Allergic reaction? - Page 1

I woke up at 1:00am to a Sharpai(sp) staring me in the face...keep in mind I don't own one.  My 16mo old GSD bitch's face was swollen up and she looked hideous.  Just like the Sharpai, wrinkles between her eyes, eyes swollen almost shut, her muzzle huge.  I jumped up and rushed her to the emergency vet...after 1hour,  $158.00 & two shots later we got home.  The vet said it was a classic allergic reaction.  But to what?  We haven't changed her food or snacks.  She didn't have anything to eat after a snack at around 7pm.  She doesn't go out without one of us so we know she didn't pick something up in the yard and she played with her gappy ball until we went to bed at 10:00pm.  So what the heck could have caused it?  Anyone out there have a similar experience? It's a mystery to us.  Oh yeah, at about 5pm she puked up what looked like raw scrambled eggs, same consistency.  She wouldn't eat until she had puked up about 1 cup of this over 4 sessions.  Then everything was great and she chowed down.  Never puked again.
She looks much better this morning after the histamine shot & cortizone shot.  She'll be on benadryl for a couple of days.  But man! She was really freaky looking last night.
Deb

Sorry to hear that! Glad she's feeling better. Does the vet think it was food allergy or a bug bite allergy? It would have scared me waking up to a wrinkle dog!

The logical explanation is a sting or bite from some insect. Even in winter, I have found wasps sometimes inside my house or building. Spiders are always around. And of course, the other issue is could she have ingested something other than her usual food? OR, less likely, could she have developed an allergy to an ingredient in her normal food. In any case, yes, benadryl is the way to go until the swelling subsides and I would recommend always having it available for both humans and animals. If this happens again, then you will have to seek out an answer. But sometimes these things happen and we never find out the cause. I had a dog boarding here one time who apparently was stung outside in the exercise yard, but I did not see that until I walked through the kennel a few minutes after putting her inside and noted it was a different dog....face just as you describe. She was fine after some benadryl. The thing to watch for in such cases is respiratory distress. That then becomes a life threatening emergency.
Glad your dog is ok!

That happened to my Tyler now 7 l/2 but then 9 weeks, the day I got him home.  Very scarey.   The vet had given him Keflex for something and I figured that is what did it.  Gave him several benedril (2, then 2 more) and the swelling came down, he slept the whole next day;  his litter sister had same reraction to albon (I believe it was).  However, my boy now has 
That  a medical alert to Keflex, NEVER to give it to him and I have never used albon on him either.  So these guys for whatever reason can be very sensitive to things.  My other service girl (a Samoyed) believe me the service girl or all service dogs;  anyway I was visiting my mom in a care facility as her health was very bad and I caught my girl picking up some kind of a pill that underneath one of the beds;  of course she was going to bring it to me, but had she swolled it;  god knows what could have happened as it was a capsule and by the time she had it in her mouth, it was very sticky and stuck to her tongue; I of course grabbed it out of her mouth, but goes to show you innocently;  they can swollow stuff and you will never know.

That sounds like maybe a mushroom or something like that.  Ugh...  Some will eat anything and everything and some will innocently pick stuff up and down the hatch it goes by mistake.  And of course,  we all know puppies will pick up everything and eat it.

Thanks for the reassuring comments everyone.  I just called home and my husband said she is doing fine.  He also mentioned that she always pokes her nose into a pile of leaves when he takes her out and I remember her doing that last night too so even tho I didn't see her jump back like something got her, maybe a bug of some sort did sting her.  The vet seemed convinced it was a bug bite not a food allergy.  I'm going to go over her with a fine tooth comb tonight to see if I spot any bite or sting mark.  My husband said he would get rid of the pile of leaves today so hopefully he won't get bit too.  I really doubt she ate anything unusual.  We don't let her out alone, one or both of us is always with her and we would have seen her if she picked something up...usually she will bring whatever she finds to us to play fetch with.  Does anyone know if those spiny balls on gum trees can harm a dog?  She likes to flip them in the air and chase them but she has never tried to eat one.  Our house is puppy proof so I doubt she got into anything but we looked everywhere to be sure and found no signs of her getting into anything.  It's a mystery to us.  I'll just keep my fingers crossed it wasn't a brown recluse spider and will let you know if anything else develops or if we figure it out.  Thanks again for responding! 

Deb
 

I agree its an allergic reaction,but not sure if i agree with sting or bit due to her throwing up i have had my share of stings and bites and have to be really carefull with bulldogs of course .yes they swelled up huge but none ever threw anything up i would think she must have eating something plant leaf maybe   but anyways i always keep prednizon on hand give one then half hour later give 2 benadryl seems to work

Thanks bulldogs but she threw up at approx 5pm and the swelling occured between midnight and 1:45am and the vet didn't think they were related.  Hard to say now...anyway ...here are some photos taken about 3am when some of the swelling had gone down. 
Normal...



and after the swelling had gone down some...you can see her eyes!

Here is another one.  She looks much better tonight but not quite healed up.  Poor little girl!

 Deb,

This dog got stung or bitten by something. I would guess she was stung. If it were something she ate, you would likely not see such localized swelling. You may not find an entry wound, but you might if you use a bright light and can get her to sit still for long enough. I would bet on this being a sting. Keep benadryl on hand always. If she ever has another reaction like this, consider asking your vet for a syringe of epinephrine just in case. Giving a capsule of benadryl might not work quickly enough because the body must metabolize it and in severe allergic reactions, that is not going to happen fast enough. Again, what you want to watch for if this should ever happen again is some indication of respiratory distress or worse, collapse. Hopefully, this won't ever happen again, but if it does, it could be like this, or far, far more severe. 

Good luck.

Thanks Hodie,
You're a gem!  My brother is allergic to bee stings and I've seen the same reaction with him and I am aware it can get worse each time it happens.  It's just been a long time since he was stung.  I will ask my vet for a syringe of epinephrine (is that the same thing as an "epi pen"?  I went over her pretty good tonight with a bright light but I can't find anything.  I was terrified she would stop breathing before we got to the vet but she never gave any indication of discomfort.  Thank goodness!
Thanks again!
Deb