| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Annab |
Posted - Aug 20 2007 : 03:31:28 AM
So I walk in the door from work yesterday afternoon, the dog meets me at the door per the usual, and then I notice I can't see her eyes, and her muzzle looks like she has been hit in the face.
This shepherd looks more liie a cross between a sharpe and chow!
What happened??? I then saw her breakfast thrown up in the middle of the floor. and automatically assume copperhead bite.
Oh boy
And wouldn't you know, my slow-as-molassas dial up computer is locked up, so I wasn't able to quick google anything about snake bites.
Naturally, hubby was out riding his bike, so I wasn't able to know immediatly what happened.
Luckily the one person I needed to conatct was still at work. He is a herpitologist and made me feel a bit better.
Now, I'm not so sure it was a snake bite, but the treatment he suggested worked anyway. Keep the dog calm, no ice on the wound (I couldn't see anything obvious anyway) and children's benadryl.
Last night around 8:30, you could clearly see both eyes again, her appetite was back, and she played with a neighbor's new puppy like nothing had ever happened.
Very strange.
My friend also said, dogs are able to handle quite a bit and sometimes get bitten many times throughout their lives.
I was so afriad Jasmine's throat would swell shut. This is a risk with venomous bites.
As of this morning, she is pretty much back to normal and her muzzle feels just a tad bit swolen.
Boy, what a scare!!!
There has been a big influx of bees and wasps here lately. We plowed under our pathetic watermelons, so the dog very well may have gotten stung while sniffing around.
As a precautionary measure -hubby can let the dog out to pee when I'm not home, and that's it.
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| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Alee |
Posted - Aug 23 2007 : 11:21:40 AM
Yipes! You have an expensive vet!!
Yes, my vet always recommends monitoring any pet closely after injections. Even for simple ones because you never know what they might react to.
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for typing, one hand to hold Nora!
http://home.test-afl.tulix.com/aleeandnora/ |
| Annab |
Posted - Aug 23 2007 : 05:29:27 AM
Yea,
You never know how pets will react. Glad your Snoop recovered. sure wish vets didn't have to be so far away.
Our emergency vet is 30 miles and they charge nearly 90.00 just to walk through the door. Such is the price to keep our beloved fur-babies with us. |
| mommatracy |
Posted - Aug 22 2007 : 1:28:29 PM
Our little min-pin, Snoop, had a similar reaction to a distemper shot 3 yrs ago and we almost lost him. Got nuetered and a shot in the morning. Brought him home from vet at 4:30 and by 5:00 his face began to swell right in front of me. His eyes swelled almost shut and he wobbled and fell over on his side. Called the vet and raced Snoop back to her office 30 min. away. I struggled to keep him awake. His head would just hang and wobble, he could hardly breath. I was freaking out. My husband was driving like a wild man. The vet gave him 2 injections and it brought Snoop around. Vet said to keep childrens Benadryl around in case he had another bad reaction to something. If I had just put our little Snoop down his in bed and went about my business around the house he would have died. Anytime a pet gets a vacinnation I would recommend that you keep a sharp eye on them for the entire day just to be on the safe side. |
| Alee |
Posted - Aug 21 2007 : 9:06:00 PM
I am glad you solved the mystery! A wasp sting is much preferrable to a snake bite!
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for typing, one hand to hold Nora!
http://home.test-afl.tulix.com/aleeandnora/ |
| Annab |
Posted - Aug 21 2007 : 6:21:37 PM
Happy and relieved to have found the culprit struggling on the floor yesterday afternoon.
I totally forgot that wasps have been climbing into the ceiling where termites invaded 2 years ago and caused the celotex tiles to fall off. We just patched the missing tiles with a sheet of plastic and staples.
So I guess one of the wasps had a weak moment and couldn't fly back up. SWAT! 
End of said problem for the moment.
It makes sense, since Jasmine was in the house and perfectly fine before all this happened.
I don't dare chance a peek under the plastic just yet. But I will staple it a little firmer to the ceiling so there isn't a gap .
And luckily Jas hasn't had a reaction to any vaccinations. I'm very wary about this issue, believe me!
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| Alee |
Posted - Aug 20 2007 : 3:40:47 PM
Your puppy could have gotten stung by a bee or a wasp. Benedryl will help with that as well.
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for typing, one hand to hold Nora!
http://home.test-afl.tulix.com/aleeandnora/ |
| quilt8305 |
Posted - Aug 20 2007 : 10:35:02 AM
Our two year old labrador had a very bad reaction to mosquito bites last year and his face swelled up just like you describe. Fortunately it went away almost as fast as it swelled up, but we have to put insect repellent on him now.
Mary
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. Albert Einstein |
| Hideaway Farmgirl |
Posted - Aug 20 2007 : 08:13:11 AM
Hi Anna,
This brought back scary memories for me! My beloved Chihuahua, Scooter the Wonder-Dawg, had a reaction to his second distemper shot when he was a puppy. He went from looking like a cute little chihuahua, to almost shar-pei looking, in just a few minutes. This happens infrequently, and in this case, was delayed onset. He got his shot at 10:30 in the morning, was fine all day with me, and whammo - at 6pm I looked at him and his muzzle was swelling and looked somewhat square-shaped, and the area around his right eye was quickly swelling, followed by swelling around the left eye. By the time we got to the Emergency Vet, he was totally swollen around his face and muzzle, and I was terrifed that his throat would close up but it didn't. Several shots and dollars later, we brought him back home. The swelling took about a day to completely go away.
When I talked to the breeder where we bought him about it, and she had only had two other dogs, in 16 years of breeding puppies, that had this reaction. She said for future shots (like the third one he would need to complete his puppy shots and the annual shots thereafter) that I should pre-treat him ahead of time with 2 ml. of Children's Benedryl, followed by two more doses of the same amount every 6 hours for the rest of that day. We did that for a few years, then the Vet started offering a distemper shot that did not have the particular ingredient in it (sorry I forgot the name) that causes this reaction.
Anyway, three years later, we were at the beach and the little darling who loves to snap at flies, bees, mosquitos, etc., was rubbing his muzzle on the carpet. He looked up at me and I saw the squared off muzzle again...panic! I ran to a neighbor's house who had kids, and asked her if she had Children's Benedryl...yup! I dosed him once, and watched him for the next several hours but the single dose caused the swelling to go down.
I now keep Children's Benedryl in the house and an extra bottle in his dog bag when he goes travelling with us, or gets puppy-sat by family members.
Who knows what got your shepherd, unless she recently had a distemper shot? It sure sounds like a bee or wasp sting. The only other thing I can think is something in her food that she is allergic too? I assume this situation would present itself as a possibility if she has future reactions.
Hope she's doing okay now!
Jo
"Wish I had time to work with herbs all day!" |
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