Side Effects of Pet Vaccines: A Closer Look

The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Combination Vaccines
Posted by Stephanie (Burlington, New Jersey) on 04/29/2007

When veterinarians administer vaccines, they normally have a set place of where a specific vaccine is given. For example, a canine distemper shot is usually given in the left shoulder. Sometimes the pet has thick skin that is hard to puncture, or the pet will move when the vaccine is administered. This can cause a small bump in the area that can remain for up to 2 weeks. If any itching, rash, or swelling occurs in that area, the pet should be taken to a veterinarian to have it examined. If you feel that your pet is uncomfortable after a vaccine, apply an ice cube and some witch hazel to the area to reduce swelling. Vaccine discomfort is very common, and your pet will most likely be sleepy for a day after getting an injection.


Seizures
Posted by Veronica (Greer, SC) on 04/25/2007

It's me again. My male had another seizure on mon.I have done some more research and there is hope. If you look into epilepsy in dogs(this is the fallback "disease" the vets will tell you your dog has)on the web you will find one very helpful site. It gives some homeopathic options to rid the vaccines from their bodies along with some steroids. Also it seems a lot of breeds are more prone-my mix of husky & lab are both. Search the web and get all the info you can. Look into titer testing and waivers that keep your pets from ever being revaccinated because of the seizures. Educate everyone you know who has pets as to the side effects.The more people know the more we can speak up and stop the unnecessary hurting of our companions!

Seizures
Posted by Diamond (Salisbury, Usa) on 06/18/2011

Veronica from SC; You have done some great research. But I hope you are not planning on steroids for any animals? they are not even good for humans, most every man made med. Can not be processed by our bodies, if any thing it breaks down our immune system, animals immunity is even lower than humans. good luck.


Seizures
Posted by chris (Escondido, California) on 04/12/2007

I have a five month old puppy. Her name is Starbuck. She is now having seizures.

Funny but when we first got her she was a jewel, smart, calm and everyday we were amazed at how wonderful a dog she was. As good dog owners we took her to get her shots. Everything started happening AFTER she started her shot series. First she was vaccinated against Parvo. One week after getting the shot, she contracted Parvo, we almost lost her not to mention the 2000,00 we paid to put her in the hospital. She was house bound to decrease the chances of getting Parvo. How she contracted is debatable i suspect it was the vaccines. She survived and of course we were thrilled. We bonded, trained her to do amazing tricks and welcomed her as a part of our family. She was house bound still at this point. All was well and to continue being the responsible dog owners we are, continued with her shots.. one week after receiving her third set of vaccinations, she began having seizures.

Now our sweet dog is having seizures on a weekly basis. I will not elaborate on how stressful and heart breaking as well as expensive this is but I completely understand all the emotions other dog owners are having when their pet goes through this.

We are now on the usual drugs which are not really working. She cant go out to play or anything that causes excitement. If she has too much fun she suffers from seizures when she goes to sleep. The seizures have become clusters mainly on the weekends.

They have not told us that because they happen in her sleep, that may be "significant". Translation: Now we have to go to a specialist. We cannot afford this and if the is what the vet tells us, we will have to make the decision to either give her away or have her put to sleep. THis is heart breaking to say the least.

I believe that these problems are caused by vaccinations. I am not a veterinarian, i am just looking at cause and effect.

Another reason I believe that vaccinations are the culprit is the experience i had with my ferret Duke. Duke was a healthy, fun loving house bound ferret, and being the responsible pet owners we are we took Duke to the vet to get his first series of shots. He had an immediate reaction to the shot and suffered an allergic reaction. One to two weeks after receiving his shots he began to get sick, no one could tell us why. I tried to save him, staying up nights, forcing food and everything else I could do to help him, but he just wasted away and after losing so much weight and suffering a seizure we had him put to sleep. They never determined the cause and we spent 3,000 on tests.

Shots are a necessary evil I understand but I also believe that they kill our animals, cause family members all sorts of heartbreak and drain our bank accounts. My only hope is that if we ever decide to bring another animal into our house we pray that they will survive the vaccinations.

Combination Vaccines
Posted by Carol (Plant City, Florida) on 04/07/2007

Last year I had both my fox terriers vaccinated and I have never had a problem before, but this time was different.... After my 2 year old male terrier was given all the supposedly necessary shots he began limping....he had a large swollen area near his right front shoulder /neck area and could hardly walk...My female dog 8 years old also had a swollen area but appeared fine at first... I took them back to the vet and he said I just babied them too much but gave the younger dog some type of antiinflammatory meds....It took over 2 weeks for him to walk better and still had a swollen area for quite awhile...Then the female dog started acting funny and started limping on her back leg....vet again thinks we are all crazy and after a month finally did alot of tests costing alot of money....finding out she hurt her knee area and would just have to wait it out....but I think her injury was caused by an initial reaction to the shots...and then she was injured. Well I think that the vaccination brought this whole thing about and am not sure which shots they had a reaction to....and it is time to vaccinate them again and I am just puttin it off and plan to go to another vet.....but I have no choice but vaccinate them or I will not be able to board them this summer for vacation...

Combination Vaccines
Posted by Mia (Yorba Linda, Ca) on 10/16/2017

Vets are not supposed to administer vaccines in that area anymore... that is really bad. It should be the lowest part of the leg. You need a new vet that does things properly.


Combination Vaccines
Posted by Ronda (San Jacinto, Ca) on 03/30/2007

I just gave my 10 week old Doxie his second set of vaccinations. About an hour and a half later, he started throwing up and coughing. He is currently being treated for kennel cough, but now I'm concerned his immune system is compromised. Should I be concerned enough to run him to the vet? He did eat and drink a bit after he was done being sick. I'm very concerned considering our former pup died of parvo. We used a bleach/water solution and disinfected everything we could. Could my new pup have contracted parvo even though we cleaned everything? Or is his reaction from the actual vaccinations. Any advice would be welcomed.


Combination Vaccines
Posted by Jim (Pecos, NM) on 03/25/2007

I have had real problems regarding vaccinations for my dogs. Pups that have died a few days after getting a parvo vaccination. I see stories here now and its quite clear that likely these shots are not very safe for our pets. There was an article in dog fancy magazine a few years back about over immunization damaging our dogs' immune system. For us older folks weren't we taught that once any immune system is exposed to a virus-disease it will be (if survived the experience) immune for life from whatever the version. Yet today we are taught by Vets-Drug Pharmacy companies that we must protect our pets yearly for life. Hog wash. The only disease I see in dogs that is a real deadly problem is Parvo. It is so prevalent everywhere. I was told by one Lab that makes one Live Modified Parvo Vaccine- (yah that I used and had several dead pups after) this company told me that once vaccinated the dogs become lifetime carriers and shed the virus periodically . Thus the reason Parvo is so prevelant-widespread-is because we vaccinate so much against it. It's now hard to find a dead killed Parvo vaccine-which would not ever be spreadable. Of course its a bonanza for a vaccine company not to want to rid the world of a virus-so no wonder you can't find the dead killed versions anymore - we have such a greedy group - thinking money - not good health. If anybody has any results of trying to heal an infected pup with parvo using H202 please speak up. I am beginning to experiment with it as a curative remedy for Parvo which can be so difficult and expensive to treat a pet.

Combination Vaccines
Posted by Adam (Sherman Oaks, California) on 06/03/2008

There is a product that is suppose to help dogs against Parvo if god forbid your dog gets get it is called Parvaid and it is a all natural herbal remedy!


Combination Vaccines
Posted by Kelly (Denver, Colorado) on 03/18/2007

I am very concerned about vaccinations my two pugs received. My female pug had an allergic reaction and vomited an hour after her vaccinations. I also wanted to let everyone know she is only 5 years old and about a week after her vaccinations she had lost a significant amount of her hearing and a lump appeared on her right shoulder. I took her back to the vet and he said she just has allot of hair in her ears, but she use to hear much better until she had the vaccinations. I am also concerned that she had a lump appear on her right shoulder. It appears to have gone down after about a week, however all this concerns me. HAs anyone else expereinced this with their dogs or cats? Concerned animal lover!


Seizures
Posted by Lorie (Charlotte, NC) on 03/08/2007

I definitely believe that the booster shots cause seizures in dogs. I had a Samoyed who received a rabies shot. She had gotten loose and was picked up by the dog warden. When I went to pick her up, they asked me if she had had her rabies vaccination. I said it had just expired about a month prior. They would not let me get her out unless she got her rabies shot, so I said ok. I had not gotten them their shots, because I had heard of the controversy of vaccinations and so I had held off so that I could do some research. But instead I had to let them administer it to her in order to get her out of the dog pound. About 2-3 weeks later she had her first seizure. I was scared to death because I had never seen anything like it. I started trying to figure out what could have caused it, and thinking over the recent events to try and come up with a reason for her to have had a seizure. The only thing I could figure is that she had just had the rabies shot. Since I am in the medical field, I went into work and looked up the rabies vaccination in the Physicians Desk Reference. Low and behold, right there in the "side effects" it states that it CAN CAUSE SEIZURES. After doing some research on the internet, I found other cases where dogs had had rabies shots and had started having seizures as well. Now, I know that in the US, dog owners are required by law to have rabies shots every year or two. So for those of you who don't know this, you can have what is called a "titer" drawn. It is a blood test to determine if your pet is still immune or not. If they are, they do not need the shot and you can use that for proof, if you ever have the authorities question you. When an animal is already immune to rabies, and they are given another shot, it overloads their nervous system, and that is what causes the seizures. I unfortunately had to learn this the hard way. My Samoyed has been dead now for 3 years. I still cry to this day over her. She was like one of my children and she should still be alive today. So I hope this helps others to prevent this from happening to their dearly loved pets.

Seizures
Posted by Aly (Hendersonville, Tennessee Usa) on 09/30/2010

Thank you, I'm sure your information will help other parents. My Whippet died in my arms last week after having a seizure. In your research have you found rabies given one week, the next week parvo to cause seizures and death? It happened with 45 min, he was gone. He never had rabies since he was from the UK and they don't have it there. We brought him over with us last October, and since his passing I have not stopped crying.


Seizures
Posted by Linda (Queen Creek, Az) on 12/09/2010

I am very sorry for your loss... Somehow the manufacturers need to be monitored by the FDA or we will continue to lose our pets.