Puppy vaccination question
 

My 14 week old boston terrier had vaccinations about a week and a half ago (and a couple weeks before that, and again coming up on the 19th) and both times at the injection site he had painful swelling. It only lasted about a day. However today I noticed on his side he has some hair loss and flaky skin in the same spot. Is this something I should be concerned about and take him back to the vet or is it common? Will the hair grow back and should I do anything for his skin (any sort of cream or anything)?

Thanks!

And just for the oohs and aaahs, ;) here's a picture of Rocky:

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...bert/rocky.jpg

that is a normal vaccine reaction. Sometimes they do loos their hair...its call a localized vasculitis. It usually happens with the rabies vaccine, but can happen with all vaccines. It also usually happens if the puppy was very wiggly and "jumped" around when given a vaccines. It is nothing to be concerned about. You can tell your vet at the next visit but don't have to worry about it. As for the hair growing back...it probably won't. Unfortunately usually vasculitis cause damage to the hair follicel and the hair won't grow back..we usally see it a lot on the small white dogs...but any dog can get it. You can apply vitamin E lotion to see if you can help stimulate hair grown...but just be prepared, it may not grow back. As long as the skin looks healthy and the only thing wrong is hairloss..you don't have to worry. It's probably something you don't want to hear...but it happens even to the best vets. (BTW...i am a vet...so you don't have to worry about the sorce the info is coming from). Since the dog is a boston, i'm betting he was a bit wiggly and that's what caused it.

btw---very cute lil puppy!

Thanks for the information. You're right, I definitely didn't want to hear it won't grow back but it's good to know it's not serious. Thanks again!

I just wanted to say how cute your doggy is, ADORABLE! I want one!

Having a bump by the injection site is normal. If you notice it's not going away or getting infected and bothering your pup take a quick trip to the vet. I hope your baby is back to normal in no time! :getwell: What a cutie!

If it doesn't go away, you may want to take it to the vet to make sure there isn't more going on.

Also, I have a cat that is legally not able to have the traditional vacc. as he develops severe cysts each time he got his boosters. So, my vet decided since he's only indoor to no longer give him the shots. He also lost hair, but due to the reaction, his did not come back in.

Rocky is so handsome!

Thanks for the comments, he is a cutie :)

The last time I took him in I told the vet about the bumps and she said that he seems to have a poor immune system (he'd had kennel cough that developed into pneumonia) so she wasn't surprised. They ended up giving him antihistamine and something else before the next set and no bump or anything! Luckily he only has one more now, his rabies shot, and he'll be done.

Updated picture of him bugging our other dog for you guys. :)

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ert/rocky1.jpg