SSK has posted before the prevalence of Mini’s to havevaccine sensitivity. Up until recently, as a breeder I simply cautioned andeducated new Mini owners on over vaccination and the possible side effects; simpleinjection site reaction, immune mediated issues to full anaphylaxis. As a VetTech, I have witnessed in the general dog population serious vaccine reactionand one very traumatic death of a Llasa Apso puppy. Last year, a dear friend ofmine lost her Mini within 6 weeks of being vaccinated to auto-immune mediatedanemia; again the result of being over vaccinated. 

As I said above, I have cautioned people on vaccinatingtheir new Mini’s and this past year really began using caution with regards tovaccinating my own dogs. I have simplified my own personal vaccine regime tofollow that of Jean Dodd DVM and have postponed giving Rabies vaccines until aminimum of 6 months, if not older and I never give Rabies in combination withany other vaccine. Even with all my experience, I have never been on thevaccine reaction end, that is, until now. My 10month old Mini Schnauzer wasvaccinated for her Rabies last week. Within 60 seconds she was spinning andsnapping at the injection site. 2-3 minutes into it she was frantically rubbingthe injection site on anything she could as she was unable to reach the sitewith her mouth. At 4-5 minutes she lay down, salivating and snapping her mouthopen and closed in general distress. A quick dose of intramuscular Benadryl(anti-histamine) and she began to feel better.

This puppy girl, prior to that day, had not one issue with herroutine vaccines. On that day, she had a mild to moderate injection sitereaction. Will it be safe to revaccinate her? We plan on a repeat 3 yearsRabies at 1 year. However for safety, she will be pre-medicated withanti-histamines and that will be her final Rabies. Her Veterinarian agreed, ayear booster should give her immunity for life but the risks of any furtherRabies vaccine would outweigh the benefit. With my girls annual vaccineslooming for Distemper, we sure know that her risk of reaction is now higher,and again, this will be her final vaccine for Distemper.

Hopefully, by now, you have heard the risks of overvaccination. And hopefully you understand the “Vet-anomics” of pushing forannual vaccinations. This is the average vet clinics meal ticket to keeping inbusiness and getting people to return to clinic annually for health checks.Without this bread and butter many clinics would go under financially.

I still recommend vaccinating pets, but minimally and withgreat care. I also recommend annual health checks with your Veterinarian, butbeing an owner who feels comfortable saying NO when pushed to vaccinateannually.  And lastly, knowing it can affectyou and your pet adversely, understand and watch for side effects associatedwith vaccinating your dog and take action immediately if you see a problem.