Vaccinations

[Debbie59]

My granddaughter recently purchased her first horse ... 14mth old Andalusian.
He was fully vetted before hand, having bloods taken too and was given a good bill of health.
The first week of having him, he had to start his vaccination programme.
( He had previously had his initial vaccine but time had lapsed between his first and second one, so had to start them again)
So the first week of having him, he was given a flu/tet vaccine ...Protect or Protet (Not sure if I have spelt that right)
The next day, he appeared to struggle to lower his head but by the evening of the same day, he seemed ok and was able to lower his head and eat
Twenty one days later, he had his second vaccination!!
Now he was absolutely fine the morning of the vaccine.
The vet came, listened to his chest, his breathing, as she did with his first one, he was vaccinated and turned out shortly afterwards...all seemed fine, however 4-5 hours later, he was a very poor boy
High temp, high respiratory rate, sweating, transferring his weight on all fours, not interested in his food, laying down, getting up and clearly not well.
The vet was called and an anti inflammatory was given.
He picked up a little and started to pick at his hay.
My daughter and granddaughter spent a long time with him that evening and left him at 10.30pm as he seemed slightly more comfortable but they were obviously still concerned about him.
They returned to the yard the next morning at 6.30am to find him clearly not well again and the emergency vet was called.
Again, high temp, high respiratory rate.
Cut a long story short, he ended up going to The Newmarket Hospital, in intensive care, for a week (thank goodness for horse insurance )where they said he was a very sick horse!!!
Every test imaginable was run on him but they couldn't find anything conclusive wrong with him, other than he had a slight thickening of his intestine and needed to be wormed ( which has now been addressed)
I am, as are my daughter and granddaughter convinced he had a severe reaction to the vaccine although the vets beg to differ!!
Up until he was vaccinated he had been an absolute joy.
Full of life, loved his food, typical baby, inquisitive, bright and subsequently given a clean bill of health on his vetting only a few weeks previously.
He is doing ok now but feel we were really lucky as it has just, this weekend, come to our attention that a friend of ours, friend had her mare vaccinated with Protet ( yearly booster) and within 5 hours died.
Really unsure about our boy having his next one, which is due in 6 months time.
Has anybody else experienced any adverse reactions from the vaccination with their horses?

 

[doodle]

Robin reacts each time but not to that extent. He gets swollen and needs Danilon for a week. The first reaction the vaccine manufacturers paid for the treatment. A friend has a horse who reacts badly and can only get 1/10 of the dose.

 

[Debbie59]

Robin reacts each time but not to that extent. He gets swollen and needs Danilon for a week. The first reaction the vaccine manufacturers paid for the treatment. A friend has a horse who reacts badly and can only get 1/10 of the dose.

 

[Melody Grey]

Try searching the forum / google with horse hound forum in the title OP- I seem to remember there being similar threads on here in the past?

 

[Debbie59]

We spoke with the breeder of Zeus, that's his name and she informed us that his stallion had a severe reaction too!
He was vaccinated with Protet, in the chest and ended up having an abscess that cost a small fortune to treat.
When he was due his next yearly booster, the breeder spoke of her concerns only to be told that he would be alright and the same thing happened again...its not good.
But thank you for your reply as need to get as much info as possible as really concerned about him having it again and every bit of advice is greatly appreciated

 

[iknowmyvalue]

Might be worth asking if you can try a different brand of vaccine for the next one? It doesn’t make a difference to every horse, but sometimes it can help.

 

[Debbie59]

Might be worth asking if you can try a different brand of vaccine for the next one? It doesn’t make a difference to every horse, but sometimes it can help.

 

[Debbie59]

Yes, thank you. My granddaughter spoke with the vet today and they said there is an alternative.

 

[Debbie59]

Robin reacts each time but not to that extent. He gets swollen and needs Danilon for a week. The first reaction the vaccine manufacturers paid for the treatment. A friend has a horse who reacts badly and can only get 1/10 of the dose.

 

[Debbie59]

Sorry, but what is Danilon? And how did it become apparent that he had actually had reaction from the vaccine.
We have spoken to the vets at some length and they are of the opinion that what Zeus suffered was not vaccination related even though they couldn't find anything major wrong with him.
For me, it's too much of a coincidence.
He was absolutely fine but within 4-5 hours of being vaccinated he was a different boy
They lady whose horse sadly died within 5 hours of being vaccinated wasn't billed by the vets, and they paid for disposal and cremation so sad

 

[SEL]

Danilon is an anti inflammatory like ibuprofen. It's pretty common to have an injection site reaction and many horses get injected in their bottoms to avoid neck swelling. Abscesses can form if bacteria accidentally gets injected because the skin isn't 100% clean.

Those of us who know their horse can react will often give danilon to ward off swellings. I took nurofen myself after this year's flu jab because my arm was so sore!

The problem you have with a youngster is they really do need to be innoculated against tetanus because it kills. I might take the risk on flu but not tetanus. I'd say a chat with the vet is in order before his final booster to see what they can do to support his system.

 

[scats]

I had a pony who had a severe reaction to a flu vaccination. His temperature shot up, he was shaking and started to collapse. It took 5 of us to hold him up. Vet came back and his temp was sky high.
It took him a week to recover and we never gave him that brand of vaccine again.

 

[Debbie59]

Danilon is an anti inflammatory like ibuprofen. It's pretty common to have an injection site reaction and many horses get injected in their bottoms to avoid neck swelling. Abscesses can form if bacteria accidentally gets injected because the skin isn't 100% clean.

Those of us who know their horse can react will often give danilon to ward off swellings. I took nurofen myself after this year's flu jab because my arm was so sore!

The problem you have with a youngster is they really do need to be innoculated against tetanus because it kills. I might take the risk on flu but not tetanus. I'd say a chat with the vet is in order before his final booster to see what they can do to support his system.

Thank

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Definitely change your vaccine. My cousin had a severe reaction to an anti-tet and was rushed to hospital. He was very ill for a while and was told never to have a tet jab again.

 

[Debbie59]

Thank you

 

[ihatework]

It’s very very rare but yes a tiny minority of horses do have a severe reaction to an injection.
If nothing else was found at the vets I’m surprised they dismissed the possibility completely, although we are obviously only hearing one side of the story.
If it were me I’d be reporting the suspected reaction directly to the vaccine producer

 

[Debbie59]

It’s very very rare but yes a tiny minority of horses do have a severe reaction to an injection.
If nothing else was found at the vets I’m surprised they dismissed the possibility completely, although we are obviously only hearing one side of the story.
If it were me I’d be reporting the suspected reaction directly to the vaccine producer

 

[Debbie59]

It’s very very rare but yes a tiny minority of horses do have a severe reaction to an injection.
If nothing else was found at the vets I’m surprised they dismissed the possibility completely, although we are obviously only hearing one side of the story.
If it were me I’d be reporting the suspected reaction directly to the vaccine producer

 

[Debbie59]

Yes, whilst hundreds, thousands are vaccinated and may experience minor reactions, I believe there is a very small percentage that may have a severe reaction like our boy but when it's your horse, well it causes great concern and getting it proven to be the vaccine is near on impossible. When I mentioned to the vet that I was convinced he has had a reaction from the vaccine and that I was very reluctant to have him vaccinated again, her answer was ...." well this is the thing". This really tells me all I need to know. Maybe it's time to contact the manufacturer. Thank you

 

[Maesto's Girl]

My mare cannot be vaccinated in the neck. If she is, she actually cannot drop her head to eat and she looks sedated. It's awful and she is super poorly for several days. She has to be hand fed to ensure she can eat

She is now vaccinated in her hindquarters and no reaction at all.

So sorry you went through that

 

[Debbie59]

Thank you.
Spoke at great length only yesterday about the whole ordeal as I am considering contacting the manufacturer but was told that our vet have already contacted them on our behalf and are obligated to do so ( if a horse has an adverse reaction to the vaccine ) but in the same breath, they say it wasn't the vaccine that caused him to be so poorly.
I look at it like this, if he hadn't had the vaccine that day, he wouldn't have gone through all he did.
Basically what they have said is, the vaccination played a part because his immune system was challenged when he had the vaccine and he probably...probably had some underlying viral infection.
My argument is, if your horse is showing no signs of being ill, poorly, off colour and was examined before the vaccine was administered, we can only all assume our horses are fit and well.
It seems to me that by having the vaccine, it's this that will tell you if your horse has any underlying things going on, as the immune system will become challenged, causing them to become unwell and poorly
Nothing will convince me that it wasn't the vaccine that caused him to be so sick. I truly believe he had an adverse reaction to it
All the became apparent whilst he was at the hospital was that he had some thickening of his intestine and even then, they said this could be because of what was wrong with him at the time.
The was nothing wrong with him at all.
They found nothing else wrong with him and he was scoped, scanned, bloods taken, you name it...£5,000 the bill.
He had it all and basically found nothing and even the thickening of his intestines, they have said, wouldn't have caused him to be so poorly.
He is due his next vaccine end of March, beginning of April...dreading it
We spoke about alternatives and we're possibly going to go with one of them but as for the Protecq...it's a no.

 

[paddy555]

I look at it like this, if he hadn't had the vaccine that day, he wouldn't have gone through all he did.
Basically what they have said is, the vaccination played a part because his immune system was challenged when he had the vaccine and he probably...probably had some underlying viral infection.
My argument is, if your horse is showing no signs of being ill, poorly, off colour and was examined before the vaccine was administered, we can only all assume our horses are fit and well.
It seems to me that by having the vaccine, it's this that will tell you if your horse has any underlying things going on, as the immune system will become challenged, causing them to become unwell and poorly

it does seem to be a considerable coincidence that this should happen to a horse that had been vetted on purchase and is supposed to be healthy. I agree with your paras above. I simply don't know how you are supposed to know if the horse (or human)who appears 100% healthy is going to be so challenged by a simple vaccination.

If this was my horse then no way would I vaccinate him again for flu/tet. even with alternatives. I would do tetanus on it's own but that would be it. Flu needs frequent boosters and I wouldn't take the risk, let alone the worry to my family. If the horse had to be vaccinated as part of the livery terms I would move.

I appreciate that advice won't be popular on here, people are very keen on flu vaccines.

 

[Nudibranch]

Unfortunately whether people are keen on flu vaccinations or not, they are a requirement for pretty much anything competitive or organised these days. No easy answers if they can't be given.

 

[PurBee]

My pregnant mare a few weeks before delivery, was seen by a vet, as i asked for tet vaccine for her/the foal.

He checked her over, said she’s doing great, gave her a jab, and then said to me ‘thats flu and tetanus in 1‘.

I thought nothing of it, except being narked he gave her something other than what i asked for, without asking me first.

That evening she was shivering, low food consumption etc. Coughing started and weeping eyes followed in the days after.
It didn’t agree with her, and i can understand how some others might have a very bad reaction.

Report it to the manufacturer is all you can do, giving symptomology and send them that 5k bill to settle your troubles. They have a shush fund for these types of cases.

 

[doodle]

I am seriously considering giving Robin tet only now. Doubtful he will be out and about again and a week of Danilon and swelling seems a lot. I am not sure yo will agree tho.

 

[DabDab]

I have a friend who's horse reacted severely to a flu-tet vaccine when she was a youngster, and like yours ended up in intensive care twice (after each of the vaccines), very very poorly. Her vet had no reservations about saying that they were fairly sure it was an unusual vaccine reaction that caused it and offered her a variety of options (different brands etc) for the future. My friend was understandably terrified of trying anything again, but in the end went with just a tet vaccine, which was fine.
She's been too scared to try again with any flu vaccine since, which is a little frustrating for her as she would love to compete the horse, but she would rather that than to risk it.

 

[Equi]

You can get tetanus and flu separately but if you do make sure they are not given at the same time cause then you are back to not knowing what he is reacting to.

 

[ester]

It's not unusual for manufacturers to pay for treatment as a result of a reaction, if the vets have reported it as you say. It is certainly something I would follow up.

 

[ester]

You can get tetanus and flu separately but if you do make sure they are not given at the same time cause then you are back to not knowing what he is reacting to.

This was second jab 21 days after the first if I read correctly so likely it would have been proteq flu only (flu+tet on first jab)

 

[paddy555]

Unfortunately whether people are keen on flu vaccinations or not, they are a requirement for pretty much anything competitive or organised these days. No easy answers if they can't be given.

risk the horse in intensive care or don't go. Not a difficult choice.