Little Dog in a Big World

I had a dog for 14 years.  I thought I’d seen it all.  I was wrong.

A week ago, Misha looked perfectly fine when I fed her breakfast.  About two hours later, her right jowl seemed swollen.  She’s always flying around the house, so I thought maybe she ran into something and I didn’t see it.

By late afternoon, she looked like this:

Her face was clearly swollen.  As we had another family medical emergency the same day, I kept an eye on Misha.  I kept hoping whatever it was would go away.  I called our regular Vet since I couldn’t get over there and they told me what to watch for.

By evening, it was very clear she had a problem.  The swelling was spreading.  It was affecting her eyes and was moving back towards her tail.  She was itching everywhere and plain miserable.

Sometime later, I found a bump on her back.  It looked like she had been bitten by a spider and was having an allergic reaction to it.  We were off to the Emergency Vets.

This was her first time at the emergency place and she was not happy!  She made it through the exam okay.  But, when they took her back to get her two shots and to get the bite area cleaned up, she screamed and howled.  The Vet told me after that she was “a feisty one”.

The steroid and benadryl made her very tired.  When we got home, she went out to do her business and then went straight to bed.  The itching seemed to be gone, though her face was still swollen.  At least she got a good night sleep.