Rabies, Side Effects Treatment - Editor's Choice

I have a 3 year Aussiedoodle that was due for his yearly rabies vaccination. He weighs around 45 lb (20 kg) and exhibited no visible behavioral problems or symptoms that could be attributed to an allergic reaction prior to his rabies shot. Having to comply with the provincial mandatory vaccination schedule, I took him to see his vet a week ago and he received a rabies shot. Unfortunately, I am not able to specify what type of rabies shot it was beyond the description that was imprinted on the receipt. Manufacturer/ type it describes is "Imrab 1 Merial". Having said that, my dog was taken for a rabies shot a year before and ended up licking his paw and leg to the point where there was no hair left there. We didn't connect this behavior to the rabies shot, since these symptoms were shown a week after the shot and we thought it might be an allergy to food or external factors. This time, as soon as we arrived home, my dog became lethargic and started pulling the hair out of his leg and licking the spot where the hair was pulled out. He crawled under the table and would not come out. We have a laser toy that he is obsessed with and as a last resort, we used it to lure him from under the table and he still wouldn't come out. His stool became slimy and was more dark and odious than usual. That was just the beginning. He started panting uncontrollably during the night and would not sleep, still licking his leg constantly. I called the vet and rather than even considering the possibility that this behavior could be attributed as a side effect to rabies vaccination, she said it must be the food we are giving him. My dog's diet has not changed in years and he never was allergic to it before, so I kind of knew this was a load of "youknowwhat". After not being able to sleep throughout the night because the dog kept making noises and panting like he was gonna get a heart attack, I just went online and kept researching rabies vaccination for canine. Surprised that a lot of dogs and cats cannot tolerate the vaccine and yet owners must vaccinate them as per law, doesn't make sense to me.

As a side note regarding allergies to food, I just want to say I used to have a Golden retriever and having lived in another country where dogs did not receive shots at all, my dog was fine all his life and also we didn't have kibbles to feed him. He was eating what we would eat (including spices, salt, garlic, onions....). Now that I know more about dog nutrition, I would never feed those things to my dog but it makes me wonder do we really know what is best for dogs and who decides. Profit or health?

Thuja seemed to be one thing that I could administer to him that few people reported it worked or moderately worked for their pets. Do I give him drops or pellets? Luckily, that was solved fast where all I could find in the health foos store were pellets. So, I bought Thuja occidentalis 30 CH pellets. Dosage recommended on the package is for humans and so I was unsure about the dosage for dogs. Everybody reports different administration and dosage, so I kind of took a chance with my own guesstimate. Two days ago I tried giving him pellets straight up. He sniffed it and walked away. Then I dissolved 5 pellets in one tablespoon of water and used a syringe to feed it to him. Didn't like the way I administered the pills, but once I did he kept licking his face as in "more". So, that was two days ago and so far, I've given him this dosage once a day. Results so far are great. He is back to his old ways, personality wise. Not lethargic anymore, runs around and we were finally able to sleep through the night. The panting subsided significantly and while he still licks his leg, it is not continuously like before. I will continue to administer Thuja for him and keep you updated. I apologize about the long post in advance and hope you guys read this before you vaccinate your pets, since Thuja can be administered to pets before the rabies vaccine in order for pets to tolerate it better. Will keep you posted about the progress in few weeks.