Little Dog in a Big World

Posts Tagged ‘Allergic Reactions’

In May, Misha was bitten by a spider.  What started as a little swelling in her face, turned into a full blown reaction from head to tail and sent us to the emergency vet clinic.

This afternoon we were in the yard before taking our afternoon walk.  Misha did this big hop and then could not put her foot down on the ground.  She couldn’t walk and held her front paw bent as if it was broken.

I picked her up with much effort since she tried to attack me.  I got her in the house and tried to check her paw.  Whenever I got anywhere near her elbow she yowled in pain and tried to bite me.

I really had no clue what was wrong.  All I knew was she was in pain and we needed to get to the vets.

By the time we got there, her leg was swollen from the pads to her elbow.  That was only 20 minutes later!

The Veterinarian checked her out.  Misha had never been to this doctor before and was very reluctant to let her come anywhere near her.  After a couple of treats she did let the doctor pick her up.  But, she would not let her touch her paw.

Given the fact that wasps had been playing amongst the grass on our lawn, the Veterinarian determined that a wasp sting was the most likely culprit.  I decided to treat her for that rather than have x-rays taken.  If it was worse the next day, then I knew it was the wrong diagnosis.  They were able to give her the two shots and we were on our way home.

By the time we got home, she was walking again.  There was still some swelling though.  By morning she was fine.

I had a dog for 14 years and not once did she have a reaction to an insect bite or sting.  I wonder if Misha’s small stature (7.5 pounds!) makes her more susceptible to allergic reactions.  At any rate, I’m on alert for wasps, bees, and spiders now.  I don’t really want to go through this again any time soon!

Misha was well on her way to full recovery by the next morning.  The swelling was gone from her body except for a small a amount that remained in her face.

But what’s this?  Something has happened to her ears!

Goodness!  She’s definitely having a bad ear day!

Either she’s too tired from her ordeal to hold her ears up or one of the medications has caused them to relax.

It was funny to see her reaction.  She most certainly did not like her ears this way.  All day she tried to push them back up on top of her head.

This wasn’t the only problem after her ordeal.  The medication made her very drowsy and sick to her stomach.  I gave her the second dose of benadryl as ordered and a couple hours later she was throwing up.

She was not feeling well all night, which made her very sensitive to being handled.  She was growling and snipping most of the evening.  So, I let her be.  I read that some animals will be this way when under the affect of medication.

Since all the swelling was down, I decided not to give her the recommend second dose of benadryl that night.  Unless she showed more signs of a reaction, I didn’t want to upset her stomach again.

Besides, she had enough to worry about with those darn ears falling in her face all day.

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.