Ember got her rabies shot last week, and now has a big lump where she got the shot.  It's been 6 days since she had the shot (last Thursday).  I didn't notice it over the weekend because she was covered in mud most of the time so I didn't pet her much (yes, she had a blast), but I noticed it on Monday, and by Tuesday it was bigger.  The vet said there could be some swelling, but how long should it last, and is there anything that should trigger me to call the vet and ask about it?  Is this pretty typical?  It doesn't seem to bother her when I touch it, but she's such a monkey, nothing bothers her, so it's hard to tell.  Any comments would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Yes we've had that happen in the past and did go back to vet, he said to watch it and it should go down, something to do with that particular shot the way and where the needle went caused the muscle to swell.

We did keep an eye on it and it did go away, but as my memory serves me, it took 2 or 3 weeks to completly go away, but eventually did.

We had the same thing happened to my dog twice! She had a rabies shot once and it got bigger. My mom says that it also happens to people too and that it then goes down. We just put ice in a bag and put it on the bump and it went down. That was fine until she had another a different shot and a bump came afterwards. I put ice on it again and it did go down. We gave her beef paties like always and the bump came back. Same thing happened to every cooked meat she ate. It was weird because she had always eated cooked meat and kibble. We stopped feeding her cooked meat because I got a feeling she was getting allergic, among other signs. Well, the bump only went down a bit and when she ate kibble, same thing happened.

Anyway, we took her to the vet a couple of weeks later because it wasn't bothering her at all and the vet told her to bring her back in a couple of weeks. He gave her some shots so it could go be down a bit and it did. She also gave her special food for he allergies but she refused to eat kibble anymore. Now, we feed her raw food and her allergies are gone and so is the bump. Sure no hair really grows there but at least is kept it down with the change in food too. We've been feeding her raw food for a while and her system is a lot better so if anyone spoils her with table scraps, the bump doesn't come back anymore. She deals with it fine and no signs at all of allergies.

If your dog has food allergies, that bump grow bigger than it already is, so it could way to know if your dog has food allergies at least.

The vet told us that it was harmless and could be a cyst.

It's very common I have that same problem with Zowie every time she goes in for her shots.  All you need to do is keep an eye on her and make sure you see no vomiting, feaver, or odd behavior.  If it does not go down in a few weeks, or you noticed any of the other symptioms then call your vet asap.

    It's odd how some dogs get it and other don't.  Hanna who is from the same parents as Zowie, just a different litter never sees the lump after her shots.

Next time you get her shots, have the vet rub the area where the needle went in.

Man, not only is Olivia having problems with vaccines, but also my other dog Rocky. He's getting a bump too from it. Olivia's bump never went away and the vet gave us medicine to let it go down which helped a bit and is flat now but no hair has grown there. I'm afraid of the same thing happening to Rocky. The thing that has helped Olivia's bump stay down is because of her raw diet and not the vet's. I just hope Rocky's bump goes down or we'll be telling the vet about it. I know there are bad stories out there about vaccines in dogs. Raw feeders (dogs in a raw diet) hardly vaccinate their dogs because their immune system is pretty strong because of the diet. That's the only reason Olivia hasn't gotten anymore health problems lately.

Oh and Audra, the vet does that before the needle goes in and it still happens.

You know Diamond gets bumps from both the rabies and combined vac. She is a little sensitive.

Oh well I didn't know that. =P We buy the rabie shots and do it ourselves.

You can do rabies shots and so it yourself? We can buy the 8 in one shot and do it but not Rabies

Only a licensed vet can give the rabies shot.  You can give your dogs shots at home for all the other diseases, but rabies vaccinations have to be monitored and recorded by the state you live in so that rabies cases can be documented.  We give shots at home too.  We don't get the bumps anymore since the dog is comfortable, we can rub the area and make sure we get a good bit of skin to stick it in, but Rabies they HAVE to get at the vets office.

7dogs

 My two just sleep alot after shots.. It's a nice change from two tazmanian devils spinning all over my house.  I wish they got shots more often

Really? That's weird... we just always went down to the feed store and bought them for only $7. The packet came with two viles, one needle,a tag to put on your dogs collar to prove the shot and a peice of paper stating that the shot was given just incase the pound picks up the dog. I guess they changed the law in Oklahoma because I really never heard of this. =/