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My dog got a vaccine. Will steroids affect its effectiveness for illness?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Chinese Crested | Male | neutered | 12.5 lbs

Vaccines. My dog had his DHPPi vaccine 5 days ago . He has to start Steroids maintenance treatment asap . It will be low dose long term for maintained of his autoimmune illness . He is 5kg and must take Prednicare 5mg every other day. Would the vaccine work in that case it should I wait 2 weeks before starting the Steroids? Thank you in advance

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jenna Beyer, DVM, MBA, cVMA

Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

Published on September 14th, 2017

Treating an autoimmune disease should be the priority over vaccinations. The dose of prednisone that you mentioned, should not suppress his immune system or prevent the vaccination from working, however I would discuss this with your vet. In some types of autoimmune disease, I will delay all vaccinations at is can cause flares in the disease process.

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    Answered By Vanessa Yeager DVM MPH

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Hi and thank you for your question! Prednisone given at 5mg for a 5kg dog is a 1mg/kg dosage which is the antiinflammtory dosage not the immunosuppressive dosage. It should be okay 5 days after the vaccine was given and is unlikely to alter the immune system's response to the vaccine, but there is no way to say for sure when giving steroids. If you are concerned, you may wait another week or two before starting steroids. Thanks again for your question and best wishes to you and Ted!

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