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  Discussion on Bad reaction to Ft. Dodge rabies vaccination
Author Message
New Member:
Kindylou

Posted on Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 - 11:16 pm:

I gave my 8 yr. old gelding his annual rabies vaccination. Later that day his legs swelled up and he had a 103.6 temp. He was also somewhat lethargic but he was eating. For two days he was treated with banamine, antihistamine and penicillin. By day 3 his legs are back to normal his temp is about 100.5 and he still seems a little depressed. It also seems like his sheath is a bit swollen on the very bottom? He seems to be getting better but I'm still concerned, this has never happened to him before. Any suggestions or advice?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Jun 23, 2006 - 10:05 am:

Hello Cindy,
This morning I edited the article to address you specific concerns. If you will reread it and then if you still have any questions place them here I would be glad to respond.
DrO
Member:
Muffi

Posted on Friday, Oct 13, 2006 - 11:36 am:

Dr O -
My Horses both had adverse reactions to the Fall Influenza, Rabies, Etc Combo Vaccine that Ft Dodge puts out. I have never noticed such a reaction before - But we have since the last time we had Vaccinations we moved to a new State, Cooler Climate. Both Horses were lithargic, One just was down right miserable and slow - but no other signs - slight elevated temp. he had the stiff neck as noted in the article (gave shot to neck muscle) the other had Cow Patties for 24 hours. then in 48 hours both were fine. You article talks about Abcesses and such and none of that was present - the neck area of shot was not tender either. I massaged the Shot in after wards for about 2 minutes on each horse then they had the run of the pen afterwards.
I guess I was just wondering how many others had such reactions? or if it was a bad batch? or perhaps both horses were not at 100 % health when I gave them the shots (they both appeared fine when administered) But again the reactions were not catastrophic, just notably slower and they both seemed affected.
???
thanks
Member:
Canter

Posted on Friday, Oct 13, 2006 - 1:30 pm:

Hi Muffi,
My mare had a first time reaction to spring shots, primarily a very stiff neck. It was not bad enough to call the vet out, but I discussed it with her a week ago when we gave fall shots - it was the same shot that caused problems as you mention in your post. My vet reported that they had a whole bunch of problems with that shot this spring so for the fall, they switched to a different manufacturer (unfortunately, I do not remember the name) and it was just rabies, not a combo that we gave. As a precaution, I gave my mare bute ahead of time and watched her closely for a while after as I was worried about an escalating reaction. No problems to report with this different shot and the vet said they've had nowhere near the problems with this one as the Ft Dodge this spring. In the case of my horse this spring, the stiff neck was fine after 2 days.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Oct 13, 2006 - 6:23 pm:

We use many Fort Dodge vaccines and do not have a high incidence of vaccine reactions however their are individuals that do get quite stiff. But we had the same problem with other vaccines by different manufacturers. The problem is that repeated exposure to any injectable vaccine will result in increasing reactions in some individuals as the immune system becomes sensitized to the antigens in the vaccine. Therefore the most popular vaccines will eventually cause the most reactions.

For help with dealing with the reactions see Vaccines and Adverse Reactions associated with this discussion and accessible off the navigation bar at the top of this page.
DrO
Member:
galager

Posted on Friday, Mar 19, 2010 - 10:06 am:

Dr. O,

In your section on Vaccinations and Adverse Reactions you mention that "superficial" injections could be a source of vaccine reactions. In terms of rabies and tetanus, how would you define superficial? Have you heard of any adverse reactions to the Ft. Dodge rabies vaccination this spring? Thanks.

George
Member:
ajudson1

Posted on Friday, Mar 19, 2010 - 12:40 pm:

Hi George,

I personally quit using the FD brand of rabies. Year after year my horses were sore and miserable after giving it now matter what I did.

I am trying Imrab brand from Horse Health USA this year. I won't use it til next month; I'll try to post an update on here.

Not to answer for DrO ;-)! He seems to be very busy lately though.
Member:
scooter

Posted on Friday, Mar 19, 2010 - 4:15 pm:

George I had VERY VERY good luck with the equirab by intervet... my horses, especially one had a pretty bad reaction to the FD brand.... nothing with the intervet equirab...not even a bump.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Mar 20, 2010 - 9:17 am:

George, that would be a vaccine that was administered subcutaneously instead of deep in the muscle.

As I have noted to Diane many times I still give many hundreds of dosages of the Fort Dodge product every year without significant reaction rates.
DrO
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