My mare (who always has to be complicated) has had several very strong allergic reactions to vaccinations. It started a few years ago with a Flu/Rhino vaccine, had a mild case of hives but they cleared up without much trouble. Then the next time we did the Flu/Rhino vaccine she had one small hive appear about three hours after the vaccination and was acting a little bit colicky. She was laying in her stall quietly, not thrashing etc. and upon closer inspection I noticed she had more hives. I got her up to walk and not 15 minutes later she was COVERED in giant hives and was clearly distressed. We treated with dex and she was more comfortable a bit later. Hives remained for the next 12 hours and then went away. My vet at that point decided not to do that vaccine anymore and the next we gave her was the rabies vaccine. She had no reaction to that, and we went ahead the next time he was out (about 2 months later) and gave her the EWT/West Nile vaccine and she had another severe reaction, this time it took two rounds of dex to get her comfortable.
She is a horse that has a competitive career and I really want her to be able to get vaccinated so she can be protected. The current advice I have gotten (from different vets) is;
- To not give her any combination vaccines, and vaccinate one at a time.
- To not give her any vaccines except for the absolute necessary ones (which ones do you consider necessary?) my vet is saying rabies and maybe tetanus - what do you think?
- To do the vaccines anyway, and to watch her with an epi pen in hand in case it is needed
I am very, very nervous to vaccinate her again. Any stories/experiences you have about this would be great to hear. We have tried pretreating with banamine and dex also with no success. Another thing that may be worth noting is that she normally starts acting funny anywhere from an hour and a half - three hours post vaccine.
Thanks in advanced.