Reaction to EEE shot!!

I had my horses vaccinated on april 19 and one of my horses took a very strange reaction!! Shook all over, Twitching in the muscles, sweats, Took hours for him to come out of it! Had to hand walk him!
Someone Else on the EEconect site reported the same thing!
Has anyone else had a similar thing happen? If you did will you please post here!!
My horses are due for their boosters in a couple of week's and I,m a little nervous now!!
Now the horse that took the reaction(my horse of course) Had also been sedated to do his teeth and was given the sedative to drop his gear so I could clean his sheath! But this I do every one to two years!And he has never reacted like this, The only thing different was the EE vaccine!None of the other horses in the barn were sedated(Didn't need thier teeth done) And nobody else took a reaction!
5 other horses!
Just wondering if anyone else experienced this!

Our gelding had his shot Friday morning, Innovator 5 I think, and by Sunday had a hand sized flatish swelling at the injection site. By Monday it was gone. This is the first year he had the EEE and the vet said, usually the first time they get it, reactions are rare. It is the second year that they will react more strongly - increased exposure or some such. So I guess I'd be pretty concerned about the booster too. Let me know what you find out from the vet. I'm a bit nervous for him to have it again next year if he reacted that strongly this year.

Two years ago when he had his shots just the regular tet/flu/rabies he had a reaction similar to what you described. The next morning when I went to put him out I thought he was colicing. The vet was over an hour away and the "spell" passed and I was able to call and cancel. The next year we spaced the vaccines out - and he had no reactions. From what I can find out rabies is the one they often react to, and my guys got the three year rabies so we don't have to worry on that one for awhile.

Foolish creatures are more trouble than my kids. Kids can talk, and talk, and talk lol.

I personaly think your lucky you didn't lose your horse and would stay away from that shot..my sisters horse had a reaction to the west nile shot ..it cost her over $3000 to save her mare

You know it,s funny you should say that about them more likely to react to the rabies shot!! The EEE vaccine is mixed with the rabies and also in the booster so you have to vaccinate them twice for rabies!!!
I am really scared now! I,m gonna have a long chat with my vet!

Thanks for the input girls

I,m glad your sister was able to save her mare Rude!
I was really freaked out when sonny was having his reaction, I called the vet 3 times. He had his shots at around 4:30 pm and I was walking him outside at 12:30am, Had put a cooler on him because he was shaking so bad and I had given him some bute per vet,s orders and that seemed to settle him down! but I will tell you It was pretty scary!!

We did the 8 horses here last Thursday with the Fluvac Innocator 5-Way Shot (it has Flu, Tetanus, Rhino, EEE, and WEE) and not one single one of them had a reaction, no swelling at the injection site, no shaking and no one went off feed/hay that is for sure! What type of vaccine were you using? Maybe see about using a different brand if it is compatable. I have heard of really bad reactions from the WNV shot as well as the Strangles Vaccines so avoid them!

Yes up untill this year My horses had the strangles and the West nile and we never had any reaction, But this year with the introduction to the EEE shot I decided to forgo those Two because I hate pumping to much stuff into them and we haven't had any cases of west nile around here at all,and my horse stay pretty close to the property so strangles isn't a big threat either! But I am gonna look into the EEE vaccine a lot closer!

Ok! I just had a look at my booster shots and I stand corrected, It is mixed with the tetanus toxoid not rabies!! It,s called EQUILOID INNOVATOR!

Barnmom, that's the booster that I'm using. Seems redundant but it's a drug companies dream. Keeps the cost a little higher for a mixed booster!

Ya but I wonder what the effects of that will be! So you used the same vaccine Mountaincowgirl ,Did you have any reactions?

Gives a horse owner a lot to think about...last year Lunenburg and Queens counties had 13 known cases of EEE. Hard to know.

Barnmom - My boss's mare took the same reaction. Shaking the day she got the shot then super quiet (usually a high strung mare) not herself the next day. Called the vet and gave her some bute, she was better by the afternoon and back to herself the next day.

Yes it certainly does!!! Damned if you and maybe damned if you don't!!!

Hey total eclipse!
Yes same thing here but very scarie when happening! Talked to a vet or two Lol today!! Suggested giving bute a while before giving the booster!
I,m gonna have to think on this a bit!!

Maybe ask you vet if you can give your horses anything before the vaccine, in the small animal clinic we will give dogs and cats who have had vaccine reactions before some benadryl 45 minutes - 1 hour before the appointment and the reactions are no more! I have NO idea if it is something you could give to a horse, but worth asking! Another thing we will do is splitting vaccines, especially in small dogs which are more prone to reactions (shih tzu's, lhaso apso's, mini-poodles etc). Instead of giving them everything they need in one day we give half the vaccines one day and the other half in 2 weeks. Less of a shock to their system.

All 10 horses where i board were given the EEE shot mixed with the Tetanus and no reactions. They got their first one in the fall, and were boostered in a few weeks, and just got it again this spring.

Is it possible to get a seperate shot for the EEE and WEE or something that just contains those without the tetanus? I had all the horses vaccinated for rabies and tetanus a few weeks ago. I planned to breakup the vaccines so their bodies wouldn't be going through overload. I really don't want to give them the tetanus shot again, is this Innovator 5 my only option to get these vaccines?

Everyone was fine the day we did rabies and tetanus.

It'll depend on what combination your vet carries, you can get just about every combination or single vaccine under the sun, but it is all what you vet stocks at their clinic.

Thanks MB, I'll give the provincial vet office a call later today.

Barnmom- No reaction from any horse. My vet said that their clinic is one that has reportedly dispersed some of the highest numbers of the vaccine this year and he has only seen 2 reactions (reported or seen) . The first one: the horse (a mare) was known to react each year and he caught it with steroids early to bring her around. The second one: the injection site "puckered" (think twisting your coat sleeve) and later the skin around that area fell off leaving a scab to heal. He told me that he has never seen anything like it. Sort of a burn. The horse had no obvious discomfort from it until the skin fell off.

I was concerned about reactions from both the mares because of their ages. The baby who turned one yesterday, was a complete trooper. No reaction, no obvious stiffness.
My mare, although no reaction, was quite PO'd about the initial stick. She is such a wimp!

Hey Mountaincowgirl!!
Thats what my Vet said, Maybe we have the same one!!
Anyway he isn't to worried said to give him some bute about and hour or so before the booster
and that should curb the reaction! Still thinking about it.....

I did my three on Saturday with the Innovator 5. No reactions at all, not even bumps. I did notice they were a bit more sleepy than usually that night and Sunday morning.

Sorry It took so long to update, Been a little busy lately!!
Anyway did my booster shots a couple of weeks ago, Gave the horse that took the reaction Bute starting the morning before,suppertime and then breakfast and then gave them all thier boosters.
Now my horse that took the worst reaction to the original shot ( No reaction at all) But the big mare who took no reaction to the original developed a huge lump on her neck that was very warm to the touch! So gave her bute and rubbed the lump with voltarin!! and the next day heat was gone and the lump dissapeared in a couple of day's. No one else took a reaction!
Next year I am gonna use a different vaccine, My Vet has already decided not to use that one again!!


I fogot to mention my other horse max did have a pea sized lump but wasn't warm or sore and this only with the booster!