New West Nile Shot rejection/side effects!!!!

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MyBarakah

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I got all my show string vaccinated w/ thier yearly vaccines and coggins drawn about 2 weeks ago. Well.... the vet was persistant saying I needed to use the "new" and improved west nile shot. You can not use this on broodmares....

Well..... a few days after I gave the shot, my one yearling sorrel show filly, I noticed one day her ear she was holding back and just kept it laid back and she just didn't seem real energetic and kinda stand offish..... that was just the one time with the ear. But she's acted real stand offish and just not perky as normal, but eats and everything else fine..... just a big more crabbier, since she is not a crabby horse. Well then this morning I went to feed the yearling girls and my 2yr.old filly. When they were moving around to thier feed buckets she did a 360 to move and when she did she almost lost balance and kinda was wobbley in the rear.. She has NEVER done that! That is NOT her!! I have a show in 4 weeks!!

I did the before I left for work give her some banamine..... Then here at noon, I always run home and give everyone a handful of hay as a tide me over til' super time..... she seems ok, but it's pooring rain out so everyone's inside and did not get to see her walk....... She walks fine, I did make her walk out after seeing that this a.m. and she seemed to be ok.

I did call my vet and they called back w/ concern to just watch her and give her banamine..... but it things get worse they will need to see if she did get West Nile from the shot......

UGH!!!!!

Let's just say I will NOT be EVER EVER using the new and improved West Nile shot again..... The new west nile shot is one that you only need to give once a year...... I did also give it to 2 of my open mares.... and they seem to be fine........ I just REALLY think this is a shot that should be given to sr. horses and not YOUNG ones!!

I just HOPE she will come out of it. Even if this is a "suddle" deal with small nurological signs..... I still see it where I am VERY picky and watch everything on my horses and notice any SMALL changes in them and she is NOT being normal. She's WAY too nice of a filly to have this going on with her!! ARH!!!!!!!

Very frustrated! I'm more mad at myself for me to allow myself to let the vet talk me into giving my horses that new shot, which also cost ALLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTT more!!!!!!!!!

I was happy with the other west nile shot and from now on WILL go back to the OLD shot!

I know some horses can have reactions to a shot.... this filly is healthy and been vaccinated before.....

What I wanted to know if anyone else has had a reaction to the "new" west nile shot with thier minis, not the big horses, and what they had to do to get them over it??????

I've got to get back to work, on my "breif" 1/2 hour lunch break, but it is BOTHERING me allot that I just had to come in and post to see if anyone else has run into this before!!???
 
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Is there a test the vet could do to see if she does have West Nile...or would that be messed-up because of the shot?

Most vacines are killed virus', so it shouldn't be possible for her to have contracted it from the shot...perhaps this is something she had before the shots, but was incubating? From what I have always been told by my vet, if a horse is going to show a reaction to a vaccine...it is immediate.

Just throwing some ideas around...please keep us updated on your little one.
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Are you talking about the Prevenile shot? If so, I gave it to my whole her last year with no side effects whatsoever.......did you give other vaccines at the same time? I always do each vaccine separate....so if they do react you know which one they are reacting to.

Sorry you are having the problems, I hope they will all be ok.
 
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I also gave Prevenile to my three. They are all over the age of 3. No reactions here.
 
The vet was at our farm yesterday & gave both our girls their Spring vaccinations which included the one for West Nile .. It effected Sassy almost immediately .. She became very lethargic and started favoring one side .. She also backed away whenever you tried to go near her .. She was not sure footed and favoring one side

A workman at our house yesterday called us last night to check on Sassy because she was laying in the paddock while he was working at our house .. I called the vet right away but of course they were closed already .. She is eating but this morning she is still acting odd .. The vet came out to check her this afternoon & said it was a reaction to the vaccinations .. They gave her banamin & equinox .. Sassy is running a fever & still favoring her right side .. They told us to keep a watch on her for the next day or so & if she wasn’t any better to call them back

Any suggestions as to what else to do .. We are not old hands with horses so we trust the vet to give the correct medication .. Thanks
 
Please call the maker and report it!! Most know a few years ago my entire herd reacted to the all in one west nile/vaccination shot. I did get all my vet bills paid for by fort dodge but it was very scarey. report it!!
 
My mare had a severe reaction to her shot in the fall. So bad we almost lost her. The day of the shot she went off her feed and started running a very high fever. I gave her banamine and bute but nothing seemed to help. After doing this for 2 days the vet finally came out(after repeated calls from me practically begging him to show up) and we gave her IV fluids and a shot of antibiotics. That seemed to help but then gas colic arrived. My mare managed to pull through but needless to say I won't be using that shot ever again. Makes we wonder if we're over vaccinating our horses?
 
We just got all of our spring shots done, not sure what the vet used, she knows and thats what counts. We did 12 horses with a combination shot, a west nile shot and rabies. One horse had a sore hip the next couple of days but not another sign of any distress. I love that my vet does all of the vaccinations in the rear, no sore necks or fevers now.
 
I wonder if its because they are ALL given at the same time?

Which west nile shot did your vet give?

I give 1 shot every 2 weeks.
 
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I wonder if its because they are ALL given at the same time?

Which west nile shot did your vet give?

I give 1 shot every 2 weeks.

I'm not sure which one they you but I will find out so they never use it again .. We almost lost Sassy last year when she aborted but didn't pass the fetus but went septic instead .

Thanks for the wise advice .. I will report it once I find out who the manufacture is.
 
I dont give west nile shot with any other vaccine. Had one almost die from it. Of course the vet said it wasnt the shot oh no coincidence. Went out in the barn as I always check after that shot about 45 minutes later and he was lathered in white sweat couldnt stand up it was awful. Ran him to the vet they didnt think he was going to make it. He came out of it the following day. He was very wobbly. Scary. I hate giving that vaccine.
 
We just had over shots last week and all seems well, we just recently switched vets and our old vet never wanted to give our minis WNV vaccine, he had read in studys that the majority of minis did not tolerate the WNV shot as well as large horses. So we never had given the shot untill this year, I had someone take the horses for me to the vet as I was working and when the vet called to see what all I wanted them to have, I just said the five in one. Well then he called back and asked about WNV, Strangles and Potomac Horse Fever. He said I really recommend you get these additional shots as there seems to be more equine sickness in 2007/2008 then he has seen in the last several years. So we did give the additional shots and knock on wood no reactions!!

I can't remember where I saw it--But seems to me like I have heard of these reactions to the WNV shot, the symtoms are similar to how a horse would act when they have WNV. Being week in the hind qtrs, acting a bit off, stumbing, etc. In most cases the horse was fine, but they recommend you contacting your vet asap. Because in some cases the horse actually had WNV.

Potomac Horse Fever is also one to be very careful with, people believe that this horse sickness is area specific, it isn't it is all over the USA. Sym- Off grain, lose water like bowel movements, fever, week hind qtrs. It can cause a sudden heart attach, drops blood pressure and is very very contatious. Most horses do not make it and if they do they are left with founder and not the same horse they started with.

The reason there are not so many cases reported is because the horse passes so quickly people don't have time to really figure out what happened to the horse. The only way to confirm PHF is through blood work and you have to move very quickly to get IV therapy started and still there is no way of knowing if it will work.

Sorry I am off my soap box--Just very scary stuff and I think more people should know this stuff. My old vet was very hands on and tried to educate me in equines the best he could.
 
Thanks for all the replies.....

Well..... There was 3 shots given at once. They did get the rabies on a seperate day. But the vet feels it's fine to give all 3 shots (he likes to vaccinate for each thing seperate instead of a combo shot). Next year I am going to do the combo shots..... I've used them in the past and just like giving the combo shots better, not so many stinking needles.........

But I did give the WN shot on the opposite side of the neck and then the other 2 went on the other side. And she had no bump no nothing on her neck from any of the shots.....

Oh....... and to test if she would have west nile...... they do like a spinal tap (get spinal fluid!)........ UGH! I could see that go VERY WRONG! And MAJORLY expensieve!!!

I'm going to stick w/ the banamine right now (which I give the liquid and squirt it in the back of the mouth)...

I'll see how she does this evening when I do chores and will take her out in this darn winter like weather "again" we're having!!

Thanks everyone for your comments!! Much appriciated!
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Test for wnv is done via blood sample here--I've had 2 done & both were blood tests, no spinal taps required.
 
Last month, our vet vaccinated about half our horses. (Other half will be done this month with those that require boosters at 4-6 weeks.)

Everybody got two shots:

-- Vac 1 - EWT plus West Nile (This was the first time I've given the West Nile in the combo shot.)

-- Vac 2 - Rabies

Show horses, and horses that will be traveling also got a flu/rhino and intranasal strangles.

Thankfully, I didn't observe anything unusual.

Hopefully, your girl will be feeling better soon.
 
We used Prevenile last year on all ages and had no problems. However, we used it by itself, didn't give any other shots around that time frame. We're going to be using it again this year.
 
Not to stir things up but dont you wonder why they have that vaccine for horses but not for humans????

I had alot of problems with that vaccine when it first came out and I will never give it again.Caused major attitude problems with one of my horses,made another abort. The vet told me it was safe for prego mares.Guess what..No its not.. Anyway, that is one vaccine that will never be given to my horses.I know of someone whose horse got WN anyway even when it was supposed to be protected and died.So I figure that if one of my horses gets it ,it would be just as cheap to buy hyperimmune plasma to give them to treat them .Especially since the shots are so expensive. I love my horses dearly but I think I will just take my chances from now on....
 
Not to stir things up but dont you wonder why they have that vaccine for horses but not for humans????

I had alot of problems with that vaccine when it first came out and I will never give it again.Caused major attitude problems with one of my horses,made another abort. The vet told me it was safe for prego mares.Guess what..No its not.. Anyway, that is one vaccine that will never be given to my horses.I know of someone whose horse got WN anyway even when it was supposed to be protected and died.So I figure that if one of my horses gets it ,it would be just as cheap to buy hyperimmune plasma to give them to treat them .Especially since the shots are so expensive. I love my horses dearly but I think I will just take my chances from now on....
And when you get a flu shot, does that guarantee that you don't get the flu? No. Just like with any vaccine, it makes it less likely that you will get whatever the vaccination is for, but not guarantee it.

Which WNV shot are you talking about??? There are several different versions/technologies. I believe the OP is asking about Prevenile? The original version was by Ft Dodge, then there was the Recombitek, and now Prevenile.
 
I have used West Nile vaccines since they first came on the market.I used Ft Dodge brand for years will no ill effects with any horses including bred mares and young foals.In 2007 I switched to Prevenile made by Intervet here in Delaware.I like the idea of giving only 1 shot for coverage.I gave it to all horses including 2007 foals(done late in the fall) and had no side effects.I plan to use it again this spring. I never give that shot with any other and all shots are spaced out so if there is a reaction I know the culprit.I do use a combination shot for many things since I hate so many needle jabs.Many shots done are butt shots.
 
I trim a herd of 13. 10 of them foundered last summer after the WNV Vaccine. I has scared me. All 10 went into a laminetic episode immediately. I wonder if it was the new one. I will have to ask my client. I do know that it was reported and the manufacteror paid for the vet fees for them.
 

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