OMG. Does anyone have experience with the rabies vaccine!?

Question

I had (and now my puppy is having) a terrible experience with our vet and the rabies vaccine.
First my vet barely spent any time prepping us for the possible side effects of the rabies vaccine (I know, our fault for not being prepared, but we literally had no idea, no one has ever mentioned to us that the vaccine could be so dangerous for puppies, plus this is my first time owning a puppy) we spent almost $400 today at the vet getting distemper and rabies shots for our two dogs, as well as some other stuff... Anyway the visit was maybe around 20 mins or so.
At the end she just mentioned "watch out for any facial swelling or vomiting" then she was politely shooing us away.
We went to work and my sister watched the dogs. When we returned they looked a little pitiful. Our more robust puppy was fine, more or less with mild whining when we touched the injection site.
Our lanky hyper puppy was abnormally lethargic, whined loudly to touch, and cowered, shivering on each inhale. My sister said she had not been like that all day but overall they'd just been a little lethargic and not quite themselves. That's what we expected but to see our normally fiery energy pup acting like this has been so frightening.
I was so worried about her shaky breathing, but it has since subsided. I think her eye lids may be swollen, and her lips possibly. Her gums are pink though, and she's asleep now (usual bedtime) so its hard to know what to do. I know the easy answer (won't get you the 10 points btw) is "take her to the vet" but it's 3:00 am and the only vet close by will cost me $126 just for an exam. They would do two shots, one to counteract the vaccine and a shot of Benadryl for the allergic symptoms.
She is clearly not going into anaphalytic shock because she's breathing at a normal uninterrupted pace in her sleep.
Though her face is a little swollen she has not vomited.

Has anyone had a similar experience? 
I now hate my vet for not telling us that this vaccine could be dangerous. Though she mentioned the facial swelling and vomiting she said nothing on why that would happen or what we should do about it. Nor did she mention the whole slew of other symptoms, nor did she refer any emergency vet. Ugh there's a whole list of crappy things I could add but I won't.

Any words of advice? 
I am just planning on watching her through the night and going to the regular vet in the morning if anything happens.

Coco · Accepted Answer

I live in Australia- No rabies, no vaccination, sorry. 

But I thought these websites may help:

http://www.dogs4dogs.com/truth4dogs.html

http://www.pet-informed-veterinary-advice-online.com/vaccine-side-effects.html

http://www.waycooldogs.com/dangers-of-rabies-shots-in-dogs/

Stay calm, I'm sure it'll work out fine. Just monitor your dogs and try to keep them hydrated. Call the vets in the morning and ask their opinion. I'd suggest switching vets if they continue to disappoint you. 

Hope your pups are ok! Good luck!

Anonymous · Answer

First question back - how old are these puppies!!   Normally the rabies vaccination wouldn't be done until after 4 months.  And I've neverheard of this being done at the same time as the distemper shot, which wouldn't normally be given on it's own either.  With puppies of around 8 weeks, you'd get the DHLPPi shots which are given, normally as a combined shot, although the one for Leptospirosis is sometimes given as a separate shot.  In the UK we then repeat 2, or sometimes 3 weeks, later.  Rabies isn't given at this age (and we don't need rabies shots in the UK in any case).  These shots are boostered the following year, and again in the UK, dogs are now put onto a 3-yearly booster schedule, apart from Leptospirosis which it's still felt should be boostered annually.

So for that reason I don't understand why these dogs had a Distemper shot, and a Rabies shot at the same time.

All I can suggest is provided you think your dogs can be brought through the night safely, contact your vet in the morning.   I've never had any reaction other than maybe sometimes a puppy being rather subdued (but it's easy to imagine this!!) after vaccination.  And with rabies, when we lived in Canada, occasionally the muscle at the back end might have been a tad sore afterwards but otherwise none has had anything like what you think you are seeing.

Dog Section Regular · Answer

The Vet DID tell you the side effects according to you!

""watch out for any facial swelling or vomiting""

Some dogs react worse than others. That's not your Vets fault. Dogs should always be monitored after receiving vaccinations. That's a part of giving vaccinations.

You can CALL the Vet in the morning if your dog is not better, to ASK what to do. It's not rocket science. You had all day to do it before 3am, so there's no excuse. A call is free, call in the morning.

Because those aren't COMMON SYMPTOMS. Your dog, as you stated, is only experiencing some facial swelling, and soreness. Your dog doesn't have pale gums, seizures, or dark urine. So I don't get why you're overreacting.

Again, some swelling and injection site soreness, and some lethargy IS NORMAL. If you have a problem ASK YOUR VET. Find a new Vet if you have a problem with the customer service. You asked for advice, you were given advice. Don't get bent out of shape because I told you the truth.

* And to Mamabas—According to her previous questions, her pups are 3 months, and you are correct, they are too young for a rabies vacc.

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OMG. Does anyone have experience with the rabies vaccine!?

3 Answers