Our dogs (4 Chihuahuas, 1 Schnauzer) went to get their annual rabbies vac. Everybody is fine as usual except our smallest one who is also the daddy of the clan. He never had a reaction to any shots he got but they got the shot Friday and this morning (Monday) he did not get up to get his morning treat, he is very hot, he did not drink or got up at all like he usually does. I ran home at lunch to check on him and he is still in bed under the covers, very hot, not lively like he normally is, did not drink water but did lick my fingertips with water on them. Is there something I can give him? Some said 25 mg benadril, others mentioned Thuja or something about activated charcoal. Got benadril but not sure where to get the other stuff. Any other suggestions? Not sure if I trust our vet now after reading all the stories on the net. I guess I should not have done all this research and gone back to our vet but now I am not sure. Any suggestions? I need my baby healthy again. Thanks for your help in advance.

Call your vet and let them know. They will likely want you to bring him in, which would be good, because you would want to be sure you are following a course of action that is appropriate and this should be documented on his records for future reference.

You definitely want to take him back to the vet. My boxer had a bad reaction to her shots this year and they made me bring her in right away because they said it can be fatal if not treated. My dog got really bad hives, had a fever and her skin turned really red. We did have to give her Benadryl but the vet needs to know so they can give your dog a special treatments from now on prior to vaccinations.

Thank you all for your help. We did see the vet and he has an allergic reaction to this type of vaccine. He got pills, needs to take pedialight and needs to be back tomorrow to see if he gets better. Thanks for all the suggestions.

You are very welcome! I hope he is feeling better. It is definitely a scary experience!

If you ever get a new vet vaccinating your dog, make sure he is pre-treated before the vaccines, just to avoid another episode like this.

Did you know that with any vaccination a very small amount of the virus is actually injected into the dog.
This makes them produce a natural immunity to it.

I had my boy vaccinated about 2 weeks ago and he moped around and generally felt lousy for a day or two after the injection.
If he is reluctant to take water for more than 2 days you need to ge thim back to the vet.

I am unsure about 2 of the medications you mentioned but I know that all charcoal will do is setlle an upset stomach.

In the mean time give your Chihuahua about a quarter of a tablet of asprin. This will help to reduce the fever and any pain he is having.