My dog recently received her distemper booster shot. She is 9 years old. She is now experiencing fluid in her abdomen/chest and is on vasculitis meds, antibiotics and has had her abdomen drained twice. Her symptoms of difficulty breathing began 1 week after her shot. Is there any chance they are related?

Distemper boosters are given at l0 months old; I have never heard of a 9 year old dog receiving a distemper booster. Difficulty breathing (which must be scary for both of you) sounds like an allergic reaction.

Hi, I'm sorry. What she was given was her Leptospirosis vaccination. It was the cat who received the distemper shot. Missy, the dog, still has difficulty breathing and has undergone two thoracocentis to remove fluid from her lungs. Hopefully, she will get better. They are thinking it is a tick borne disease. I was just curious because it happened 6 days after the shot.

Dogs sometimes, but rarely suffer reactions to shots. I highly doubt that those problems that started a week later are related. Have you asked the vet about it? Most vets are too ethical to try to cover up a bad reaction. You might try doing a search at American Veterinary Medical Association (http://www.avma.org) Who knows what misinformation may turn up on a site somebody Googled up and then didn't give her source.

I don't know where your are, or what the practices are in Canada, but in the USA, it is common to give the last round of puppy shots at 4 months, and then an annual booster shot that covers a number of things. Usually the vets don't give a separate distemper shot.

I didn't see your second post before I made my first. Leptospirosis is the L in the common DHLPP-Corona vaccine which many vets give annually.

If ticks are a problem in your dog's environment, you might discuss the best preventative with your vet. The Revolution I use meets my dogs' needs, but is not the best for ticks.