# Vaccinosis and short-term behavior changes?



## Kris Dow (Jun 15, 2008)

I've just recently started learning more about dog health (beyond care basics) and in particular, I've only just learned about vaccinosis, and now I'm a bit curious about it. (Luckily, our routine vet keeps up to date on things and has been recommending infrequent vaccinations for years, so our dogs haven't suffered.)

In particular, I'm just a bit curious about a situation with my newest dog. I adopted him about a month ago from an animal shelter, and a day or two before I adopted him, they gave him the full whack of vaccinations for EVERYTHING. Given that he's 5 or so and looked in reasonable condition- not starved as if he'd been neglected- it's entirely possible he was already up to date with everything. (I mean, for all I know he'd gotten his scheduled rabies shot two weeks before he ended up at the shelter, you know?)

About a week or so into having him at home, he went through several days of unusual behavior. At the same time, he had a couple of incidents of vomiting/loose stool, which we attributed to shifting him to a new diet. He is generally a very friendly, very tolerant dog, but for those few days he just seemed very repressed/depressed- not to the point that we were concerned, but significant enough that when he improved, it was very noticeable that he'd been behaving oddly (for him). He was also having quite agitated sleep- lots of very active dreaming. He also improved VERY rapidly, basically overnight, back to being much more like the dog I originally met at the shelter.

At the time, as I said, we attributed these things to various aspects of being in a new environment, but I'm just wondering now if in fact it may have been related to the vaccinations. (He seems fine now, so I'm asking mainly for my education for the future.)


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

It's hard to say. In some ways, a little bit of lethargy isn't a bad thing as it shows the immune system has recognized something and is doing something about it. You just don't want too much of a response. Having had a rabies vaccine series myself (we are more or less required to as vet students), I didn't feel real great after mine. My arm was sore for a day or two. I remember I was being trained at the raptor rehab center on a big female red tail hawk and that was kind of an uncomfortable experience with a big bird on your arm. I also felt really sleepy on one of the days (it was a 3 series vaccine). Was he already neutered too? Sometimes they'll do the vaccines and the neuter/spay in close proximity (sometimes on the same day), which in private practice is something I wouldn't encourage but in a shelter situation, you sometimes don't have a choice.

In addition, a lot of dogs will have a "cold" or kennel cough coming out of a shelter situation due to the high amount of stress and be lethargic anyways. I'd say at least 50% of the dogs I've fostered from the shelter have this. I put them on 2000 mg of ester C a day and they usually perk up in a few days with some rest, good diet, and a little bit of light exercise (on leash trail walks). I actually kinda like them like this, as they're not as likely to be a PITA about being crated. :roll: Just watch for signs of pneumonia and no antibiotics are usually necessary for kennel cough type stuff.


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## Jamielee Nelson (Apr 24, 2008)

Maren Bell Jones said:


> In addition, a lot of dogs will have a "cold" or kennel cough coming out of a shelter situation due to the high amount of stress and be lethargic anyways. I'd say at least 50% of the dogs I've fostered from the shelter have this.


'I would say 80% of the dogs my rescue gets from the shelter has KC also. Very very common. [-X

which is one reason why I have all dogs go into a boarding facility for at least a week before I bring them home to be fostered.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Interestingly, I don't vaccinate for bordatella and my dogs haven't gotten kennel cough from any of my fosters. *knocks on wood* Like that wolfy dog thing I had was sneezing all over the place and I put my dogs on vitamin C to make sure, along with the foster. I didn't keep him long enough to find out, but they generally feel better with a few days of R&R and TLC. I can only imagine how stressful constant barking, lots of strangers coming and going, and multiple dogs in a kennel run must be. Do you find the boarding any less stressful than a shelter? I wouldn't think I'd be much better, but I suppose it depends on the boarding kennel.


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## Kris Dow (Jun 15, 2008)

Maren Bell Jones said:


> It's hard to say. In some ways, a little bit of lethargy isn't a bad thing as it shows the immune system has recognized something and is doing something about it. You just don't want too much of a response. Having had a rabies vaccine series myself (we are more or less required to as vet students), I didn't feel real great after mine. My arm was sore for a day or two. I remember I was being trained at the raptor rehab center on a big female red tail hawk and that was kind of an uncomfortable experience with a big bird on your arm. I also felt really sleepy on one of the days (it was a 3 series vaccine). Was he already neutered too? Sometimes they'll do the vaccines and the neuter/spay in close proximity (sometimes on the same day), which in private practice is something I wouldn't encourage but in a shelter situation, you sometimes don't have a choice.
> 
> In addition, a lot of dogs will have a "cold" or kennel cough coming out of a shelter situation due to the high amount of stress and be lethargic anyways. I'd say at least 50% of the dogs I've fostered from the shelter have this. I put them on 2000 mg of ester C a day and they usually perk up in a few days with some rest, good diet, and a little bit of light exercise (on leash trail walks). I actually kinda like them like this, as they're not as likely to be a PITA about being crated. :roll: Just watch for signs of pneumonia and no antibiotics are usually necessary for kennel cough type stuff.


He was neutered when he arrived at the shelter, but he did have to be sedated a day or two after he got his vaccinations so they could remove a skin tag he had, so that probably didn't help matters.

He did seem to be a bit sniffly/coughing when he arrived, but nothing that seemed to be distressing him- come to think of it, that went away once his sleeping improved. (Like I said, for a while his sleeping was REALLY active. Lots of leg twitching and vocalizing in his sleep. Now he does that occasionally, but it's much more along the same lines as what I've seen in previous dogs- a paw twitch or the odd muffled 'woof'.)

Even discounting those few days where he was really subdued and not himself, it is nice to see the gradual progression in his behavior as he gets more familiar with our routines and expectations and feels more comfortable doing things of his own accord, like letting someone know if the water bowl needs a top-up or if he needs to go outside. We've only rescued puppies previously, so I didn't realize how rewarding an older dog with a developed personality could be.


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