Poor Ruby is now recovering from an incident Thursday and Friday that left her in a day of misery.

Ruby was overdue for her Parvo vaccine, so she had a properly administered Invervet DAP 5 vaccine. Ruby was fine that evening, but Jim woke me up before 5 AM, because Ruby was head shaking, swollen up and with hives all over her body (her fur looked ripply like a toad's skin.) She was rolling in dirt, to stop the itching, and I could hear her out shaking her head from the discomfort outside the house from my desk.

I was ready to charge out and take her to the vet, but after doing research on line, I found out she was having a classic urticarial reaction to a vaccination (click the link for more details, and videos of a dog experiencing the same reaction as Ruby did), and the recommended treatment was administration of Benadryl. Fortunately, I always keep a supply around the house, as I have never had an animal which could resist eating any bee or wasp they could catch.

I had to carry her up the stairs from the yard, but a few hours after the Benadryl, you can see that she was beginning to take on a more relaxed position and began to sleep normally.

We assume she was awake all night feeling miserable.

I was able to get real veterinary advice from friends in California later in the morning. Ruby's reaction was indeed a classic anaphylactic allergic reaction, usually caused by a Leptospirosis vaccine and Benadryl was the treatment recommended. However, Leptospirosis was not one of the diseases in the Progard-5, which includes Distemper, Adenovirus Type 2, Parainfluenza and Parvo.

Could Intervet be saving pennies by making just the multiple vaccine and selling a 7 in one as a 4 in one? Sounds farfetched, but that's how things work in the big brewing industry - Coors wants a piece of the low-end market, and when my brother and I toured their brewery, they had a big presentation at the canning and bottling line - It was incredibly more cost effective for them to take name brand Coors products, and put them in corresponding Keystone cans. I have not seen the issue addressed on line with respect to multipurpose vaccines.

Now there is a strong push for 3 year instead of annual vaccines for other diseases than just rabies. This will reduce exposure to potential allergens for our pets.   mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Ruby is now back to normal and fully capable of blackmailing for treats once again.

Update 01/09: What I have found is that the suspension that the manufacturer puts the actual vaccine in, called "adjuvant," is the most likely culprit. Our new vet, Dr. Ted Pittman from Noah's Ark Mobile, gives a dipenhydramine injection with every vaccination.

If one in 100 dogs has a reaction, and he does 300 dogs per month, why risk 3 dogs. Since Ruby has had one vaccine and reaction, her chances of another is increased a hundred fold. So it works for me to not have to administer 75 mg of Benadryl and let the vet do it.

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