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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
  
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | I gave the west nile, tetnus and Enceph vaccine 3 days ago to 7 horses. 2 had swelling on their necks the next day and one of those had really bad swelling. Both are tender and sore. Vet said Banamine and DMSO on the area and 2 days later no better. Should I be worried? He said it can happen but in all my 30 some yrs I have never seen or had a horse of my own swell or have a bad reaction. This bottle was not old/expired, and I used 3 doses last summer with no effects. I don't believe the vaccine was bad and each horse got a new needle. Opinions? I'm worried but vet is not. I may still take them in Monday if I don't see improvement. |
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Expert
Posts: 3514
 
| Sounds like they may be trying to abcess. If you can get a warm washcloth or towel hold it on the swelling. That will draw out an abcess. |
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Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | readytorodeo - 2014-04-18 9:08 PM Sounds like they may be trying to abcess. If you can get a warm washcloth or towel hold it on the swelling. That will draw out an abcess.
For how long and what would cause this? After doing some googling it sounds quite common, but I've heard stories just never experienced it. |
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I'll Be Your Huckleberry
Posts: 1488
Location: Arizona | My mare had the same thing happen to her after a tetanus shot I believe. It was swollen to about the size of a baseball, very tender, and she didn't even want to turn her head to the side. It was not abscessed. Just a reaction I guess. My vet told me to watch it closely just in case it was an abscess but it subsided completely after about 7-10 days. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1767
Location: California | My mare swells so bad I have to plan to not ride her for at least a week. I also don't give them in the neck because it swells so much. She gets them in her butt. She is swollen and very sore for 3-4 days, although since giving it in her butt I notice the swelling goes away a little faster than when given in the neck. Probably because she walks around on the leg that's swollen and helps push it out of there. I have thought about not vaccinating her but I board and do travel with her so I don't like to not vaccinate and have her in contact with so many horses. |
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Common Sense and then some
Location: So. California | We had one gelding that always had a reaction during vaccinating. Figured out that if we gave Bute before and for the next day or two after, and that helped quite a bit. You can always cold water hose the area as well. |
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 It Goes On
Posts: 2262
Location: Muskogee, OK | wyoming barrel racer - 2014-04-18 10:00 PM I gave the west nile, tetnus and Enceph vaccine 3 days ago to 7 horses. 2 had swelling on their necks the next day and one of those had really bad swelling. Both are tender and sore. Vet said Banamine and DMSO on the area and 2 days later no better. Should I be worried? He said it can happen but in all my 30 some yrs I have never seen or had a horse of my own swell or have a bad reaction. This bottle was not old/expired, and I used 3 doses last summer with no effects. I don't believe the vaccine was bad and each horse got a new needle. Opinions? I'm worried but vet is not. I may still take them in Monday if I don't see improvement.
So the 3 doses last summer came from the same bottle? Was it refridgerated since then (if it was refridgerated--was it kept super cold, possibly enough for it to freeze)? Being that multiple horses are affected it definitely sounds like a vaccine issue--whether it be that it was contaminated, not stored properly, etc.
Hopefully it is just some inflammation that will subside over the next few days. Be sure to keep us posted on how they are doing! |
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Expert
Posts: 3514
| Some horses have reactions to shots just like humans. I had a mare that would swell every time we injected her hocks. We started giving her Dex. Which helped. It is probably the west Nile that she had a reaction to. I wouldn't ride her till it goes down. I would still try the warm towels held on it. |
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Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | It was bought from a vet so should have been handled properly (vs getting them shipped from Valley Vet etc) and yes it was kept in the fridge and never frozen. It is strange that out of 7 horses only 2 had issues though so I don't think it was bad vaccine. And neither of the 3 horses I gave it too last yr had issues and neither of the ones that had the issues this yr have ever had it in the past. It is really surprising I guess. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2457
| My finished mare does this every year.
The vet gives all her shots at once and the WNV usually swells and I just plan to not ride her for a week. This year she literally RAN from us in the pasture when I went to catch her and just look at the injection sites. Do watch the swelling and a warm compress will help some if they'll let you touch it.
Some horses will have a stronger reaction to vaccines than others. It's not bad unless you get severe swelling that may abscess. The swelling in general means that the immune system is being primed really well - and that's a good thing. :)
Just watch it - warm compresses will help but also know that if you take them to the vet, it will just be supportive therapy that they are gonna do, ie. pain killers, anti-inflammatories, and the like.
Good Luck! You are on top of it and being a great horse owner!! |
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