Gjennom årene er det blitt kjent at pinscheren har en viss overfølsomhet for vaksinereaksjon og særlig 12 ukers vaksinen. Riktignok er det andre raser som har mye større forekomst av reaksjoner, men siden pinscheren er en så sjelden rase er det veldig mange veterinærer som ikke har hørt om problemet. Det vanligste når en hund reagerer på vaksinen er at allergien viser seg umiddelbart, gjerne innen en halvtime-times tid etter at sprøyten er satt. Pinschervalpene våre reagerer litt anderledes og det er dermed lett for veterinærene å ta feil og tro det er noe helt annet, eksempelvis hjernehinnebetennelse (symptomene er veldig like).
Derfor er det veldig viktig at vi som eiere holder oss informert og dermed kan komme med informasjon så valpen får riktig behandling med en gang. Det har hendt at veterinærer har nektet å tro på eier og i Sverige var det for noen år siden et helt kull som de ville avlive fordi veterinæren mente det var hjernesvulster. Da oppdretter til slutt ble tatt på alvor og valpene fikk kortison var de friske og fine igjen etter ca et døgn. Vi har dessverre også opplevd at en valp døde grunnet feilbehandling. Andelen pinschere i Finland som har rapportert om vaksinereaksjon har variert fra 18% til hele 33% i undersøkelser gjort fra 1992 til nå. Dette tallet er veldig varierende fra år til år og vi ser at foreløpige undersøkelser i Norge viser samme tendens og andel. Undersøkelsen i Finland viser også at pinschere som opplever reaksjon på 12-ukersvaksinen ikke opplever reaksjon på senere vaksiner, så det er ikke grunn for å ikke gi senere vaksiner. Vi anbefaler heller ikke å gi halv dose av vaksinen.
Huskeregler
Den typiske pinscherreaksjonen kommer rundt dagene 9-12 etter vaksinen er satt.
Pinscheren er en sjelden rase så det er viktig å bevæpne seg med informasjon som kan leveres til veterinæren.
Snakk med veterinæren på forhånd og vær sikker på at de er åpne for problemstillingen og tar deg på alvor! Det er ikke alltid like koselig å stå og krangle med veterinæren og kreve prednisolon (vanlig medisin i slike tilfeller) når de insisterer på noe annet.
Avhengig av hvor ille reaksjonen er, hender det at valpen får en sprøyte der og da og/eller piller du skal gi dem hjemme. Prednisolon er vanlig å gi i noen dager (kortison).
Symptomene på reaksjon hos valpen kan være: ustø på bena, feber, skjelvinger, klarer ikke gå, kaster opp, fråder, vanskelig å få kontakt med, generelt dårlig form, veldig uro i kroppen, ikke kontroll på bena, faller om, klarer ikke reise seg, kramper, inkontinens og bevissthetstap.
Hold øye med valpen de første 14 dagene etter vaksinen og særlig rundt dag 10. Hvis valpen er uvel og du syns at symptomene begynner å bli ekle så reis til veterinæren og få behandling!
Hør gjerne med oppdretter underveis hvis du er usikker på om du bare er overnervøs, men hvis du syns valpen er veldig dårlig så er det best å få behandling. Siden vaksinereaksjon er at kroppen til valpen har fått et immunologisk sjokk blir det ikke nødvendigvis bedre av å vente så følg nøye med og reis til veterinær når du syns at det begynner å bli ubehagelig. Vaksinereaksjonen pinscherne kan få er ikke farlig så fremt man mottar riktig behandling, men den kan bli farlig om den ikke blir behandlet / feilbehandlet. Den eneste virkningsfulle behandlingen vi har sett er kortison.
Post-vaccinal reactions in German Pinschers -preliminary report
Minna Leppänen [email protected] DVM Ph.D. Specialist Diploma in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery
Since early 1980s breeders and puppy owners have noticed unexpectedly high number of postvaccinal complications within the breed. The only published information of the syndrome is the work of Hillgen and Koivisto (1996) that was based on the information collected by the breed club in Finland. The rest of the knowledge is based on the author?s unpublished data of own cases and information I have collected from other veterinarians, breeders and dog-owners. In Hillgen and Koivisto?s (1996) survey 33.2 % of owners reported that puppies had symptoms after distemper-vaccination in Finland. Some annual variation has been noticed. In Great Britain some breeders estimate that about 50% of all puppies show similar symptoms (Morrison D., personal communication); cases have been reported also in Sweden, Norway and Denmark (Kuisma I and. Nilsson, S., personal communication). Recently I found descriptions of some American dogs having similar symptoms in German Pinscher fanciers? internet mailing list. Typical symptoms start usually 9-12 days after vaccinations and may include tiredness, fever, occasionally vomiting and eye discharge. These primary symptoms usually start 1-2 days before neurological signs. Severity of neurological signs has been variable. Some dogs have had only mild tremors, but in severe cases dogs various degrees of ataxia (=disturbances in equilibrium) and seizures have been noticed. In all known cases the symptoms developed after distemper-vaccination and usually after the first vaccination. No correlation between the vaccine types and brands with the incidence or severity of the symptoms could be shown (Hillgen and Koivisto, 1996).
Of all known cases one dog was euthanized with suspected diagnosis of epilepsy without any treatment. No postmortem is available. Another dog died three days after the seizures begun. The most prominent postmortem finding was acute, allergic encephalomyelitis (=brain inflammation) No distemper inclusions or distemper virus could be shown. Laboratory findings from other cases have been unremarkable: the only finding has been mild leucocytosis (=elevated white blood cells) in some dogs. (Hillgen and Koivisto, 1996; Leppänen, unpublished data).
The therapy has been based on the presumption of allergic background. Most cases have been treated with various doses, types and routes of administration of corticosteroids. Breeders even advise puppy-owners to give a dog small doses of oral hydrocortisone (available prescription free) as soon as they notice any symptoms. In addition to corticosteroids some dogs have got seizure medication (mostly diazepam or phenobarbital) and in some also sedatives have been administered to dogs with serious seizures. Also, vitamin B-supplementation or antibiotics have been used as well as antiemetics for vomiting dogs. Some cases got no medication. Excluded the two above mentioned cases all dogs have recovered totally in 1-5 days and none is known to have similar symptoms after next vaccinations (Hillgen and Koivisto, 1996; Leppänen unpublished data).
Until now no exact pathogenesis and etiology of post-vaccinal complications in German Pinschers have been found; also reports of cases and effects of treatment trials base mostly on personal experience with own patients or information reached from breeders or other veterinarians who have treated the cases. It is assumed that due a very small population and high degree of inbreeding the German Pinscher breed has some type of immunological defect, which makes the dogs unusually sensitive to distemper vaccines. The presumption of familiar disorder is supported by the finding that dogs that have had symptoms themselves more commonly produce puppies with symptoms than unsymptomatic animals. It is however possible that unsymptomatic dogs have puppies who react after vaccination. The exact mode of heritability is however unclear. Controversially the breed is otherwise very healthy and no reports or experience of other common immunological problems could be found. Also, it is unclear, why these dogs recover so well unlike in other reported breed-specific or suspected immune-mediated encephalitis (Oliver et al., 1997, Vandevelde, 1998).
Because we do not know the exact pathogenesis the treatment was based partly on clinical findings and previous experience with these cases. In order to prevent complications caused by lengthened seizure activity the treatment and doses normally recommended for status epilepticus were used. The use of corticosteroids in these cases is based on assumption that we deal with allergic reactions. No recommendations of exact doses have been made. The cases the author has knowledge about have been treated with various types and doses; I personally prefer short-acting corticosteroids and low doses in order to prevent possible side effects from corticosteroids. It might be also possible that mild cases can recover without treatment: this is supported with the information from owners who tell that their dogs have had symptoms, but got no treatment. Also, some owners probably do not recognize mild symptoms at all. On the other hand the possibility of preventing seizures or minimizing morbidity with early corticosteroid-administration has been discussed. Unfortunately we lack any controlled studies from the effectiveness and usefulness of different treatment regimens.
References Hillgen J., Koivisto M.: Vaccinations and postvaccinal complications in dogs. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki 1996, 47 pages Oliver JE, Lorenz MD, Kornegay JN: Handbook of Veterinary Neurology. W.B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, 1997, 453 pp Vandevelde M.:Neurologic diseases of suspected infectious origin. In Infectious diseases of the dog and cat. Ed. Greene CE W.B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia 1998, pp530-540.
Artikkel fra Norsk Veterinærtidsskrift Nr 6. 2009
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