I recently brought my 11 week old boxer in for his first distemper shot. The shot was given on a Friday morning and by Sunday mid morning, my typically energetic puppy was sluggish, sleepy and unable to walk. We went to the vet first thing Monday morning and after numerous tests with no conclusions we were told to prepare to put him down. By Wednesday my puppy was back to himself running around as if nothing ever happened! Does anyone know if this could be a reaction to the vaccine? And if so, what shuld I do about the next two shots that he will need?

The VET told you to be prepared to put him down? Why? I never heard anything like that, telling a person to be prepared to put a dog down when there's no diagnosis.

My GSD gets very sick every time she gets her distemper shot, just as you described - listless, no appetite, sleepy, a little bit wobbly. She looks and acts very sick for about 24 hours. I've looked into NOT getting the distemper shot but I'm in the country and don't want to take a chance.

Yes, and he scared me so much, my baby is perfectly fine now and I can't believe that more people know about this as a reaction than he does, I found more info online than he ever could give me!

I would look into finding another vet. I am happy to hear your pup is doing much better. :)

While vaccine reactions aren't too common, they usually happen within a few hours of the vaccine. Though I guess it could be possible..

My Am Staff had reactions to every distemper shot that was given to him, although as he got older it was less of an effect. He also would become sluggish, not want to eat, and very sleepy. I guess I kind of figured it was like getting the flu shot, sometimes you feel yucky for about a day afterward. The vet said it was fairly common but to keep an eye on him and if it lasted longer then 24 hours to bring himback for a follow up. Does your dog have any allergies to preservatives or commercial dog foods?

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Originally Posted by Aurora_Bell

My Am Staff had reactions to every distemper shot that was given to him, although as he got older it was less of an effect. He also would become sluggish, not want to eat, and very sleepy. I guess I kind of figured it was like getting the flu shot, sometimes you feel yucky for about a day afterward. The vet said it was fairly common but to keep an eye on him and if it lasted longer then 24 hours to bring himback for a follow up. Does your dog have any allergies to preservatives or commercial dog foods?

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Was he ever pre-treated?

Well he went through the normal testing before his normal vaccinations, and the Vet said there was nothing alarming to be concerned about. Also Max has a few allergies to certain commercial dog food, the vet said just like small children they can get side effects from the preservatives that are used in the vaccines also found in some dog foods ( Although the reactions were different from the vaccines and the dog food.).She said that Max did not have a reaction that would cause any serious medical ailments. She said that a reaction is more common then not.

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Originally Posted by Aurora_Bell

Well he went through the normal testing before his normal vaccinations, and the Vet said there was nothing alarming to be concerned about. Also Max has a few allergies to certain commercial dog food, the vet said just like small children they can get side effects from the preservatives that are used int he vaccines also found in some dog foods ( Although the reactions were different from the vaccines and the dog food.).She said that Max did not have a reaction that would cause any serious medical ailments. She said that a reaction is more common then not.

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More common than not. Wow - good to know. As I said, I've weighed shots vs no shots in the past, based on a bad reaction.

My mom doesn't vaccinate her pets, they rarely if ever leave their property and we don't have things like the rabies virus here.

All her show dogs on the other hand are vaccinated at they are around other dogs every weekend.

I have never had a reaction with vaccinations myself other than them being a little tired when they get home but mostly I attribute that to a big day out and going to the vets.

I'm just very intrigued that the vet would not pre-treat before vaccines if they know there is a reaction.

And they are not more common than not. We see about one reaction a month, and in that month hundreds upon hundreds are vaccinated.

Wow they don't have rabies in Australia? What about Parvo?

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Originally Posted by Aurora_Bell

Wow they don't have rabies in Australia? What about Parvo?

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Yes, unfortunately we do have parvo but we are rabies free- hence why we have such strict quarantine laws.

My dogs get vaccinated for parvo, distemper and hepatitis, there is a kennel cough vaccine but it is pointless as kennel cough is constantly mutating and my dogs are barely around other animals.

Sariss... I guess I will have to ask the vet next time I am in about the pre treating requirements, as far as I know they only run the screening tests the first time they get vaccinated, but even then I don't recall very much testing, aside from giving them the vaccines, and doing the blood work before they get spayed or neutered. The reaction Max had was, he was more tired then normal, didn't feel like eating too much, but it only lasted less then 24 hours. And I do remember the Vet telling me that this was a common side effect to these vaccines. Now I haven't personally done much research on the subject, and I definitely intend to do some now. I thought that because a Vet had told me this info then it was in fact like she said "more common then not".

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Originally Posted by Aurora_Bell

Sariss...I guess I will have to ask the vet next time I am in about the pre treating requirments, as far as I know they only run the screening tests the first time they get vaccinated, but even then I don't recall very much testing, aside from giving them the vaccines, and doing the blood work before they get spayed or neutered. The reaction Max had was, he was more tired then normal, didn't feel like eating too much, but it only lasted less then 24 hours. And I do remember the Vet telling me that this was a common side effect to these vaccines. Now I haven't personally done much research on the subject, and I definitly intend to do some now. I thought that becasue a Vet had told me this info then it was in fact like she said "more common then not".

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I have had that experience with mine when they get done, they always mope around and are generally off color for a few hours, it's never a 'reaction' as such, I think Sariss is talking more about severe reactions from her post (I could be wrong) but I don't bother taking mine back to the vet f they are just a bit tired so the vet would have no idea if they had a 'reaction' or not as I have not given them the feedback

I agree, I did not take Max back to the Vet but I did mention it to her then next time we were in. I would think that the Boxer mentioned had a more "sever"(probablly not spelling that right) reaction them mine do. Is pre testing before vaccines a common thing? I suppose it would make sense to pre tesr, but of course much more costly, especially if you had to wait a day or two and then bring your dog back in for the actual vaccine.

This thread was the first time I have actually heard of it to be honest, I had to look it up.
They give a very small dose of the vaccination to the dog to test for any reactions, then administer the full amount.

My vet has never done it, even when my mom has had whole litters of pups vaccinated.

It does make sense, same way you test skin products on a small patch first to make sure you don't have any allergies.