Last night was awful…

[NerdyDogOwner]

Wow, last night was one of the worst I experiences I have had for a long time..

Gizmo apparently had an allergic reaction to something.

It all started with me noticing his left eye was irritated and swollen. This was around 7PM about 1 hour after our walk. At 8PM it had gone down, but I still decide to call the vet in the morning.

Later that night at around 9:30PM I sat down to watch a movie. Turned off all the lights. I took Gizmo up on my lap, since he loves to sleep on me while I watch. Just a few minutes in he starts acting all jumpy. Can't sit still, sniffs around the place and "plays" at random things in the air (so it seemed). This went on for 20 minutes.

Well I couldn't watch the movie with this racket, and just thought he was being a punk since he had been sleeping all day long and this resulted in him being wide awake this late. So I put him in his crate, and went back to the movie. He did the usual separation crying, but I ignored it expecting him to stop shortly.

1hour into the movie we was still crying but in a more whimpering pain manner. So I stopped, and went over to see what the deal was.

I then noticed a part of his nose-bridge was swollen up. So I let him out.

The poor guy was in some serious discomfort and pain. He cried and ran around as if he had mad cows disease, running into the walls, falling down on the floor, wanting to scratch but run at the same time.
I felt so helpless. I called the emergency vet number, and she suggested give him 1/4th of a painkiller (this was early on before we thought of allergic reaction).

But after 2 hours with no effect from the painkiller, I noticed his face was really badly puffed up, and his lips where very much so too. And to top it off he had rash bumps throughout his body. So now I understood why he was running into the walls and rubbing against anything he could find. He was itching like mad!

I called again, and thankfully I am allergic and had allergy tablets, so she suggested to give him half of one.

The half did calm him down a bit, but 1 hour later he was just as "mad", so I ended up having to give him the rest! Wow…a full tablet for that little body!

Anyways, he eventually fell, half drugged, asleep around 5:20AM. The poor guy had been awake since 5PM, and in discomfort from what I can guess since 10PM.

This morning I was happy to see he was still sleeping, and his swelling had gone down. There was just a very small amount left in his nose, but his body rashes where at least all gone as was his discomfort, so it was clear it's dieing out.

I still called the vet the instant they opened, and they informed me there was little to do since it is nearly gone, but I should keep an eye on him in case it flames up again.

Phew, what a night. Gizmo is really pooped out (as am I!) and sleeping. He gave out some serious "let me sleep" moans when I went to feel his lips and nose to see how much swelling was left. But he didn't seem to care much, even did a stretch! So thankfully it seems the pain is gone.

I wish I knew what triggered it.

Poor guy, and this on top of his other problem!

[Janneke]

Wow, this story just keeps popping up.. Tillo has had this, as well as some other B's on this forum.

I hope it was a one time experience for Gizmo and it will stay away now

[NerdyDogOwner]

Thanks Janneke.

He has been up for a few hours, and he is still acting strange. Whimpering, and rubbing his head a lot. The swelling is pretty much all gone. But I am gonna take him to the vet in about 1 hour just to be safe.

Maybe they can take some tests, or give him something to relax with until it's fully out of his system.

[nomrbddgs]

Probably a spider bite. I keep a variety of drugs on hand for things like this. Usually I will give a prednisone or benadryl depending on how bad it is.

[Janneke]

@NerdyDogOwner:

Thanks Janneke.

He has been up for a few hours, and he is still acting strange. Whimpering, and rubbing his head a lot. The swelling is pretty much all gone. But I am gonna take him to the vet in about 1 hour just to be safe.

Maybe they can take some tests, or give him something to relax with until it's fully out of his system.

Tillo gets a prednisone injection when he has a reaction like this.
Hope the vet can do something for Gizmo

[Basenjimamma]

Oh, poor Gizmo, and you too..so much for sleep.
Do you think he got bit by spider, ant or anything, maybe even inside his nose?

Otis has never had this, but our min Schnauzer mix, got bit by ants( we think at least) this summer nad she got so sick, withing minutes you couldn't see her eyes, and her nose was almost swelled shut, she vomited several times and wouldn't even get up, she was like a wet towel, so limp in her body..
I gave her one of my kids allergy pills, and called the emegency vet, we were out of town, but thankfully I had already got all that info ready at home, before the trip..by the time we were ready to head to the vet, she perked up and wanted to go outside to tinkle..after that she was fine.

Scary though, I was heartbroken, not knowing what to do or what got her..afterwards we scanned the yard and saw a pretty big antpile were the dogs had been sniffing..

Our Westie, many years ago, also got bit by ants and had lumps on his eyelids, in his nostrils, even in his mouth, I guess from him trying to lick/bite them off..he looked pathetic, but benadryl made it a little better..

I hope Gizmo feels better soon.

[thunderbird8588]

Poor Gizmo,
hope he goes on alright at the vets. I assume he didn't have anything different to eat?
I remember Benjis head once swelled up so much his eyes were just slits. I had given him a Pigs ear that day, the swelling went down by the next day and never happened again. I did keep him away from pigs ears just in case.

[Kananga]

Poor guy.

I always keep Benadryl around in case something like this happens.

[AJs Human]

Wow…hives for a dog can be as uncomfortable as for humans. Try to find out what he reacted to. Since he has already had a systemic reaction to it, it may cause full-blown anaphylaxis if he comes in contact with it again. Perhaps ask your vet whether there is an ana-kit available for dogs to keep on hand in case of emergency. It would be used only if he has difficulty breathing.

[NerdyDogOwner]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Well, we have been home for a few hours, and this is how it went:

Once we got home from the vet Gizmo went "nuts" again, and deliberately falling to the floor face first in an attempt to scratch it. He mostly stays on the doormat since it is nice and rough.
So naturally, the kind "daddy" I am, I helped him and scratched him while he constantly cried. Really tore my heart up listening to him.

I gave him a shower with the shampoo the vet gave me, and followed that up with his medicine (I will tell you guys what brand/type she gave me at the end).
The shampoo seemed to help a lot. He stopped scratching his body, but his face/head was still a problem. I didn't wash this with the shampoo due to danger of getting this stuff into his eyes.

He still screamed and cried due to his itchy face, so I followed the vets advise to go outside with him to keep him occupied on other stuff. Luckily we met several other dogs, and he only once sat down to scratch himself.
We were outside for around 40 minutes, so the medicine started to kick in. He was pretty "groggy" at the end, and I had to really work hard in keep him from planting his butt on the ground.

Once we got home he finally got some sleep. And is sleeping next to me now. Every once and awhile he will whimper and move around a bit, but so far so good.

The shampoo the vet game me was: Virbac Animal Health, Epi-Soothe, I can highly recommend it! Seemed to work wonders!
The medicene: Atarax 10mg. The instructions/explaination in the package was a pretty interesting read. This drug also seems to help anxiety, itching, etc. I guess it's almost the "anti-Basenji" drug!!

PS.
I will upload a video of Gizmo with his condition. I filmed yesterday and a bit today when we got home. I'll let you guys know when it's uploaded.

@Basenjimamma:

Oh, poor Gizmo, and you too..so much for sleep.
Do you think he got bit by spider, ant or anything, maybe even inside his nose?

I really don't think it was a spider bite. It's getting pretty cold here now, so I think most spiders are gone. Also Norway has no real dangerous/venomous spider spices. But I am thinking a bug of some kind. Maybe those black beetle bugs that spray "stink" he did find one earlier that day, but I didn't think he got close enough for it to spray him.

EDIT:

Ok the video is uploaded. If you pause it real quick at the fist picture/frame, you can really see how his lips are swollen, as well as his snout. http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNerdyDogOwner#p/u/0/evM7FD7Dk4o

[renaultf1]

Poor little guy!

[vickilb]

Poor puppy!!!!

I feel so bad for him. He looks like he just wants to be sweet and cute and can't stop itching!!!

[Basenjimamma]

Poor Gizmo.
I agree on that shampo being great, I have used it extensively on our very allergic Westie, in the past..worked wonders.
I hope he is feeling better as the day progresses. Did the vet give you an indication as to how long this might last?

I know you probably don't have any poisonous anything, Sweden sure doesn't,but what else can it be? Maybe a plant, do you have nettles around your walking path? The sting and make me swell up like all get out, you never know?

Best wishes for a quick recovery, so Gizmo can be Gizmo again..

[Kananga]

@NerdyDogOwner:

Ok the video is uploaded. If you pause it real quick at the fist picture/frame, you can really see how his lips are swollen, as well as his snout. http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNerdyDogOwner#p/u/0/evM7FD7Dk4o

Poor guy.

He looks awfully miserable. Hopefully the drugs help and gets back to normal.

[Janneke]

@NerdyDogOwner:

Ok the video is uploaded. If you pause it real quick at the fist picture/frame, you can really see how his lips are swollen, as well as his snout. http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNerdyDogOwner#p/u/0/evM7FD7Dk4o

Aaahw.. poor thing…
Is he feeling better already?

[NerdyDogOwner]

Well yes and no…

He isn't scratching as much, but thanks to me...sigh, I am such an idiot...I gave him his second dose WAY to early.
I just thought "well it's evening now, so here is the second dose"....without realizing it was only 3.5 hours since I have him his first.

So....he has puked a bit. But on the flip side, it seemed to have helped doing so. He quickened up, and was actually a bit playful.

His vomit did consist of mainly food, and a lot of it! So this helped me in realizing I should adjust his feeding times a bit farther apart to avoid overfeeding him.

Naturally he didn't want to eat any food since he puked it all up. Like drinking beer after being totally wasted the night before....yuck!
So I gave him some bread with peanut-butter, which he loved.

On a happy note it seems like his rash bumps on his head are almost gone. I think him not scratching has dampened the irritation, just like when you scratch on a mosquito bite makes it worse.
So the medicine has really helped in that area. At this rate I expect everything to be fine tomorrow.

He is sleeping on the floor, which I upped the heat on. It's like a sauna in here, but he is happy and that's what counts. :p

[Basenjimamma]

You know once our schnauzer mix threw up, she felt much better too, maybe this was a good thing, even though throwing up is never fun..

Hoping to hear good news of a long, good nights sleep tonight..

[AJs Human]

I'll be clear here before I even start: I was an EMT for 5 years working with humans. I have seen this…in people...it is definitely hives. They are miserable. You can push them around because it is an accumulation of fluid under the skin, the body's mechanism to surround whatever it is his immune system is reacting to.
It's miserable to have them (personal experience) and worse to watch your dog with them because they don't understand what's wrong. Petting and touching are intolerable because that makes the hives itch even more.
Please watch him for anaphylaxis. Basically, this is when the trachea, brochii and lungs react in the same way his skin is reacting in your video, with the further complication of dilated blood vessels, which lowers the blood pressure, sometimes dangerously. Anaphylaxis will present almost exactly like asthma. If you see even the beginning of this, get him emergency care as soon as you can. Anaphylaxis is life threatening.
Also, check with the Forum experts about keeping Benadryl (diphenhydramine) available and what dosage to give him and check about interactions with the meds your vet gave you. If you have to use it, it will make him sleepy, but I can't think of any better antihistamine than that.

I hope you can figure out what he's reacting to. Poor little guy.

[nobarkus]

I made the mistake of picking up Ringo (92-2007) once when he had bumps all over him after a hike around some bushes and trees at the beach. He must of been miserable because he bit me pretty good. Put a hole right through my finger nail. Ouch!

[Kananga]

@AJs:

Also, check with the Forum experts about keeping Benadryl (diphenhydramine) available and what dosage to give him and check about interactions with the meds your vet gave you. If you have to use it, it will make him sleepy, but I can't think of any better antihistamine than that.

I've always been told 1mg per lbs when it comes to Benadryl and canines. So for an adult B, around 20-25mg. Pretty much every vet I've dealt with has recommended the same dosage.

I've actually used Benadryl for long car rides to help reduce motion sickness. It just makes them drowsy and they nap instead of getting all worked up. It's a great thing to keep around since it can be used for more than one thing.