Over the course of a dog's lifetime, it's given numerous vaccines to prevent becoming infected with fatal diseases and viruses like rabies and Lyme disease. Some of these vaccines are required by law, as is the case with the rabies vaccine, others are recommended to dog owners as a precautionary measure, especially for dogs in contact with other dogs. Yet not all dogs process vaccines the same way. In rare circumstances, a vaccine can cause an adverse reaction, including seizures.
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Canine Vaccinosis
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Canine vaccinosis is the medical term for dogs that have adverse reactions from vaccines. Canine vaccinosis usually occurs soon after the shot is administered within a few minutes or hours following the shot. It's essentially an allergic reaction with symptoms consisting of pain at or near the site of the injection, fever, swelling, vomiting and seizures. Other symptoms may include paw licking, itchiness and altered behavior. Although infrequent, death is possible.
Research
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Dogchannel.com claims that sufficient research is lacking on the exact cause of canine vaccinosis mainly due to resource limitations. Therefore, veterinarians can only speculate on the cause based on patient history, shared information between veterinarians and human study. No concrete evidence exists on whether vaccines cause seizures and/or other harmful side effects or if these side effects are related to something else.
Perceived Cause
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Conventional veterinarians believe a vaccine doesn't necessarily cause a reaction. It's their opinion that a vaccine activates an undiagnosed medical condition in the dog. Based on this theory, a dog with undiagnosed epilepsy---a disease causing seizures---may begin seizing soon after the vaccine is given.
Weakened Immune System
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Veterinarians administer vaccines to dogs usually at least once a year, depending on a dog's vaccination schedule. Although the vaccine is meant to strengthen a dog's immune system, some holistic veterinarians feel vaccines have the opposite effect possibly weakening a dog's immune system overtime. In their opinion, as the dog's immune system weakens, the risk of a dog contracting an immune-related disorder, including epilepsy increases.
Recommended Solution
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Holistic veterinarians recommend spreading out a dog's vaccination schedule to lessen the risk of reaction. They also suggest using a killed vaccine, instead of a live one to limit possible side effects.
Boston-terriers.com suggests to avoid over-vaccinating your dog and not to use vaccines with the chemical, Lepto. Since certain dog breeds like Boston terriers are genetically predisposed to seizures, care should be given when developing a vaccination schedule and preparing vaccines to diminish the risk of seizures.
An exam also should be performed by your veterinarian to ensure the dog is healthy before any vaccine is administered. If your dog suffers from an immune-related disorder like epilepsy or has a history of seizures, discuss vaccination options with your veterinarian.
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