Reptile & Amphibian Forums

we took Murph for his annual exam and shots yesterday. Excellent exam and pronounced in perfect condition. In the late afternoon, he began to act very strange....restlessness, which was increasing....rubbing his face on carpet, grass, etc. His nose was swelling Everything was changing so fast you could just see it escalating. Called the vet and was told to give him 2 adult Benedryl immediately! It took about an hour for him to completely calm down, during which time the vet called us a couple times. Last call was at 8:00 last night. Murphy was seemingly just fine. Vet said give him more Benedryl at 6:00 this morning. By 8:45 he was winding up again, with the pacing, rubbing. Doc had told us if he had problems in the night, we could call emergency vet and get him a steroid shot, but only if it seemed crucial, because this would be hard on his kidney's.

What to do? We gave him another Benedryl at 9:00 and hoped for good result. Again, it took an hour, but he did settle some. Wasn't ready to sleep though. We watched movies and stayed up with him until 2:00. Finally went to bed and he and Bill slept good.....me, not so much! Up at 6:00 to give him his pill.

Doc just called and we had a good chat. From now on, he will have Benedryl before and after every vaccine. Plus, I'm to get a list of what vaccines PetsMart absolutely requires, and we will eliminate everything we possibly can.

Don't mind telling you, this just scared us silly! He seems fine today, and is to have one more pill this evening. I was in bed for 4 hours and slept a little....not sure I'll be worth much today!!

Mom, I just felt so awful!
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Anne, Bill, and Murphy

We are glad to hear he is doing better today. We have delt with similar scare with Kiko and shots. There are some that we just refuse to give them because of reactions. Give Murphy some extral love from us.
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David owned by Kona, Kiko & Kaia

Anne had anything like this happened before? Was Murphy given any shots this time that he wasn't given in the past? I suppose an allergic reaction isn't out of the question but I wonder if one of the shots he received was a bad serum or something?
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Nothing new, or different, at all. Our vet says it can happen, even after years of no problem. But if it happens again, it will be worse, so we have to guard against that. We are going to check with our Day Camp/Boarding facility and see what vaccines they actually require. Then see what we might eliminate in the future. This was really so frightening!

Those pink pills you gave me sure made me sleepy!
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Anne, Bill, and Murphy

Good for you to contact the veterinarian promptly, and very good work by your vet. Be sure to watch for other effects. I had a dog have a really nasty reaction to vaccinations 2 weeks later one time. I had another dog develop bone cancer where she received her rabies vaccination.

They are doing research to reduce the number of vaccines our dogs will get. Some of the vaccinations are now rated for 3 years, and they may wind up much longer. Veterinarians are on the front lines in making these decisions. Vaccinations are important, but...
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Kathy, what type of reaction did your dog have, two weeks later?
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Anne, Bill, and Murphy

>>Kathy, what type of reaction did your dog have, two weeks later?
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>>Anne, Bill, and Murphy
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It was a swollen hind leg that required a whole lot of treatment. We found out a few years later that she was hypothyroid, and quite likely was already hypothyroid when this happened. It was rather a nightmare! Check-up with veterinarian, medication, soaking it a bunch of times a day, bloodwork--there was a lot at stake. I don't think my vet uses those hind-leg rabies vaccinations anymore.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Glad you are feeling better Murphy! Poor baby!

Poor Murphy. . . Poor you.

I'm sorry! That is so scary. Glad to hear things turned out okay. Brewster is allergic to bees so we have to keep pedi benadryl on hand. He had a similar reaction. They said one pedi sized pill for a 25 lb dog (he ranges between 22 and 25 lbs).
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Amanda's Pack: Greg the Husband, Kate the daughter, Liam the son, Brewster the Shiba Inu, Cassie the Torbie & Fenway the Leopard Gecko!