reactions to vaccinations in Akitas

shibamistress

I looked for this topic, and did find an old thread that was useful in thinking about vaccinations, but didn't find the specific subject, so thought I'd start a new one. Here is the link to the original, interesting thread: http://www.nihonken.org/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1125&page=1#Item_0

My breeder sent me some info. from Dr. Jean Dodds about vaccinations, and as I began to look further, I discovered that Akitas are one of the breeds that can have reactions to vaccinations. Here is Dr. Dodd's info. on this: http://www.dogsadversereactions.com/vaccinePredisposed.html

I wondered if other people have had problems with vaccinations, or if how people handle this with their Akitas.

tjbart17

Both Koda and Maymay have had reactions to vaccinations. They did the last round of Koda's 5 in 1 with his rabies shot last August. His 5 in 1 was pushed back due to an ear infection. He got so sick. I felt bad for the poor little man. He also got really sick from the anaesthesia with his neuter.

Maymay got sick with the rabies shot, although she had already had one. She did well with her 5 in 1 though. Koda just got his 5 in 1 booster last weekend and did fine. He's not due for his next rabies until August and will get the three year one.

I'm not sure whether it was the rabies with Koda or the 5 in 1 last year, but if it was the 5 in 1 he's grown out of it or maybe the antibodies already in his system helped him deal better.

Vaccinations are a tough call. Since I have to do rabies, I just give them Benadryl before and after.

TheWalrus

Dunno about Akita's, but Haru and Baron have both had reactions to vaccinations. Haru's face swelled up, and she was itchy all over for days. Baron got really sick for about a week.

shibamistress

When I saw the thing about Akitas, I wondered if it would be true of other NK as well. Perhaps they are simply not common enough to be included in the list of dogs that typically have reactions. The last time Toby (Shiba) had his rabies shot, he got sick. Bel is due for her DHLPP in a week or so, and I'm wondering if she actually needs it....She's five, and I wonder if she hasn't developed enough of a immunity by now....

And what do you do about it? Not give them as many? Not as many at one time? What about puppies? I'm particularly worried about the typical flurry of puppy shots. My breeder gives them their first set at 7 weeks (not earlier like some people do). I'll get the puppy at 8 weeks, which makes me wonder if I should be even more vigilant than usual in terms of where I take him....I'm wondering if he will be less immune to things than a dog vaccinated earlier? (I'll have to ask the breeder about this).

the_november_rain

I am very anti-vaccine. With Inu he received the rabies and one combo at 12 weeks and that was it. The vet wanted to give him two more combos at 16 weeks and six months. That was not going to happen. It is important to know if any certain diseases are prevalent in your area. My new vet said they give out 3 year rabies so I may do that, but I will not due yearly shots even if it is the law. What I don't understand is that we vaccinate our babies/kids for measles, mumps, rubella, polio, influenza type b, hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and varicella but stop after a certain age. So why do we do it the whole life of the dog/cat? There must be simple answer to this.

Brego_mellon_nin

I'm really surprised by the number of vaccines are necessary for your dogs. We don't have many deceases in Denmark, so maybe that's why, but the pups get 2 vaccinations (no rabies) and then they can have one each year after that or every second year, depending on whether you want to be protected from kennel cough...

ala-chan

Now, that's interesting, since in Germany, which borders Denmark, we have six diseases that are commonly vaccinated against.
They are rabies, distemper, parvovirosis, leptospirosis, hepatitis and parainfluenza.
If you want to join any puppy-classes or sports-groups or anything your dog MUST have these. But there are no laws, I think...
Only if your dog is not vaccinated against rabies and any suspense comes up, that there might be a chance your dog is infected it is put down immediately and examined AFTERWARDS...
So I'd never take the risk and NOT give my dog(s) the rabies-shot. And since I live in town, where many dogs live I am careful and do all six vaccinations, just to be safe...
But Etsus next vaccination in spring will be the 3years one.
He didn't have any problems with the last one, but with the second puppy-vaccination at about 12 weeks(?). I left him with my boyfriend afterwards and got a desperate call, that my dog was dying! He was having pain in the back where the needle had been and didn't want to get up, eat anything or do whatever for about three or four hours. Then he slowly recovered and after a while he was back to normal, no problems. Even though I had called the vet and he had told me that this was not uncommon with puppies, I was very nervous about it...
But vaccinations are necessary, so I have to keep it up. Fortunately Etsu doesn't seem to have any problems now he's an adult.

Brego_mellon_nin

Laura >>
We do need to give the rabies vaccination if we want to take the dog out of the country, but as we do not have rabies in our wildlife, it's not so big a risk to not vaccinate against it. If there were rabid foxes running around it would be a totally different deal. if we go out of the country with the dog, leptospirosis is also vaccinated against.

The standard vaccination the dogs get in Denmark protect against distemper, adenovirus, parainfluenza and parvovirus.

shibamistress

I'm pretty anti-vaccine myself (or rather I believe we overvaccinate in the US as I don't believe dogs need it every year), but the problem is I occasionally kennel my dogs, so I have to have them. And I also noted the puppy play class I want to take my pup to requires two of the sets of puppy vaccines, plus bordatella. (Bordatella is a pretty useless one too...). Jessica, thanks for you thoughts on this too...I wondered esp. about the puppy shots. Were you still comfortable taking Inu out a lot for socialization?

There are big problems with distemper in NM, though it is mostly in southern New Mexico. Still, an adult Akita at New Mexico Akita rescue died of it recently, so that is one I want to be very careful about.

There are titer tests of course, which is a possibility for my dogs. My vet doesn't do them, but I could get the bloodwork done and sent in, though I don't know if my kennel would take this as proof of vaccination.

Bottom line, I absolutely do not believe dogs need to be vaccinated every year, but sometimes it's hard to get around.

Laura, the thing about the pain in the back where the needle went in is really scary. It is one of the bad reactions Akitas can have as noted in the Dodds article I linked, and what I find particularly scary about it is that sometimes this leads to a more long term problem...

the_november_rain

No, I don't worry about it. When we did his most heavy socializing was after the breeders shots and after the 12 weeks. Our puppy school just needed a letter from the vet clearing him. I was willing to subject him to the 12 weeks. I think distemper and parvo are the biggest things. You should request your vet just administer these two instead of a combo at 12 weeks and 16 weeks if you have to for school. And rabies of course. And then whenever you have board them, vaccinate only the exact ones they are concerned about instead of a combo. Or do it every 3 years, but no yearly crap and no combo crap.

I am breaking the law up here (don't tell anyone ) cause rabies is the law and my indoor cats are never allowed outside and will never be given the rabies shot. They were vaccinated at twelve weeks and that was it. I either have a friend pet sit, drop them off at the mother-in-law's or drag them along so we don't have to deal with boarding.

An interesting note: my first vet wanted to give him 3 combo shots, 12 weeks, 16 weeks and 6 months. When I took him to another vet at 5 months for alkaline pee, they looked at his shot records, which was one at 12 weeks, I told them no more shots and they said he didn't need any more for another year....interesting......

Nekopan

For those interested, here's some data on duration of immunity.

http://www.cedarbayvet.com/duration_of_immunity.htm

ala-chan

"Laura, the thing about the pain in the back where the needle went in is really scary. It is one of the bad reactions Akitas can have as noted in the Dodds article I linked, and what I find particularly scary about it is that sometimes this leads to a more long term problem..."

I was really scared myself... We did the shot at about 12am and my ex-boyfriend tried to call me from 13.30, but I received his messages/calls half an hour later because I muted my cell phone while being tattooed... I have never before driven the way back to my flat at such a high speed...
As I said the vet told me, that this happens sometimes especially with puppies and that I should keep an eye on him. The vet had his next consultation-hours from 16.00-18.00pm, but Etsu went better over the time, so I didn't have to go...
So I was a bit nervous when the next vaccinations were up, but there were no problems at all...
I didn't know, that this could lead to more long term problems! That gives me an additional extra-fright...