My poor doggie

K

Kjs

Guest
Chloe is my very first pet I ever had. She is my baby. She is just such a baby. When you pull into the vet she starts shaking, then hides under the chairs.

Anyway, I have posted several times about her "hot spots" which they said were allergic reactions. Been to the vet about every ten days for a month because of these and they are always infected. Last week they shaved the area, put on a topical antibiotic, gave her a new antibiotic, steroids and told us to give her two antihistimines, twice a day..along with her thyroid medications.

Ok, her skin healed up so husband and I took both dogs for a walk in the woods, by the pond two nights ago. Chloe didn't swim, but was walking in the tall grass. Yesterday I gave her the medications in the morning and she threw it up. Then she ate. Threw that up. Later in the day she started drinking a lot of water. We had to leave for a few hours and when we got home she threw that up.

Today when I got up her whole face was swollen. Like she didn't even have a face. I brought her to a neighbors and asked what she thought. (she never brings her dogs in, or even her kids) She looked at Chloe and said, call the vet. I did. Brought her right in. They looked at her and said they are going to give her an injection, fluids and keep an eye on her. It didn't sink in right away. Then I looked at her and said "HERE?" she said yes. Then silly me said, "in a cage". She said, well, a kennel. and I started crying. She probaby thought I was nuts. I gave Chloe a hug and they took her away.

So..I didn't like the new antibiotic I got last week. Thought it made her pant. Then I decided to start switching her food over to beniful. Just mixing in a little at this time. Then we took her to the woods..like we have done for 6 years. So now I have no idea what happened. They said looks like a severe allergic reaction. To what??? None of this started until after we got the new puppy. Is it possible for her to be allergic to the new pup? Chloe (picture on page) is my baby. You can talk to her like you would talk to someone in the family and she listens to you. Never goes out of the yard. Does her tricks. She's my baby. Any idea's on what she could be allergic to after 6 years?
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Any chance she could've gotten stung or tried to eat a bee during your walk in the woods?? Sounds just like what happens to Molly after she's caught/bit a bee/wasp/ect. Swells her whole head and face up something horrible.

Even if chloe has never had a reaction to stings or insect bites, or even certain plants around your area, or food ect. now that her body is in what my vet calls "allergic mode" she can have a reaction to just about anything. Her body is hypersensitive right now. (this also happens in humans, just ask Nichole)

Poor baby is too right. :frown: I'd stick with normal habits, foods, and environment until her condition has calmed down again.

Let us know how she's doing.

(((hugs)))
 
K

Kjs

Guest
I called the vet at noon. Talked to the doctor. She said that Chloe is resting more comfortably now, but still having some difficulty breathing. Not as much as earlier. They have her on an IV, gave her a heafty dose of prendesone. She said the swelling behind her eyes seems to have gone down a little, but her muzzle is still extremely swollen. Told me to call back about 3 and they will determine if she can go home. They do not feel comfortable sending her home now because she is still having some difficulty breathing.

I would of thought an insect bite would be more localized than the entire head. I don't know. Just know this season seems to have been very expensive.

In two weeks we are going up north to our cottage. I asked the vet if they have a doggie epi pen. She said no. I asked if Chloe could be allergic to the pup since this all started when we got her. She said possible but very unlikely. Well, when we are up north she will not be with the pup. She will still be on prendisone, and antihistimine.

Hopefully she'll be able to come home today.
 

Steely

Active Member
Poor pumpkin pup..........I bet lil Chloe is miserable. My guess would be a bee or hornet sting as well - or maybe poison ivy? My sister has a zillion allergy problems with her pup.......food, grass, bees, you name it. The same things happened to him, he was bitten by a bee and his head swelled up to twice its size.

It would be my guess that the new puppy and Chloe's allergies happening at the same time are just a coincidence. Like I mentioned before in another post, my dog Chester, has tons of skin allergies, and summer is his worst time. Grass, and mosquito bites make him zonkers and he gets those hot spots. I know the vet sells bug repellent for animals though, maybe some of that for her on the vacation would be helpful.

I am with you about our animals being our babies.......when my cat died, I cried for weeks - and still if you mention his name, I get tears in my eyes. The sad thing with him, was that he was killed suddenly in an accident with our neighbor's dog - and I had NO idea I was that attached to him until he was taken away so suddenly. Now, I think I appreciate my animals more, and realize how important they are to me, instead of just thinking of them as pets - I know they are really my babies. (Especially since my other baby is 16 and being a punk. :eek: )
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
Is there even the remotest possibility that she could have been bitten by a snake? Did they look for marks on her face? Sometimes they are very hard to find, especially after the swelling sets in.

We had a shepherd/doberman mix who was bitten by a snake on her nose and her face swelled up just like that. She was almost unrecognizable as our dog. Her head looked like a basketball with nostrils!
 

Marguerite

Active Member
A bee, wasp or ant sting in a vulnerable spot on the head can cause swelling like this. it depends on where the sting happens.
difficult child 3 got a tick embedded on his temple, near his eye. The eye swelled up like he had been slugged hard by someone. Swollen and dark-coloured. And the tick had only been in for maybe an hour.
We have a few varieties of ants over here that would cause a swelling like this.
And donna is right, a snakebite can do a lot of damage like this too. But the vet would have been on top of that one, I'm sure.

You did the right thing, taking her to the vet. If he's doing all that, and she's still taking her time recovering, you could have lost her.

The 'hot spots' have me concerned - are they on areas more likely to be in contact with other things (such as on the outer part of the hip) or are they in folds and tucked in areas, skin-to-skin contact on her own body? Do they correspond to lymph gland location? Because if she is getting a heightened sensitivity tat is triggering an immune response, it could give clues. But if she is in a heightened state, then she is going to be far more reactive.

Marg
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
Please talk to your vet about Benadryl for Chloe. Dogs can take it for itching and inflamed skin. The correct dosage is .5 to 2.0 mg per pound. The little pink tablets (which come 150 to a bottle for about $3.00 generic at Costco) are 25 mg, so I'm guessing Chloe could take two to four of them.

I'm wondering about a snake as well. Even if they are not native to your area, people are idiots and bring home rattlesnakes and such for pets then let them loose into the woods when they decide they aren't so cute. It could also be a spider.

We have had a lot of troubles with possible allergic reactions with Bubba, and have had to put him on super hypoallergenic food. I wouldn't try something like Benefil, if you are going to change foods. Try something with very few ingredients. Because of Mandy's (the new dog) problems, we are currently on a diet of Lamb and Rice California Naturals. It's just lamb and brown rice and vitamins. And ungodly expensive.

It turned out that Mandy had a bad reaction to a staph infection. It's not as bad as it sounds. We all carry staph germs, and she was chewing on herself when she first came and opened up the skin. A week of antibiotics later and she is finally clearing up. Maybe the new pup is making Chloe nervous and she is chewing on herself, opening her skin to infections. A Dermatological Vet will cost you a fortune, so avoid it if you can.
 

AllStressedOut

New Member
With her drinking and not able to keep food down, I would think a spider or snake bite. Typically with allergies it causes over production of body liquid (watery eyes, runny nose etc.) I wouldn't think she'd have dry mouth with the allergies. Venum from many snakes can cause this though. Animals can be allergic to other animal dander. The vomitting is what would make me think it was more than just allergies. I hope whatever it is that the vet figures it out quickly and she comes home soon.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
Food allergies can cause all kinds of skin problems in dogs. Ragan, my oldest Boston, has allergies and all kinds of problems with her skin - I knew she was allergic to fleas and grass, but I never thought about food allergies. I found out by accident that she's allergic to <u>corn</u> ... apparently a lot of dogs are. When the canned Alpo they used to eat was recalled, I started cooking them homemade food - and her hair started getting thicker and shinier and her skin cleared up! Turns out the Alpo was just loaded with corn! And if you read the labels on the bags of almost every single brand of grocery store dry dog food, the main ingredient in almost all of them all is CORN!
 
K

Kjs

Guest
Chloe was bit by a snake about a year ago. The dog park we frequent has the Lake on one side, but a swamp on the other. She had the two little holes from the snake. The vet found that..a year ago.
We were able to take her home today after 8 hours of IV and an injection of prendisone. I was disappointed when they brought her to us, her head still swollen. Some had gone down but not all.
They told us to feed her hamburger and rice for two days, keep her in her environment, indoors if possible. Go out with her and don't let her smell. OK RIGHT!!

They told us to keep a close eye on here for the next couple days. No walks, as this really took a toll on her. And when we do start up the walks, no woods, no dog park. No smelling. Ok..so I will have to walk her down the middle of the street!

Snake..possible, two nights ago had her in the woods. She didn't swim but did go down to the pond and walk by the edge. Most of the time was romping in the tall grass. Could of been a mouse, which she would kill. could of been anything.

They gave us Pepcid for her stomach. Continue with the antihistimine twice a day, prendisone once a day, Pepcid three times a day and her thyroid medication twice a day. NO idea what she is allergic to. I asked if we can do some allergy testing and they said they can only to allergy testing for skin allergies, which this is not. Worried about going up north on the water, in the woods. Can't really leave her home because what if this happens again and we aren't there?

I was relieved with the bill. The bill for 8 hours in the hospital with injection and IV was LESS than the office visits the last few weeks.

Thanks for the replies. It is comforting to just be able to talk to someone about this.
 
K

Kjs

Guest
Chloe was still quite swollen today. Not very active. When we take the pup out for a walk Chloe perks up and wants to go, but cannot do so yet.
Feeding her hamburger and rice, per advice from vet. She has always been such a picky eater. Turns her nose up at her food. not this stuff. Usually very hard to get her to take medications. Seems to find them in whatever we hide it in and spits the pill out...but eats the treat. I can just put the pills in with the hamburger and rice and she eats it. Now have to go back to her food.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Karen

Have you tried the vet method of giving pills? I take hold of the dog's muzzle, open wide, place pill at the back of the tongue, close and hold mouth shut tight, stroke front of throar til you see her swallow. I follow this with a piece of cheese or something they really like as a reward for taking the pill.

I've actually trained my dogs (by accident) to take their pills without any fuss at all this way.

I was driven to learn this method because our dog Molly was too smart for us. I tried every trick in the book, and she always found the darn pill. :surprise:

Goodness. I hope the swelling goes away soon. Poor baby.

Hugs
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
I have to tell you that we did allergy testing with Bubba a few years ago, which is only done by a dermatologist vet, and just the testing was over $800.

:faint:

Of course, once they had us on the line, they wanted to sell us every supplement and medicine in the book. That day I walked out of there having put over $1,200 on the visa for the dog and it was all bull. Baths and Benadryl did the trick instead of shots that would have no affect for over a year.

The matter of whether or not he was actually allergic was pretty iffy too, considering every single pin prick had a mild swelling and they tried to tell me that he was allergic to every thing they tested him for - including the control!

Hope your baby is feeling better?
 
K

Kjs

Guest
Thanks for the info on the allergy testing. don't know what to do. Haven't let her out except with us so we can keep her from sniffing the best we can. Swelling is finally gone. We will keep the benadryl for a long time. Don't want to go through this again. She is taking pepcid also and prendisone, and thyroid medications at this time.

tonight I decided to take her for a walk. We take her out everyday forever...so these past few days of being inside with airconditioning was really hard. I took her down the middle of the road so she wouldn't be sniffing everything. Wouldn't you know it...a dead rabbit right smack in the middle of the road. Not squished, but dead. So Chloe pulls me over there. Got her away as soon as I could. hopefully all will be ok.
 
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