Griffo Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 Hi, this happened a few months ago to my shepherd. To this day we still do not know what caused it, she has had the same reaction twice. Both times she had to go to the vet and they gave her an injection. The second time i thought she was going to die as her breathing got very laboured, she went from being very wobbly on her feet to not being able to walk at all and she went to lay down away from me where i couldnt see her which she never does. It was a very scary experience. I was lucky that she stood outside my window crying till i woke up, otherwise who knows what would've happened. After the needle it went down within 2hrs. Anyone had similar experiences? I have asked people before but no one has had anything very helpful to offer :rolleyes: ...thought you DOLers might be more clued in lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pandii Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 :rolleyes: :D Maybe bee sting- one of my guys got one in the face ( I think he was trying to eat the Bee) and his face swelled up for a few hours, no other side effects, but maybe like humans dogs could be allergic to the sting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest magnum Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 I would say a sting from a bee or even a wasp etc, dogs have been know to die from a sting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caffiend42 Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 Were there any other lumps on her body? If so, it makes sense that her face was affected as she'd immediately go to lick/chew on the site that was affected. Last Nov Keg had a reaction in the middle of the night - he had a small red spot on his tummy, and within half an hour he got 20c piece-sized welts all over his body, and his face swelled up. He was very distressed, and a 3am Sunday morning cortizone injection relieved the symptoms. I would have hated for him to have been outside and us not know that this happened, and how it could have developed further without treatment. We never did find out what it was, but the vet suspected a wasp in bed. Could have got any of the 4 of us - 2 humans, 2 doggies. I would have much rather had it than Keg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoiltlabs Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 Looks very much like an allergic reaction, my bet is on a sting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffo Posted June 28, 2006 Author Share Posted June 28, 2006 no there were no other welts on her body, just her face was one huge welt. i was thinking bee sting but i didnt know if bees are around in the middle of the night. the other time it happened was at dusk. and i am sure she has been bitten by bees before without a reaction - whether that means anything or not, i dont know. looked everywhere on her body to find a bite or something, as did the vet, but couldnt see one. doesn't mean there couldn't have been one somewhere tho, it is hard with all that fur. we are in newcastle area on a river...dont know whether there is a plant/animal/something unique to the area. she was in her pen when it happened which is mainly grass, has a shed (which she sleeps in) and a dirt area (which she digs in) and a big paperbark tree. I looked thru the pen so many times for insects ect but it is hard when you dont know what you are looking for. thanks for replies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peigirl Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 Rachelle that sounds like an anaphylactic reaction you've described which is not good as it means your girl’s airways are closing. My boy has severe allergic, but not anaphylactic reactions to bee/wasp stings which caused him to swell up worse than your girl around his eyes, ears, nose and muzzle. Very, very scary indeed. You would be surprised what they can get into after dark when you would think the ‘wing and sting brigade’ would be back in their nests. Not so. My boy’s worst episode (he had 4 in the space of 10 days) was after he went outside to the toilet around 10pm. The following morning when I woke at 6am he had slits for eyes and had blown up like a balloon. He also needed two injections on each occasion to bring the reaction under reaction under control. When the swelling went down you could see the sting marks on his muzzle – hard to find tho amongst all the wrinkles and fur on a shar pei. My vet gave me some 20mg Predisnolone (sp?) tablets to give him straight away if he has a reaction – they are the equivalent of what’s in the injections but takes about 10-15 mins longer to activate as its ingested. Every time we go out, the tablets come too. You never know when your girl might have another reaction (and how far away your going to be away from your vet when it happens) so I would definitely suggest you have something similar on hand for your girl too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paula- Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 My RRxlab ate (we think) a bee, her face swelled up completely, I couldn't see her eyes and her face looked like a football, she also had small lumps all over her body - straight to the vet for a cortisone injection, she was fine soon after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alibear Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 I haven't read everyones replies, but my GSD while growing up had this many times.... He used to chase and eat bees! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pesh Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 Yep. like the rest...........beesting. Had a staffy, lovely gal. The breeders lost her Mother to bee stings, and we'd had a close call with our gal. Yes, very scared, both her and us....................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsD Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 I vote for bee sting (possibly wasp) as well. My mini foxie got stung once & her face swelled up just like your pic - it was quite disconcerting. Luckily she never had any anaphalactic reaction & no problem with breathing or weakness etc, only the huge swelling of the face, but it certainly looked just like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imy Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 One of my cats died of a reaction to something... he was eating the juice of some lasagne I put down in the kitched and just flopped down and choked there and then... it was either something in the jar of sauce I used to make the lasagne OR the vet said he may have eaten a bee/wasp a little earlier. Another person told me of her chi's reaction to eating some canned food... the premium kind (spoilt dog) it had seaweed in the mix apparently and he had a reaction to that and died. Has you GSD eaten anything out of the ordinary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOE Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 no there were no other welts on her body, just her face was one huge welt. i was thinking bee sting but i didnt know if bees are around in the middle of the night. the other time it happened was at dusk. and i am sure she has been bitten by bees before without a reaction - whether that means anything or not, i dont know. This happened to my old Vizsla at about 1 am in the morning when I let him out to go to the loo and it was caused by a bee sting his tongue also swelled up and I had to race him to the on call vet, for one little sting at that time of the morning I got a hefty price tag to go with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2tollers Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 A dog at our club had a nasty reaction to bull ant bite. I don't know all of the details but he was a way from the club for weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peibe Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Something to remember aswell is everytime they get stung by the same "thing" it gets worse. It took 4 bee stings for my girl to have welts all over her body and almost die, now I carry an epi-pen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffo Posted June 30, 2006 Author Share Posted June 30, 2006 oh thank you everyone for the replies..i knew you DOLers would have some useful info for me!! i am surprised about how many dogs get such bad reactions to bees. it is making me think that it very well could have been that. the vet did give me same tablets and told me to get some stuff from the chemist..cant remember what it is called...i havent had to use it yet but it is sitting on the shelf ready to go if the time ever comes. imy, that is very interesting about the food....as far as i know she hadnt had anything out of the ordinary...doesnt mean she cant have found something lying round the yard...the vet suggested it could have been a plant that she ate....but i cant see how that could be the case. i think she would have had more than 2 reactions if that was the cause. 2tollers...that is really interesting about the bullant bite too...now that IS something she has in her pen. i wonder. i got rid of them after the 2nd time..religiously spraying daily (sorry ozone)...that might be another possibility. we get thse horrible huge ants here and if they bite you omg it hurts for days. maybe she ate one?! piebe..i must say, it did seem worse the 2nd time round. and i am hoping like hell that there is never a third. can anyone get an epi pen? do vets have an allergy test they can run on dogs like they can for humans? at least now i have a few things i can use as a starting point when clearing out the nasties in her pen. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peibe Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 I hope it does not happen again myself, pretty scary hey? I have a very good vet that trusts me, lol. Most vets will not give them though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flames_Daddy Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Wowzers Rachelle, that inflammation effect was dramatic. I imagine in the case of a multiple bee-sting it would be imperative to get immediate medical attention because it would possibly be a life threatening scenario. On a lighter note, I was thinking that if Ellie was transformed into a Sharpei with a beesting reaction, then my Flame would probably metamorph into a Rotty! Thankfully Flame seems to be able to "get" the insects before they "get" her... like stamping on cockies and crickets with her paws. I hope this doesn't happen again but a least we've all learnt something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShesaLikeableBiBear Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 One of mine was bitten by something and had the same reaction, her face swelled up, eyes went puffy etc. I too am allergic to wasps and have had a nasty reaction, used to carry an epipen but now out of date having not been stung for three years, they are expensive, but now just carry anti-histamine. Ask your vet if they can give you anti-histamine to have at home in an emergency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparkyTansy Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Allergic reactions in general are very scary... had a few occasion but one springs to mind Spartan once at a plant called mother-in-law's tongue (how appropriate) had a major reaction to it, his eyes swelled up and stuff and he actually got really weak and almost passed out... Then there was the time, where we don't know what it was, but his ears swelled up so much you could no longer bend them in any direction (weird for a floppy eared dog!) Another time before we knew he was allergic to chicken he came up in heaps of pussy welts it was so gross!! (we had given him a chicken frame!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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