HUGE scare today at the vet!!!

[Erica&Riley]

Hi everyone-

I just wanted to share my experience at the vet today as a warning and just as a VERY scary experience in general. Riley went in for her 2nd Lyme shot today (she had the first one about 3 weeks ago). About 3-4 minutes after they gave her the vaccine, she began showing signs of shock as a reaction to the vaccine. She peed on the floor and her gums starting turning pale. The vet rushed her into the back room and came back and told me that Riley had gone into anaphylactic (sp?) shock, and that it was very serious and she was in critical condition. Her heart rate and blood pressure had dropped and her cardiovascular system had pretty much began shutting down. They gave her steriods, benadryl, and fluids through an IV to treat the shock and she responded accordingly with her vitals coming back up to normal within a few hours. Thank God that all of this happened before I had left the office with her because I probably wouldn't have been able to get her back there in time because the symptoms came on so quickly and strongly. I was able to bring her home a little while ago...they considered sending her to a 24 hour facility for monitoring but the vet said that she'd probably do better at home because she is a nervous dog to begin with. I have to keep a close eye on her tonight for any other signs of shock. They didn't charge me for any of the emergency treatment which I thought was very nice! I was expecting a huge bill for the steriods and IV. Needless to say, Riley will never be getting the Lyme vaccine again. I would rather take our chances against the ticks! The vet said that Riley will have to get steriods or benadryl before any other vaccine (rabies, distemper, etc) now that she has had such a severe reaction to this one.

I am SOO thankful that Riley pulled through okay - fingers crossed she'll be okay through the night please! I don't know if anyone else wants to give it more thought before getting the Lyme vaccine for their dog, but that's our story! Please keep Riley in your thoughts tonight!

Thanks for listening,
Erica

 

[myboyjackson]

Wow..... like you said, it is a good thing that the reaction happened while you were at the vets. We'll be thinking about you ........ hope everything is fine.!!

 

[punkin]

Oh what a scare! Thank goodness Riley is going to be all right!

 

[Indy B's Mom]

Erica-wow, what a scary experience! Thank God you were at the vets still. Sending her good, healing vibes that all is well now. Tyler sends her a get well smooch!

 

[Cami]

What a terribly scary experience you had! Instead of pretreating with the mentioned meds before the next set of vaccinations maybe you might consider having your vet run titers on Riley. It's a simple blood draw and will show you approxamite levels of protection from previous vaccines. Wouldn't hurt seeing that your baby has had this reaction. I haven't had my girl vaccinated since her initial puppy shots but had a titers run instead. There are multiple threads here on titers if you want more info just do a search. I hope she bounces back quickly.

 

[GinsMomma]

Oh my! What a terrible thing to experience!! So glad she is doing Okay now! Sending Riley lots of healing vibes!!!

 

[Melissa79]

My gosh!!! Riley feel better soon. Someone else warned me about the lyme vaccination but Boomer already had when they told me about their scary time.

 

[bucca]

i cant believe i read this because chloe goes tomorrow for her second shot and now im scared for her. we live in a very wooded area and i never gave it to her before but this year the ticks are already bad and the vet recommended it strongly. i hope your baby is okay and i hope you are too. its a terrible thing to witness. im going to be asking questions before they give it to her.

 

[Erica&Riley]

Bucca-

Chances are Chloe will be just fine...my vet said she had done emergency medicine for 12 years prior to going into private practice and that she had never seen a reaction like Riley had to the Lyme vaccine. It seems like its pretty rare...very scary experience though! I don't know if there is any sort of allergy test that they could do before giving the vaccine to determine if an allergy is present. I use Frontline Plus on Riley and have never found a tick on her (I take her hiking and in wooded areas quite often). Boxers' coats are short and a tick would be pretty easy to spot, so although the Lyme vaccine is a good precaution Riley won't be getting it again! Best of luck with Chloe tomorrow!!!

 

[Rileyboy]

Sending lots of((((( healing vibes))))) for Riley: I hope she will be okay. I can only image how scary that was. I'm so glad that it happend like you said at the Vets office. Keeping your sweet girl Riley in our thoughts and prayers tonight and lots of (((Hugs)))) for you both ~ Vickie and some slobbery kisses from Cody