Bad Reaction to Shots!

[Chelsea and her doodle Piper]

Hi guys, just wanting your thoughts on this, and I will call the vet tomorrow morning. Piper had his last round of puppy shots today. He had a reaction and totally swelled up--eyes, muzzle, body. We went back in to the vet where he was given Dexamethasone and Diphenhydramine to ease the reaction. He looks a lot better, BUT now tonight he is acting like he has a bladder infection and has to pee every few minutes. Anyone had any experience with this? I wonder if it is from the shots or the steroids and if it will ease up by tomorrow. Poor little guy! He is trying his best not to pee in the house.

[Chelsea and her doodle Piper]

Ok, well I just looked up both drugs and the Diphenhydramine could have a side effect of bladder retention. I am guessing this is the issue! Hopefully we will be retaining tomorrow! :o)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Chelsea, steroids definitely will make a dog have to pee much more often; it's one of the classic side-effects. Especially when the steroids are injected. Don't cut his water back, he's also going to be thirstier than normal. If he does have an accident, it's not his fault, and he's not having a setback in his housebreaking. They really can't help it. The only time Jack ever came close to peeing in the house is when he'd been given injectable steroids for a reaction.
I'm sorry poor Piper had to go through this, I hope he's feeling better soon.

[Chelsea and her doodle Piper]

Thanks for such a fast reply Karen!

[Lori, Oliver & Isabel]

I'm SOOO sorry Piper had to go through that. Our black lab used to have reactions to her vaccinations. The first time it happened was with her last round of puppy shots. It was HORRIBLE.....she was sleeping and when I went in to check on her she had hives everywhere. I rushed her to the emergency vet and they gave her some sort of steroid injections, plus then I had to follow up the next few days with benadryl. Moving forward, the vet broke her vaccinations into much smaller doses and gave shots to prevent a reaction. I always felt so bad for her. After years of no reactions, the vet decided to give her a regular dosage and she had hives worse than she'd ever had. They were ALL OVER her body and she couldn't stop itching. We later switched vets our new vet did not want vaccinate her - as long as we were ok with it. We did not vaccinate her the last few years that we had her. They were able to write a "doctors note" if we took her anywhere requiring vaccination records. Luckily none of our other dogs have had these reactions.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Once a dog's completed his puppy shots, they don't need to be re-vaccinated every year. Many of us give a three year rabies shot and have blood titers done to test for immunity on the rest. They always come back with full immunity. Titering is more expensive than just getting the big vaccine cocktails every year, but it's better and safer in the long run.

[Chelsea and her doodle Piper]

So good to know!
He didn't have any reaction to his last round, but he got a rabies today too. We are doing benadryl for a few days as well. I didn't notice at first b/c he was sleeping and when I went to get him for a car ride, I was shocked when his muzzle was like 3 times its normal size! It happened so fast.

[F, Calla & Luca]

The diphenhydramine can cause difficulty urinating so Piper may not be able to completely empty his bladder and therefore he may have to go more often or feel like he needs to. I don't know what effect the vaccinations may have had on his urinating.T

[shelly]

The same thing happened to Tori this past summer when she got her rabi shot. She never had that reaction before, but the vet said some brands can have different reactions. She too was given that drug and she did have to pee a lot, but it slowed down by the end of the night and he made it through the night fine. Good luck! It's scary!