# How to lower a fever - severe rabies vaccine reaction



## NewfoundlandOwner (Dec 22, 2011)

I need advice on how to lower a dog's temperature. So as to avoid the default answer of "get him to the vet!" and to illustrate what I've already done, please read.

Sixteen days ago my brown Newfoundland Ozzy was 11 months old, 146 pounds, and the poster pup of good health. Since it's so hot where I live, I drove to a nearby Petsmart to walk, train, and socialize him 5-6 days a week. Ozzy was doing so well, and showed such a love and tolerance for all people and dogs, I wanted to train him to work as a therapy dog. He's so calm and non-reactive that I've been asked 3 times to bring him to Petsmart to assist a trainer with a dog who is reactive. Ozzy doesn't get aggressive or fearful when barked or growled at. To further this, of course, Ozzy needed a rabies vaccine. 

Six days after the vaccine, I had noticed some lethargy, reluctance to go anywhere, and Ozzy looked a little too slender. This wasn't immediately alarming. When Ozzy goes through a growth spurt, all of these can occur. When the growth spurt increases height, Newfies can go from stout to almost gangly fairly quickly. But I took his weight and found it way too low. I got him to emergency Sunday morning on 9/30. He'd lost 15 pounds in 6 days, was running a fever, and since that morning had lost interest in eating altogether. We'd fed him a few handfuls of food before taking him in, to see if he would eat. I felt certain it was an immune disorder caused by the rabies vaccine. I looked up possible reactions, and Ozzy had a number of them. However, if the condition was caused by some kind of infection, then the response to the immune disorder (steroids to suppress the over-active immune system) would kill Ozzy. We had to be sure. Ozzy was at the emergency clinic for 3 days, and while we visited 3-4 times per day, he was obviously not happy. X-rays, ultra-sounds, blood tests, and urine analysis yielded the following results:

Spine clear
Lungs clear
Organs clear
Tick fever - negative
Valley fever - negative
UTI - negative

I wanted to keep an open mind despite the timeline of the vaccine to the illness, because there was a possibility of being wrong. However, after three days and too many tests to list (above is just the broad summary), the vet agreed that it was almost certainly an immune reaction from the rabies vaccine. We took Ozzy home at this point, now having lost a total of 21 pounds in 9 days. We were armed with a myriad of antibiotics, steroids, and stomach-settling meds. At first, after consulting with the vet, I did not give Ozzy the antibiotics. The first attempt saw him vomiting all over, and with his weight loss this scared me. The antibiotics were more of a 'just in case' measure in any case. We gave him the antacid and nausea meds, along with the prednisone. When he first came home, Ozzy was so weak he sometimes involuntarily peed on himself, and often started peeing when he stood. He would only rise to drink and go outside to eliminate, and sleep the rest of the time. I took days off from work, and we fed him a blend of rice and boiled chicken, along with high-calorie paste. We had to blend it and squeeze it into his mouth with a syringe, but he kept it down. This last Sat and Sun were his best days. He started eating boiled chicken and some liver, which he liked best if cold. His fever broke and he was energetic and happy. I didn't encourage activity, wanting Ozzy to lay down and rest when tired, but I was happy. But Sun night his temp started to go up again. I talked to the vet, and started administering the antibiotics, on the off chance some kind of infection had set in. At this point, here are my observations:

_Ozzy's strength had come back a lot from when he first came home. When his fever was down, he would gladly eat fairly large amounts of chicken and liver, and only required a few syringes of food. Even when his fever was up a bit, he was much happier and stronger than before, but wouldn't eat food voluntarily. He still took awhile to finish urinating, but his legs were no longer shaking while he was doing it. I would gently push on the sides of his bladder if he seemed to be straining, as the vet had instructed. Ozzy didn't like this too much, and would often walk off to finish somewhere else, but it seemed to help a bit. Ozzy might have gained back a bit of weight, but I was unwilling to take him out to weigh him. _

Monday his fever was a bit high, between 103 and 104, but not truly alarming. Currently I don't know how long antibiotics should take to lower his temp, but they have had no apparent effect at all so far. Yesterday the fever was up and down a bit, and today it's hovered over 104 for a few hours. I've researched bringing a dog's fever down, and since I've already taken Ozzy to the vet, and have the meds to help him, I have tried the following:

Ozzy never stopped drinking on his own, but he likes to drink out of a cup (a hold-over from when he was little), so I hold a cup of cooled water to help keep him hydrated and reduce his fever. While in the clinic, Ozzy was on an IV of cooled liquids to lower his fever, and I read online cool water is a good at-home treatment. I'm currently draping ice water towels over him, which seems to feel good to him. I also contacted his vet, who said to continue what I'm doing, but if his temp doesn't lower in a few hours, bring him in. I will do this, but I'd like any advice or helpful hints that would assist in bringing my buddy's fever down. 

As a last note, I highly encourage obtaining medical insurance for your pets if possible. Ozzy has been covered since about 12 weeks old, so while his treatment is still going to be well over $1200, the full amount so far is around $3500, and might be more.

edit - in the last hour and a half, Ozzy's temp has lowered by .8 degrees, so the towels seem to be working.


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## NewfoundlandOwner (Dec 22, 2011)

I should add that people should beware of the rabies vaccination. The possible reactions, though rare, are horrific. The laws governing vaccinations are ludicrous, and obviously not made with the health of our dogs in mind. Dogs get half the dose given to a 1200 pound horse. This is also regardless of size of the dog. My nearly 150 pound dog gets the same rabies vaccine that a 3 pound Chihuahua does. Also, the frequency of vaccinations are far in excess of what is required for protection, and seem to me more geared towards keeping people feeling good about fighting rabies. I'm no vet, no expert on this, but research has suggested that a single rabies vaccine may be good to protect a dog for life. A titer test can verify whether a dog is still protected or not, but this is not permitted as an alternative to getting another vaccine. Mitigating circumstances are not applicable, either. The vet at the emergency clinic told me that, even with Ozzy's life-threatening response, I was unlikely to receive a waiver to exempt him from future rabies vaccines. We're going to try in any case, but it's not likely to be granted. I can actually understand the laws regarding parvo vaccines. An unvaccinated dog has a reasonable chance of contracting parvo, especially when birds can drop bits of fecal matter into their yard. I've known people who've lost dogs, even vaccinated ones, to parvo. I'm 40 years old, and never in my life have I ever spoken to anyone who has known anyone with a dog that contracted rabies. Although theoretically possible, contracting rabies in the city is about as likely as getting struck by lightning several times (personal observation, not a real metric). Yet the law requires that we play Russian Roulette with our dogs year after year, getting vaccinations that are dangerous and are excessive in both dose and frequency. I will never give Ozzy another rabies vaccine, law or not. I cannot advise others to abstain, but it's a very good idea to read up on it and understand the risks first.


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## Catdancer (Apr 11, 2012)

I'm so sorry. Other than the cool towels and offering him water, I dont have any other advice. I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry for all that you and your buddy are going through. I have an 8 month old Papillon. His breeder specifically told me that her Pap line had had rabies vaccine problems and she begged me to wait until Dexter was at least 6 months old before getting the rabies. My vet, of course, tried to talk me out of it, questioning "well, what kind of brand was the vaccine" and other comments, but I held strong and Dex did have his rabies at 7 months. In her paps, they had experieneced high fevers, MASSIVE swelling in face and one's whole head was swollen so bad that his eyes where swollen shut. There were other incidences, but that was all I needed to hear. Thankfully, Dex did ok. I would like to have him neutered and microchipped (paps are so small that my vet will only microchip under anesthesia) but I'm terrified of the effect of anesthesia on him. 

Again, I'm so sorry and I will say prayers for your Ozzy!


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## hamandeggs (Aug 11, 2011)

Oh goodness. I don't know anything about the medical aspect, but I am so sorry to hear you're going through this and I hope Ozzie is OK!

As for the vaccine itself: just want to note that the law varies by locality. Where I live, 3-year vaccines are allowed and you can show immunity by titer as an alternative to vaccination. 

I think part of the reasoning behind vaccination is dog bites. If an unvaccinated dog bites someone, there's a whole procedure for quarantine and human vaccination; it's a lot worse than if it was a dog with a known vaccination record, where the human can basically just get a tetanus shot and go about his or her business. I would urge you to consider your personal liability before you decide not to vaccinate your dog, and consider getting titers even if your city won't accept them for licensing purposes.


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## NewfoundlandOwner (Dec 22, 2011)

Thanks very much for your prayers and well-wishes! Ozzy's temp has started to come down just a bit, and I'll keep this post updated as to his condition. Someone on one of my FaceBook groups just posted some information that basically sums up what I'm doing currently, but also added that cold compresses should be stopped once the fever drops to 103 degrees. I'll need to corroborate that, but it sounds reasonable.


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## NewfoundlandOwner (Dec 22, 2011)

hamandeggs said:


> Oh goodness. I don't know anything about the medical aspect, but I am so sorry to hear you're going through this and I hope Ozzie is OK!
> 
> As for the vaccine itself: just want to note that the law varies by locality. Where I live, 3-year vaccines are allowed and you can show immunity by titer as an alternative to vaccination.
> 
> I think part of the reasoning behind vaccination is dog bites. If an unvaccinated dog bites someone, there's a whole procedure for quarantine and human vaccination; it's a lot worse than if it was a dog with a known vaccination record, where the human can basically just get a tetanus shot and go about his or her business. I would urge you to consider your personal liability before you decide not to vaccinate your dog, and consider getting titers even if your city won't accept them for licensing purposes.


All of this seems good advice, thank you. Fortunately, Newfoundlands are generally very friendly, and mine have been socialized extensively, so they're even more so. Ozzy's younger buddy is a Landseer named Murphy, who just turned 10 months old today. Neither one of them has ever even growled at someone, much less bit them. I know the potential is always there. Most of the time if I'm walking a dog and someone asks if he/she bites, I respond, "everything with teeth bites", but with Ozzy and Murphy I just say no. They're friendly to little screaming kids, calm adults, and dogs of all kinds. I wouldn't appreciate it if someone just walked up and started ruffling the fur of their faces, but they would think it a fine thing indeed. Fortunately, most people ask first. It isn't a danger with my boys, but it is with many others. As I mentioned, we spend a lot of hours at Petsmart or other indoor pet-friendly places, and I've been invited to bring them to a special education school for kids and a children's hospital, just from people seeing us interacting in public. They're very impressive dogs. Still, since dogs could always bite someone, the fear of rabies is reasonable. My biggest problem with the law (Arizona, USA) is with the amount and frequency required. Even a 3-year schedule seems like over-medicating. I read in an article (completely unverified, so it could be untrue) that a class of veterinarians, vaccinated for rabies upon graduation, were given titer tests at a 20-year reunion. Apparently every one of them was still protected against the rabies virus, two decades later.


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## NewfoundlandOwner (Dec 22, 2011)

Here's a pic of Ozzy yesterday. He's 11 and a half months old. He's still very thin from the recent weight loss, and was running a fever, but still showing his happy face. His left leg shows where he was shaved for the IV in the emergency clinic. Before anyone asks - no, he isn't confined to the kitchen. The gate behind Ozzy is to keep the Newfies out of the kitchen. Puppy-proofing areas for Newfies isn't easy. Murphy likes to counter-surf, and is tall enough to get things off of the top of the fridge, so we placed gates to keep them out. We also had to install wood walls on my desk area to keep Murphy from taking all my stuff. My wife was cooking his food and Ozzy likes to stay close to us, so she snapped a photo while he was waiting. We usually feed them Taste of the Wild dry food, with some canned mixed in once every day or two. They also get salmon oil on their food once per day, and some treats that help with joint development. Right now, though, Ozzy will only eat chicken or liver voluntarily. 










Just took Ozzy's temp again - 102.9!!! The cold towels seem to have done the job. I'll be checking again in 90 minutes or so. The thermometer I purchased claims to be within .2 degrees of laboratory tests, so it should be giving me correct results.


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## Catdancer (Apr 11, 2012)

He is beautiful and he looks so happy for such a sick boy.


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## NewfoundlandOwner (Dec 22, 2011)

Right now he's not nearly as happy. I'll bet running a high fever overnight took it out of him. But the fever is down (at least for the moment), and hopefully we can kick it out altogether. Ozzy is generally one of the happiest dogs I've ever seen. Calm, but always with a joyful look on his face like the pic. Well, time to take his temp again. Fingers, toes and eyes are crossed.

edit - 103.3 degrees right now. Just a very slight fever. I'll try again in an hour to 90 minutes.


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## erinmeurer (Sep 17, 2012)

As crazy as it seems to vaccinate your pets against Rabies every year or every three years, think of it this way. If you get bitten by a dog, cat, horse, raccoon, bat and you do not know the animals rabies status. 3 things can happen, the animal is euthanized and head is removed to test them for rabies. You go to the emergency room and have a series of Rabies vaccinations yourself. Or you do nothing and what happens if the animal who bit you has Rabies? You will die, Rabies is fatal. We have had 4 different positive Rabies test this year, 2 were bats (which both were brought in from clients who's cats caught them and were playing with them), 1 was a fox a client trapped that had been tormenting their dogs for about 1 week & the 4th was a baby raccoon (one of our technician was raising because it was weeks old when she found it) he then bit her and she had to go through the rabies series of vaccines. So I understand the minimal chance of your pet coming in contact with a rabid animal but stuff happens. Like the strictly indoor cat playing with the Rabid bat...


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## hamandeggs (Aug 11, 2011)

erinmeurer said:


> As crazy as it seems to vaccinate your pets against Rabies every year or every three years, think of it this way. If you get bitten by a dog, cat, horse, raccoon, bat and you do not know the animals rabies status. 3 things can happen, the animal is euthanized and head is removed to test them for rabies. You go to the emergency room and have a series of Rabies vaccinations yourself. Or you do nothing and what happens if the animal who bit you has Rabies? You will die, Rabies is fatal. We have had 4 different positive Rabies test this year, 2 were bats (which both were brought in from clients who's cats caught them and were playing with them), 1 was a fox a client trapped that had been tormenting their dogs for about 1 week & the 4th was a baby raccoon (one of our technician was raising because it was weeks old when she found it) he then bit her and she had to go through the rabies series of vaccines. So I understand the minimal chance of your pet coming in contact with a rabid animal but stuff happens. Like the strictly indoor cat playing with the Rabid bat...


This isn't quite true - if an un-vaccinated dog bites, the dog will not automatically be killed. Rather, the dog is put in quarantine for 10 days, which is long enough that if the dog had rabies, it would become evident. In that case, the person would need to have the rabies vaccination series. If a person gets rabies, yes it's fatal, but that's EXTREMELY unlikely because of the quarantine protocol I describe. If a person is bitten by a wild animal, that's a different story.


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## erinmeurer (Sep 17, 2012)

Your right, forgot to mention the 10 day quarantine, I think I was just trying to explain Rabies is out there regardless if you know of any cases or not.


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

I can't offer any advice but wanted to say I hope Ozzy gets better soon!


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

Only 1% of bats carry rabies, but good luck telling by looking at them. I had a house full of bats last summer, it happens. Now I don't agree with vaxxing for rabies more than once, but the reason you don't see rabies much anymore is because of mandatory vaxxing. In countries without mandatory vaxxing, rabies is rampant. 

Also, every dog can bite. Maybe they won't, but they can. 

I hope Ozzie continues to improve. He's quite a handsome boy.


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