# lump on hip after rabies shot



## Kayla_Nicole (Dec 19, 2012)

Alannah has a lump on her hip that feels hard near her rabies shot injection. She had her booster about 2 weeks ago. I just noticed the lump this week. Could it take 2 weeks for a reaction at the injection site to show up? How common is this? I'm thinking it's relatively common considering I did one google search and came up with tons of people who see the same issue. 

Rabies and other vaccine reactions are relatively common in Wheatens, which is why we titer test instead. I did the rabies booster though because it's required in our state. But if this is really a reaction of some type, I want to look into getting her an exemption from the shot.


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## dogsule (Nov 6, 2013)

It is common (the lump) and I doubt that a rabies vaccine that causes a lump without further symptoms would get you a waiver. Those are for dogs that have severe life threatening reactions to the vaccine.


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## Kayla_Nicole (Dec 19, 2012)

dogsule said:


> It is common (the lump) and I doubt that a rabies vaccine that causes a lump without further symptoms would get you a waiver. Those are for dogs that have severe life threatening reactions to the vaccine.


Makes sense, that's why I mentioned I wanted to look into it, not knowing exactly what getting an exemption entails. I was really just posting to see if this is common or if anyone has seen any long-term negative effects from a reaction similiar to this.


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## dogsule (Nov 6, 2013)

Kayla_Nicole said:


> Makes sense, that's why I mentioned I wanted to look into it, not knowing exactly what getting an exemption entails. I was really just posting to see if this is common or if anyone has seen any long-term negative effects from a reaction similiar to this.


I have seen lumps from vaccines now and then in my dogs, no other symptoms and they just went away in time. We got a puppy in June, after the last round of puppy shots (dhlp) she developed Immune Mediated Thrombocytopenia which is an immune disorder (often triggered by vaccine in some dogs) which destroys the blood platelets. My dog developed bruising on her inner ear flaps and stomach which was because her blood was no longer clotting. Because she hadn't had her rabies shot (I space all shots 4 weeks apart) by law she has to have that shot yet (we will titer for her dhlp in summer). She just now was able to stop the prednisone which she was on since the beginning of August to bring her platelets back up and if they hold she will get her rabies shot. If she has a reaction again with her platelets to the rabies vaccine, then my vet will be able to get a waiver so she won't need to get another one.


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

My Boxer piper gets them after her rabies shot. If it seems painful the vet can give you some pain meds for it (I've only seen a few dogs with painful bumps in my years as a tech). My girl's bump usually goes away in a few weeks. If it worries you about possible other reactions to the shot in the future you can ask for them to premed her next time. We do that a lot for dogs at our clinics that have had reactions to shots. My girl can not get the KC/ Bordetella or DHLPP because her face swells up even with premeditating. :/


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## Kayla_Nicole (Dec 19, 2012)

Damon'sMom said:


> My Boxer piper gets them after her rabies shot. If it seems painful the vet can give you some pain meds for it (I've only seen a few dogs with painful bumps in my years as a tech). My girl's bump usually goes away in a few weeks. If it worries you about possible other reactions to the shot in the future you can ask for them to premed her next time. We do that a lot for dogs at our clinics that have had reactions to shots. My girl can not get the KC/ Bordetella or DHLPP because her face swells up even with premeditating. :/


Poor thing! What does premeditating mean? I've actually never heard of that.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

Leah Lu's hair fell out at her rabies injection site ... but grew back. The only thing is ... that the hair is not as thick on that leg as the other leg .... but no lumps.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Kayla_Nicole said:


> Poor thing! What does premeditating mean? I've actually never heard of that.


Probably a typo for premedicating . Some vets will give Benedryl or another antihistamine before the vaccine to try to prevent bad reactions. It's common in ferrets. But then there's a debate as to whether the vaccine actually confers any immunity if you shut down the body's immune response, or if a reactive immune system is even capable of developing immunities from a vaccine :/. 

In cats, a post-vaccine lump is a good indication that the cat will end up with vaccine-associated sarcoma if you continue vaccinating. It's not as common in dogs though.


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## Risajenko (Apr 8, 2020)

Kayla_Nicole said:


> Makes sense, that's why I mentioned I wanted to look into it, not knowing exactly what getting an exemption entails. I was really just posting to see if this is common or if anyone has seen any long-term negative effects from a reaction similiar to this.


This just happened to my dog! His eyes have also been watering nonstop. I’m calling vet tomorrow. I just realized all of these symptoms are from the vaccine. ? This is b.s. that it is required by law so my dog suffers ? he's 7 and hasn't had this kind of reaction before. He got this shot at a different clinic than normal. An article said to ask for a mercury-free vaccine a “TF” and if they don’t carry it to shop around.


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