Dwarf Mini's adverse reaction to vaccinations

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Little Bit

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I told a lady, who had originally written to me about my *Magic Shoes* for her little dwarf Miniature Horse, that I would post this on here, in hopes that someone would be able to make some suggestions for her wee one, named Hunny.

The vet gave her ALL of her vaccinations at one time!
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I NEVER give any of my horses, large or small, ALL of their vaccinations at once....I spread them out, with a couple weeks in between.

Hunny's adverse reaction to the vaccinations, was not being able to breath well, at all!
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...before this, she was breathing just fine.

I believe it was her vet's suggestion, to give her some Dexamethasone & Neo Synephrine nasal spray, which really did help her to be able to breath better.... she was weaned off the Dex, but still has a horrible time breathing if not given the nasal spray every so often!
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My dwarf Mini, Little Bit, had the same reaction to his vaccinations years ago, but I had always blamed it on the intra-nasal strangles vaccine, that I thought he had probably aspirated into his lungs, because of his cleft pallet....but maybe it wasn't, as if I recall, Hunny was NOT given a strangles vaccination...but I do remember it was NOT the intra-nasal type for sure, don't know if they even give that anymore, couldn't find it in my Jeffer's catalog a minute ago.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else has had an experience like this, or has any suggestions as what to do for this little horse?

Any and all ideas, sure would be appreciated.
 
Honestly, if I wasn't traveling with that horse, and wasn't bringing many horses on/off the property - I would skip the vaccines altogether.

I know some folks who's cats or dogs have had vaccine reactions and they (usually with their vets guidance) choose to not vaccinate any further. Now - some cats/dogs can be given a dose of benadryl prior to vaccinating and do ok.
 
I am wondering if Hunny had hidden respiratory issues anyway - and the vaccinations just made it worse. There may be something underlying the obvious issues... I hope not!

The Benadryl is a good idea.

If she was weaned off the Dex I am hoping that she is slowly making progress.

Our little guy Cowboy has never had a bad reaction - not even with the nasal vaccines. Not even when all vaccinations were done the same day...
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I just got off the phone with Hunny's owner, she's made an appointment with the vets up at Texas A & M for Monday...I was tickled to hear this!
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It's about an 8 hour drive for her, but they will stop at her sister's and stay over night and then drive on in the next morning.


I really doubt that they will suggest any kind of surgery, as I think it has to be swelling of the nasal passages, which were just fine before the vaccinations were given...well, they were normal for Hunny, which may not be normal for a "normal" horse.

I'm glad to hear that little Cowboy does fine with his vaccinations...many of these little ones do!
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I have started giving my cat & dogs their annual vaccinations only every 3 years, as there are many vets that feel that we are over vaccinating our animals, and so do I.
 
I really doubt that they will suggest any kind of surgery, as I think it has to be swelling of the nasal passages, which were just fine before the vaccinations were given...well, they were normal for Hunny, which may not be normal for a "normal" horse.
They may be able to scope her - and see exactly what is going on. I think you are right - there is some kind of swelling and blockage going on there. I am hoping they are able to help her!

Cowboy would send his best wishes - but he is out on the lawn stalking Edgar the barn cat.
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Honny maybe be also experiencing the rebound effect from the nasal spray. It is addictive and causes severe congestion of the nasal passageways when it is stopped. It is best to wean off the nose spray too. Go to one spray a day, then skip a day, then 2 days etc. this allows the tissues to recover. I know been there myself.
 


Honny maybe be also experiencing the rebound effect from the nasal spray. It is addictive and causes severe congestion of the nasal passageways when it is stopped. It is best to wean off the nose spray too. Go to one spray a day, then skip a day, then 2 days etc. this allows the tissues to recover. I know been there myself.

Shelbi has tried to wean little Hunny off of the nasal spray, because she knows it can be adictive, but she has such a hard time breathing if she doesn't get it every 2-3 hours! She said she started getting some bald patches on the top of her back, and thought perhaps it was from the stress of not getting her nasal spray....bless her little heart, I sure hope the vets can help this baby girl breath well.

Cowboy would send his best wishes - but he is out on the lawn stalking Edgar the barn cat.
Well, I can certainly understand that, a boy HAS to get his priorities in order! LOOK OUT EDGAR!
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Be sure to give that boy some extra sugars from his Auntie Nell & the Biscuits...who are in their barn this afternoon with their coolies, getting ready for an afternoon nappie.
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A few years ago, one of my mini mares had a very hard time with her vaccinations. Within a couple hours after the shots, her breath sounded terribly labored unless she stood with her head low to the ground. If she raised it up more than a few inches, she sounded like a freight train. It scared me to death. After an emergency call to the vet, we realized that her neck was so sore from her shots that she couldn't stand to raise her head. The pain when she did lift her head caused her breath to be labored. My poor girl was miserable. The vet gave her a shot of banamine and we kept her medicated for pain for a couple of days. She was fine after that. Every year after that we always spaced her shots out and accompanied them with pain reliever and she has had no further problems. I don't know if it could be something this simple, but I thought I'd mention it just in case. Good luck.
 
Untill Carl Mitz started doing my horses' dental work a few years ago, I had to have a vet work on my horses. I was VERY unhappy with him, but had no other choice at the time...he would NOT touch a horse to work on it's teeth (no matter how small) until he sedated it :arg! ....the dwarf Minis do not do well with sedation and little Tessa, my first dwarf, could hardly breath with the little bit of Damorsedan he would give her, it was souch a small amount, he would draw up about 1 cc of it into the syringe, squirt it back into the bottle, insert the needle into the vein, draw in about a cc of blood, and squirt it back into the vein...(he was just rinsing the syringe out with the blood), and this was enough to make her VERY sleepy and her esophagus relaxt to the point that she would have difficulty breathing until it wore off. I would never leave his clinic until it wore off, as it really scared me....this would happen with all the Biscuits, as well.
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THANK GOODNESS FOR CARL!!!!!!!!
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He is Soooooooo good with the Biscuits, (my dwarf Minis) he has never had to sedate them or ANY of my horses bog or small!
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