First of all welcome!! We love pictures and would love to see your little fella. We all think of our little ones as our babies as you think of yours, and personally I would feel EXACTLY as you do! If you don't mind, I'm going to tell you what I would do if he were mine. Thankfully you have already been told by your county they will accept the medical exemption. I would fight like crazy for that!! He would NEVER have that shot again! I would explain that to my vet, explain to my vet that I never want him to have that shot again, and to please give me the necessary paperwork for exemption. If your vet won't do that find a vet that will. Also, I would find a vet that titers. Truthfully, once your dog has had his puppy shots (which the number of shots that are given to puppies is too many) he should be immune. It is not cumulative--they are either immune or not. Titers tell you that. To continue annual vaccinations when they are already immune is just setting your dog up for a great possibility for the many side effects that come with over-vaccination. Also, I personally don't think a dog needs to be vaccinated against anything but distemper or parvo and only if titers show they have no immunities. Bordatella and Lepto both do not cover the many strains of each disease nor do they even last a full year. Now I think they even have a flu shot for a dog. This is just my opinion based on the studying I have done on vaccinations. We had a Maltese once. She died in June just before she would have turned 5 years old in August. She had her annual vaccinations in late April before she died in early June. I believe with all my heart her vaccination killed her, but I have no proof. Of course, her vet at the time would never tie her death to vaccinations, but he also could not tell me why she died. Since then I have studied and learned a lot and found this wonderful forum with many knowledgeable people. You do what you feel is comfortable with your dog that trusts you for his well being!
Hi! I'm new and I need suggestions please! Thx!
Hi! I actually joined this group specifically because of this question, has anyone had problems with vaccines and their chi's? I have a chi, male, almost 2 yrs about 4/5 lbs. He has been given his puppy shots and also I had them give him the bordatella one too ( he came from a farm with lots and lots of other doggies). The first vet visit went great and year passed. He was due for another rabies shot and the Dhhp one and if I wanted I could also get the bordatella one too. I opted to only do rabies and save the Dhhp for a visit in a month and not do the kennel cough one because it's just him and I never board him. (Can't go a night without the little guy!) he ended up having a really severe allergic reaction to the rabies shot. I had never ever heard of this! I immediately rushed him to the pet er where they gave him Medicine to stop the reaction and hooked him up to an IV. I looked it up and they say it might be because there is no distinction of amount of vaccine given against the size of the dog and his immune system doesn't like the dosage. I've been working with the county I live in to apply for medical exemption since rabies is a shot forced by law under my license. I didn't bring him back for the Dhhp because I was scared and didn't want him to swell up and cry. (He couldn't walk and he whimpered, his face was so swollen that his little eyes didn't poke out like usual, it was just one big swollen mass, cheeks too) does any one have advice? Am I crazy to not want him to have vaccines if they could potentially hurt him? He is an inside doggy and pad trained. He hates nature ( I do try to take him for walks but I end up picking him up and snuggling because he is so scared of everything that's bigger than him which is pretty much every thing) he's pretty much a couch potato snuggle machine and that's about it. So I think the odds of rabies are slim as opposed to the odds of another allergic reaction? Please be gentle with your comments, I love my little guy like he's my baby (it's just me and him in my household and yes I even have a car seat for him. ) but he's my first dog and my first chihuahua and now I don't know what to do. My vet doesn't offer titers. The county said as long as the vet gives official documentation they are ok with exempting him. My vet just wants me to pre dose 24 hr prior with children's Benadryl then drop him off for 24-48 hours and they will give him the shot and monitor him. I kinda don't want to take the chance of another reaction though? Like if I had a human kid they would just exempt them from it? Not predose and overnight stay? Sorry it's a lot! Any advice would help! Thank you!
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I agree with Tina! I feel terrible this happened to you. This happened to my friends chi. On her last rabies vaccine her face swelled up so badly, and now one year later the skin around her mouth droops. I wouldn't do rabies again if I were you. Instead maybe fight for the exemption or titer. My vet does titer inexpensively. I hope your baby starts feeling better soon. There are so many people in here with loads of advice for any other concerns you may have. Goodluck! And welcome to the forum.
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I also agree with Tina. Titers is a simple blood test that will tell you if he's immune or not and if there is still any of the vacination left.
Hi, welcome to the forum. I am so sorry you have had this horrible experience with your little man. I am nowhere near as knowledgeable as other members on vaccination regimes so will decline to comment apart from I do not vaccinate yearly and will be getting titers for my dogs in the future, this decision has been made with help from this forum and all the great advice I've been given here 
Thank you! The vet(s) that I talked to (several in my area, several I contacted asking what I could do the next time he legally needs to have another rabies shot) made me feel like a bad owner for not wanting to vaccinate further, or step back and weigh the consequences. The ammount of pain my little guy was in was unbearable, I was a mess and even took work off and had him babysat while I was at work for the week until he started looking/acting normal. He has other allergies and I feed him only limited ingredient/grain free food, and am looking into possibly making my own. Vaccines scare me but I thought I was being responsible (legally too) but I feel like the vets I spoke to didn't really care? And made it less of a deal, but in my head I was like if this was a kid and they reacted to a vaccine in a such a manner, they would never ever receive it again? What about anaphylactic shock? And the more you expose yourself to an allergen potentially the more severe your reaction can become? The dog owners I do know have never heard of this and said to do what the vet said. So thank you for being understanding and not jumping on the just vaccine wagon. I'm glad I found this forum, and thank you for taking the time to respond. I will have to keep looking for another vet that will either titer or be open to listening to me as to why I don't want him to get that shot ever again ( or hopefully both). To anyone else who reads this I'm not anti-vaccine. They are important and have saved many life's, however I do feel there are missing laws specifically for the safety of animals. It really dumbfounded me when I read up that the ammount my 4/5lb dog was given is the same amount a Great Dane would receive. Every single time. By law. That's not how human vaccines are regulated? They go by weight/age? Also, no one I had talked to ever agreed with not further vaccinating, so I thought maybe I was crazy and this is just what it is. Good to know there are like minded people and I will 100% research anything and everything my little guy gets (vacs, meds,food... Etc) and continue the hunt for a like minded vet. Thank you again.
Angel just got his shots on Monday. I did rabies and Lyme. I, too was disappointed and dumbfounded when I learned that they don't dose by dogs weight! She said I could opt out of all shots but rabies, but recommended the Lyme! They don't do titers. Luckily, Angel is a tough chi! He weighs 8.5 lbs and is really strong! He didn't even get sore or sleepy after his shots! in years past, all of my dogs would whimper if touched where they got their shot!
I hope you don't have to go through it again!
in years past, all of my dogs would whimper if touched where they got their shot! I hope you don't have to go through it again!
My Mini has such severe vaccine allergies that she can no longer receive any injectable vaccines. The last round we gave her induced such a severe reaction that the medications used to stop it almost didn't work. (And this was after we had pre-medicated her to prevent a reaction!) After that, my vet said that's enough! He wrote us out a rabies waiver certificate. Generally with the waiver you still have to buy the rabies tag each year, but you can't be forced to actually give the vaccine.
And it is true that once a dog reacts to one vaccine, they will almost always react to ALL vaccines. It's not the vaccine itself that they're allergic to though, it's the solution that's mixed with the disease being given. So it's very likely your pup will now be allergic to all injectable vaccines.
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And it is true that once a dog reacts to one vaccine, they will almost always react to ALL vaccines. It's not the vaccine itself that they're allergic to though, it's the solution that's mixed with the disease being given. So it's very likely your pup will now be allergic to all injectable vaccines.
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I'm sorry you got that response from all the vets you called. If you can find a holistic vet in your area, they will titer, and they will definitely not give you any trouble giving you an exemption letter nor will they push unnecessary vaccinations. Like you I am not against immunizing. I am against unnecessary vaccinations. I choose to believe that the majority of vets believe and respond the way they did to you--pushing the vaccines--because it is just so engrained in them from schooling and years of practice and a history of vaccine protocol developed by the AAHA that they don't want to question. I really hate to think it's as awful as vets and the AAHA are aware of the potential side effects of these unnecessary annual vaccinations and continue them simply for a paycheck at the expense of animals' lives just because they can. That just seems too horrible for ones mind to "wrap around." I understand I am very new at learning a very different way of caring for my animals, but I guess I think if I can figure this out why can't a vet with much more knowledge already at his disposal? Titers! Titer your dogs and cats, and if they still have the immunities they should have--no vaccine.
BTW, the AAVA is the one who set up the annual vaccination protocol years ago--I believe it was first begun in the early 70s. Dr. Ron Schultz has done much research over many years to show that dogs and cats do not lose their immunity every year thus needing these annual vaccinations. His research shows at a minimum the immunities last 5-7 years and possibly for the lifetime of the dog or cat from their initial puppy/kitten shots. In 2011 the AAHA changed their stance to every 3 years on vaccinations after initial puppy/kitten shots with the exception of the rabies which has to follow the law of each individual state. BUT it is still marked on the boxes that the vaccines come in that it is up to the vet to decided how to distribute. In other words, if your vet so chooses to continue to give annual vaccinations even though the AAVA has said it is not necessary, ask yourself why?
The Best Part About the New Dog Vaccination Guidelines
Also, in an article in Dog's Naturally Magazine it states that the AAVA uses Dr. Shultze research and is very aware of his findings that immunities last at least 5 to 7 years if not the life of the pet, but the 3 year number they chose is arbitrary.
In the word of Jan...now down off my soapbox. LOL
BTW, the AAVA is the one who set up the annual vaccination protocol years ago--I believe it was first begun in the early 70s. Dr. Ron Schultz has done much research over many years to show that dogs and cats do not lose their immunity every year thus needing these annual vaccinations. His research shows at a minimum the immunities last 5-7 years and possibly for the lifetime of the dog or cat from their initial puppy/kitten shots. In 2011 the AAHA changed their stance to every 3 years on vaccinations after initial puppy/kitten shots with the exception of the rabies which has to follow the law of each individual state. BUT it is still marked on the boxes that the vaccines come in that it is up to the vet to decided how to distribute. In other words, if your vet so chooses to continue to give annual vaccinations even though the AAVA has said it is not necessary, ask yourself why?
The Best Part About the New Dog Vaccination Guidelines
Also, in an article in Dog's Naturally Magazine it states that the AAVA uses Dr. Shultze research and is very aware of his findings that immunities last at least 5 to 7 years if not the life of the pet, but the 3 year number they chose is arbitrary.
In the word of Jan...now down off my soapbox. LOL
I would speak to your local animal control SPCA to see what they say. In VA we have a medical exemption but it does not look like MN does.
RABIES LAWS IN THE UNITED STATES as of 6/16/10
Medical Exemptions From Rabies Shots | Truth4Dogs
RABIES LAWS IN THE UNITED STATES as of 6/16/10
Medical Exemptions From Rabies Shots | Truth4Dogs
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