Dog Community

Her eyes swelled shut!

Posted : 3/28/2006 10:55:55 AM

Last night I looked at Gracie and I realized that something looked different about her, her nose was wider, so was her whole head. A little while after that her eyes swelled shut. So I ran out in the rain at 2 a.m. to drive 15 miles to get her some Benadryl (I know you dog lovers will understand!). She had some Benadryl and laid down finally, but had a pretty fitful night's sleep. Her ears are so swollen she can't even hold them up.

I had to do an urgent care visit to the vet this morning. They gave her a shot of Benadryl and Cortisone, and gave me some Prednisone to take home with me and said to give her a whole Benadryl tablet 2 times a day for the next 2 days.

He said he saw 2 other dogs this past weekend with the same exact symptoms and their owner's didn't know what they got into either. He feels that it's a spider bite but can't be sure. We did find a big bump on her neck that could be some sort of insect bite.

She's resting now finally without whining and shaking her ears. My poor little girl. She looks better in this picture than she did last night. Last night she looked like a Shar Pei she was so swollen

thedoc617

Posted : 3/28/2006 11:01:08 AM

Poor baby! Glad she's on the mend. Prayers comming her way from Texas!

It's good you thought of benadryl.

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Posted : 3/28/2006 11:38:36 AM

Poor Gracie! I'm glad she's feeling better. It would be good if someone (maybe the vet, maybe not) could figure out what caused this since it affected more than one dog. If it's some sort of insect, we could be on the lookout for it.

forpaws

Posted : 3/28/2006 11:45:23 AM

Poor baby. I know how scary that can be. Beau ate some oyster and crab shells once and did the same allergic reaction thing. It was wild. I always have benedryl on hand.

I hope she recovers soon. Poor little darlin. Give her a hug and a kiss for me. Dilly sends lickies and a snifferoo too.

Lexi

Posted : 3/28/2006 12:03:56 PM

Poor little Gracie!!! Romy had similiar problems recently and the vet thought it was a wasp sting, but it actually turned out to be the dyes in the crappy food I was feeding her.

I hope she's on the up and up soon. It's kinda cute how sleepy they get on benadryl, though.

Sandra TH

Posted : 3/28/2006 2:08:05 PM

How scary for you! I'm so glad she is going to be alright.

minimom

Posted : 3/28/2006 2:15:37 PM

So happy to hear that Gracie is doing better. Two things that all of us furmom/furdads need to keep on hand...benedryl for the pups and a shot of good strong liquor for the humans when the pups scare the heck out of us!

He is The Boss

Posted : 3/28/2006 3:14:26 PM

I thought I had some Benadryl and was freaking when I realized I didn't. I headed for a pharmacy that was suppose to be 24 hours and it was closed, which is why I ended up driving so far. I had brought her with me so that I could give her some medicine as soon as I got it. I knew she was miserable.. she just kept whimpering.

She's pretty groggy now, but her ears are bugging her. They are so swollen and heavy they are just laying beside her face and it's driving her nuts. She keeps shaking her head to move them away.

I can almost bet she dug into some bug's hole while she was outside digging holes in the yard. Spring time is coming and the bugs are coming out now. Thank God Boss didn't get into whatever it was too. She does go under the deck exploring and digging a lot more than he does.

dyan

Posted : 3/28/2006 4:11:18 PM

Yikes! THATS SCARY!!!
Glad she is feeling better,,,,,thats a really cute sleepy picture of her.

marlania

Posted : 3/28/2006 5:23:46 PM

Wow, poor thing! Now I'm glad we have so much Benedryl here thanks to my mom's obsession with keeping my stocked with medicine (that I don't need or take lol).

jennie_c_d

Posted : 3/28/2006 8:51:40 PM

Poor baby!!! Emma's stuck her nose where it didn't belong and been bitten, too. I hope Gracie feels better now!

calliecritturs

Posted : 3/28/2006 10:07:50 PM

Spiders can be particularly dangerous -- some of them, like the brown recluse, can require antibiotics (they can be fatal to humans if you are sensitive -- I've been bitten twice and it is awful).

But yeah -- thanks for posting this. Benedryl is just one of those dog first aid things we ALL have to keep on hand.

1-2 mg/lb two to four times a day. So that's a very very minimal dose she's on. The over the counter caps are 25 mg - so that is a standard (low) dose for a 25 pound dog!!!

Shoot, until Socks got hives once (and we never DID figure what she got into) I didn't even know dogs could get hives!!

bless her heart -- if that swelling doesn't go down by tomorrow -- call the vet back! If it is one of the more poisonous varieties of spiders, she might require antibiotics and I'm sure the vet is assuming the swelling should have gone WAY down. So don't be afraid to call the vet back, ok?

You should be proud of yourself -- you can literally save a dog's life with Benedryl!

labcrab

Posted : 3/29/2006 4:40:22 PM

Oh no!!! Poor little girl! That'll teach all of us to go out and buy some Benedryl tonight! So glad she's feeling better.

He is The Boss

Posted : 3/29/2006 8:47:42 PM

Her swelling has gone done significantly. The only thing left over from the whole thing is her little ears still aren't standing up yet.

They were so full of fluid in the flaps they were seeping, but they dried up quickly after the steroids were started. I'm hoping it didn't do any permanent damage to her ears that they won't stand up again. One was standing up and the other one was slowly working it's way to do so, but now she's just got floppy ears.

I know floppy ears should be the least of my worries, but I'm looking at my gsd/husky and thinking she's gonna look pretty silly if they don't stand back up! LOL!

We don't have brown recluse spiders here, from the stuff I looked up.

She's up and about being her regular crazy self. Boss has been taking care of her, licking her head when she was laying down, laying beside her and nudging her, just being a very good boy.

dyan

Posted : 3/29/2006 8:50:55 PM

Shew,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,thank goodness she is up to her old self!