Vaccine reactions

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Vaccine reactions

Postby blob » Sat Aug 17, 2019 2:12 am

My mare gets horrible reactions to vaccines, or to any injection. She's also awful about getting them done, which makes the pain worse.

She gets banimime before shots but still swells up and is very muscle stiff for at least a week.

When she got her spring shots, in addition to swelling and stiffness, she also abscessed at one of her injection sites.

The whole experience has become somewhat of a nightmare for both of us. Last time she nearly took three of us out just trying to get away from the injections.

Well, it's time for fall shots next week and I'm hoping you all might have ideas for other things I can do to help prevent so much swelling and stiffness for her.

Right now the plan is for banimime and then a light ride after to get her muscles moving some. In the past I have not given any antihistamines, but I can give them either before or after if people think they will help.

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Re: Vaccine reactions

Postby Tsavo » Sat Aug 17, 2019 2:58 am

Is it every shot or just one of them? Are there different vaccine companies? If so try a different company.

A mare at my barn has a spectacularly bad reaction to one of the spring shots. She had to be taken to the hospital and stayed for a few days. The vaccine company picked up the entire bill.

I never saw anything like that before.

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musical comedy
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Re: Vaccine reactions

Postby musical comedy » Sat Aug 17, 2019 12:41 pm

I don't do many vaccines. I think many of them are unnecessary. So shoot me. I wouldn't vaccinate a horse like this.

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musical comedy
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Re: Vaccine reactions

Postby musical comedy » Sat Aug 17, 2019 12:43 pm

The other thing is vets are now giving shots the include several vaccines instead of just one. No wonder horses react.

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Re: Vaccine reactions

Postby blob » Sat Aug 17, 2019 3:57 pm

Tsavo wrote:Is it every shot or just one of them? Are there different vaccine companies? If so try a different company.



It's every shot and every company I've tried.

@musical comedy, I don't really have an option if I want to show her, I need a vaccine record.
She actually does better with the multiple vaccine shots, because it's a single swelling and not several. My vet won't do combos for the reason you stated, but past vets have given her that. And she's less sore overall.

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Re: Vaccine reactions

Postby texsuze » Sat Aug 17, 2019 4:02 pm

Over the years I've had to modify my gelding's vaccine protocol. As a youngster he could handle a 3-way (or more) shot each spring with no adverse reactions.

After he started having a variety of reactions to the shots, I pared down the number of vaccinations he gets, based on his exposure potential (closed herd, no shows, vector numbers, no access to equines across the property fence, local disease outbreaks, etc.) and with input from my veterinarian.

Two to three days before my gelding gets a single vaccine (no more combos), I'll start him on a daily dose of banamine paste, including the day we haul to the vet. I let the vet know what and how much he's been getting and vet usually gives another dose i.v. the time of the shot. I've found that giving in a pectoral muscle greatly reduces his stiffness. He's had swelling, stiffness and hair loss with rabies given in the glute. I never give in the neck or glute anymore. Then I continue the daily dose of banamine paste for probably 2-3 days post-vaccination.

A few weeks, or a month or so later, we'll get ready for another single vaccination, same procedure. This time, the shot will be given in the opposite pectoral muscle. My gelding still gets a little pokey, with some minor local swelling, but nothing like the problems he used to have. He turns 28 tomorrow :) and has been in full retirement for 8 years, so he only gets VEWT, WNV and rabies (only every other year). One vet told me she feels rabies is administered too frequently, and based on a recent study, most horses maintain adequate titer for 2-3 years post-vaccination.

My suggestion: start your banamine paste at least 2-3 days prior to vaccination. When scheduling the vet appt. make sure your vet understands your mare will be getting ONE vaccine, no combos. Let vet know what/how much you've been giving when you get to the office, and ask if an i.v. banamine dose can be given before the vaccine is administered. Pick up a few more tubes of banamine while you are there, too, so you can continue dosing for a couple more days post-vaccination. I would strongly consider shot given in pectoral muscle rather than neck or glute, but discuss with vet. Cold hosing the vaccine site helps; do this for several days post-vaccine. I feel as long as the horse has turnout, riding may or may not be the way to go, at least for the first day right after the shot, but YMMV. Hoping your horse will find some relief by getting only one vaccine at a time.

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Re: Vaccine reactions

Postby heddylamar » Sat Aug 17, 2019 4:23 pm

I give my older mare everything separately alternating locations, over the course of several weeks. She swells from every injection, and, with flu/rhino runs a slight fever, but 1-2 bute, lunging, and cold hosing seems to work. And I learned years ago to stay away from Ft Dodge. She always has a bad reaction to their vaccines. Prestige and Vetera are pretty reliable -- only a minor reaction.

Two years ago, when I first vaccinated my youngster on the same schedule, she had a very bad reaction to strepvax IM. Several rounds of banamine, emergency vet visit, and lots of bute later, she was fine. Now she gets the nasal strepvax, which is just hilarious to watch.

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Re: Vaccine reactions

Postby blob » Sat Aug 17, 2019 5:12 pm

Thanks Texsuze and Heddylamar, useful advice.

Makes sense to give banimime before and after not just the day of. Don't know why I didn't think of that

I will ask the vet about pectorals. She's had them there before. Actually her first ever vaccines were in her pectoral, so imagine my surprise the next day when she had a basket ball sized chest!

I believe flu/rhino can also be given nasally, so I need to look into that as well

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Re: Vaccine reactions

Postby piedmontfields » Sat Aug 17, 2019 8:30 pm

One more simple strategy is to make sure she gets turnout afterwards. It can really help with swelling.

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Re: Vaccine reactions

Postby blob » Sat Aug 17, 2019 10:36 pm

piedmontfields wrote:One more simple strategy is to make sure she gets turnout afterwards. It can really help with swelling.


She always gets riding/lunging that day and turnout. She spends most of her time outside

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Re: Vaccine reactions

Postby blob » Wed Aug 21, 2019 1:33 am

MM got her shots today. Thankfully the ordeal was far less traumatic than last time and she did not get as worked up as last time. The vet minimized what she needed so she only had 2 injections.

She got banimine beforehand. After I rode her, cold hosed, and put arnica gel on the injection sites and she's on turnout all night. She'll get banimine again tomorrow and then bute for a couple more days. Keeping my fingers crossed that things aren't too bad this time around. Though I do think the fact that she was less tense and upset while getting the shots will help some.

I will update.

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Re: Vaccine reactions

Postby heddylamar » Wed Aug 21, 2019 2:04 am

Fingers crossed all goes well!

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Re: Vaccine reactions

Postby Chisamba » Wed Aug 21, 2019 5:31 am

Hope it works out. Occurences of EEE is on the uptick .

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Re: Vaccine reactions

Postby dasher » Wed Aug 21, 2019 3:17 pm

Is she having a reaction to the needle? I had a horse that had an allergic reaction to ss staples.

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Re: Vaccine reactions

Postby piedmontfields » Wed Aug 21, 2019 5:05 pm

Hope MM recovers quickly. Glad it seemed a bit easier this time.

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Re: Vaccine reactions

Postby blob » Wed Aug 21, 2019 8:42 pm

dasher wrote:Is she having a reaction to the needle? I had a horse that had an allergic reaction to ss staples.


Hmmm.... Could be. It doesn't seem to matter what she's getting. But I also haven't injected her IM with anything but vaccines.

Do you use different needles?

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Re: Vaccine reactions

Postby dasher » Thu Aug 22, 2019 3:31 pm

Hmmm.... Could be. It doesn't seem to matter what she's getting. But I also haven't injected her IM with anything but vaccines.

Do you use different needles?[/quote]

No longer have this horse, it was many years ago. I don't remember.


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