Rabies Vaccination Reaction

[Maya]

Maya had her rabies vaccination nearly two weeks ago, it is a necessary vaccine for her to be able to get her passport and show overseas which we are hoping to do with her in the future. Anyway, she had a bad reaction to the injection immediately and scratched at the area constantly for the first couple of days :rolleyes: She finally stopped scratching at it, but it has left a fairly large lump right between her shoulder blades. At first I just put it down to a mild reaction as I know basenji's are sensitive, but its still there now. Its about the size of a grape and fairly hard, it moves about under the skin though The vet came out to the horse a couple of days ago and I mentioned it to him, he didnt seem overly concerned, just said to bring her back if it doesnt go down in another week, but he hasnt had much experience with basenjis, Maya being the only one they've had So thought i'd ask on here for any opinions.

She has never had a reaction to her normal vaccinations and boosters, was microchipped with no problems and doesnt seem to be in any discomfort in the area the lump is now.

Anyone had this before? Did it just go away on its own?

[tanza]

Happens lots…. my OJ and Maggii always had a "lump" after... usually took 3 to 4 weeks to go away.... Try not to "worry"....

[Terry]

Happened to one of our boys - even the hair came off. As Pat says, the lump did eventually go away, but the hair never did grow back properly.

Terry

[sinbaje]

It is not uncommon, particularly with killed vaccines containing reactive adjuvants (usually mercury additives to stimulate the immune system) to get a lump afterwards.; they are usually made up of inflammatory cells and scar tissue. I suggest finding a thermisol free (mercury free) rabies vaccine if possible for future injections. They can still get a small lump but not usually.

Generally the lump reduces in size over 2-6 weeks but can stay the same for years while most disappear.

You should worry only if it continues to get larger (esp. after a long stretch when it stayed one size) or if it becomes red and painful (rarely bacteria can be introduced or pushed through the skin via the needle causing an abscess) and Maya seems off.

[lisastewart]

Mine still have a lump going on week 4 now but otherwise nothing o worry about. My whippets get a lump for 4 to 6 weeks after theirs. I had one dog get a distemper reaction
Once, his head swelled up, took him
Back to the vet for another shot to get the swelling down and used over the counter meds too

[deschroedter]

My vet makes sure we massage it right after for about 6 to 8 minutes to help spread it around, but a couple of ours always got a bump, some took a couple of months to go away, we just kept massaging it everytime they sat or laid beside us. Some are more sensitive than others.

[sharronhurlbut]

Oh, I must have been very lucky..my b's have not had this happen.

[Kipawa]

Kipawa had this happen with one of his shots. It took about 2 months to go away, and started to really reduce in size with massage. The area is perfectly fine now - you'd never know anything odd had been there.