haven't had a cat vaccinated for rabies for decades, because it is the highest risk vaccine for cats). My vet understands my thinking, but the office staff gives me the old fish eye whenever I bring a cat in and specify "no vaccinations."

I live in a county that does not require rabies vaccinations for cats, but even so, I had to shop around for a vet that didn't insist on giving those - they insist that even in the case of indoor cats, it's "necessary" for the safety of their staff, which is absolute B.S.

 

[Wolfie]

I have never had titers done. A friend many years ago worked in a vet clinic and the rep who sold the vaccines told her they had done tests and the vaccinations offered protection for 5 to 7 years. Since friend was exposed to a lot of different diseases, she then started vaccinating her dogs every 3 to 4 years just to make sure coverage didn't run out and I started doing the same. My vet used to say "I can't tell you that's ok until the AVMA says it's okay." Basically he meant it's okay but I can't say it officially. Anyway, now he does say it officially. The vets there don't even bat an eye that I do it that way but I still get the odd look from some of the office staff and believe it or not some friends, even though I've told them vets at my clinic say it's fine. Old habits die hard I guess. The problem is not all vets are saying it yet because they want the $$$$.

More and more vets are on board now with not vaccinating annually. It's no longer just the hippie fringe pet parents like when I first started.

 

[shyvas]

Your cousin may be able to find a vet who will do rabies titers to see if a vaccine is needed. Some places accept these where proof of rabies shots is required by law. I take it she lives in an area where rabies may exist and there are laws requiring the vaccine? I ask because it is very popular amongst vets to insist on selling very expensive heartworm meds to people who do not live in areas where there are heartworms. Where meds can be as damaging as what they are supposed to protect against it is always good to makes sure they are absolutely necessary, and unfortunately you can't always depend on a vet to be completely forthcoming.

He lives in London but had to vaccinate the pooch as he has a house in Majorca. He was counting on travelling with her overthere on holiday.
I don't know what a titers is but the dog has already had the vaccine and has become ill ever since.

 

[Scorpius]

I live in a county that does not require rabies vaccinations for cats, but even so, I had to shop around for a vet that didn't insist on giving those - they insist that even in the case of indoor cats, it's "necessary" for the safety of their staff, which is absolute B.S.

Wow, I've never heard of that. Then again, where I am there is a big problem with rabies in urban 'wildlife' (raccoon, skunks), that quickly gets passed along to feral cats, which can then potentially infect anyone's pet cat or dog if they wander outside.
I'm way too afraid of rabies to not vaccinate my cats. My mother's cats get the Pure-Vax brand rabies vaccine for cats that supposedly has less added adjuncts that cause sarcomas.
None of my pets (currently and in the past) have had allergic reactions to vaccines. Vaccine reactions (and allergies in general) are pretty common in pugs, though. At the vet hospitals I've worked at, they usually pre-treat pets that have known allergies with benadryl prior to administering the offending vaccine. Or, they do titres, like PJ mentioned. The only thing crappy thing about the titre tests is that they are EXPENSIVE!

 

[Calliegirl]

I've never vaccinated my cats, except one stray who the humane society wouldn't fix without the vaccinations, because of the worry about tumors. I've had both indoor only and indoor/outdoor cats and have never had a problem over the past 31 years of having cats. I could never forgive myself if I gave them a vaccine and they ended up getting cancer.

 

[mlp]

Wiki has a pretty decent summary about vaccine associated sarcomas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine-associated_sarcoma

 

[Wolfie]

My mom's dog developed a fibrosarcoma at an injection site but not sure if it was related. Supposedly vaccine-related cancers are rare in dogs. Now he's due for rabies again and I am trying to decide if it would jinx him if I told the county he was deceased. He is 11 and since I am quite sure rabies vax gives coverage for longer than the 3 years on the label, he may well be protected for life.

 

[Wolfie]

http://speakingforspot.com/blog/2013/03/17/veterinarians-and-vaccines-a-slow-learning-curve/

 

[Scorpius]

http://speakingforspot.com/blog/2013/03/17/veterinarians-and-vaccines-a-slow-learning-curve/

Very nice blog post.

 

[mlp]

http://speakingforspot.com/blog/2013/03/17/veterinarians-and-vaccines-a-slow-learning-curve/

Thanks for this link. I've bookmarked it for the next time someone insists that it's irresponsible to not vaccinate annually.