# Swollen Eyes, Red Muzzle, Itchy Face .. Help!



## BigLittleSmall (Sep 25, 2009)

I am at a loss of what to do.

I've been sitting here watching, off and on as I did the work I brought home with me from work, my 5 month old, Great Dane, puppy's face go from a little red around his left eye at around 8pm, to his eye being almost swollen shut, his muzzle being red, one side of his mouth's jowls being swollen, the top of his head break out in welts (under the fur), and watching him swarm around the living room rubbing his face on anything soft. Even the end of his ears are swollen. 





































Bless his heart .. he will jump up and run across the room all of a sudden .. when it really starts itching bad .. he runs over to my Doberman .. like she can help him.


The only thing he's had different today, was he got a wet cat food can lid out of the trash and licked it clean.

I gave him 50mg of generic Benedryl tablets (2 pills @ 25mg a piece) and have seen nothing except a nap out of it.

He doesn't seem to be in "pain" except that he did seem extremely itchy; although right now he doesn't seem to be seeking out things to rub his face on anymore.

Well, as I was typing this he needed to go out and now he has the squirts on top of it. Could that have been from the Benedryl you think?

I had him fixed last week, so I would have to think that probably has nothing to do with this, but who knows.
GAH!

I know I will get a lot of "take him to the vet" responses .. and God knows I want to, but I just (and by just I mean like .. day-before-yesterday.. Monday evening) got one of my cats back from the vet from having her eye removed (she had an ulceration almost as large as her entire eye .. vet says she probably scratched it, and, since she was missing for 3 days, no one knew it) .. so the $500 vet bill laying on my counter is telling my checkbook that I can't go to the vet again this month .. if at all humanly possible.



















I guess when "they" say it comes in 3's "they" aren't kidding. I also have another cat who ALSO just got back from the vet (about 3 days before my other cat up with an eye swollen to the size of a baseball .. and the cat only weighs about 6 lbs, if that) after someone shot him. 4 other cats in the neighborhood have been shot as well, mine's the only one living .. since we actually took ours to the vet.










Has anyone elses dog shown these symptoms? Do you know what caused it? What did you do to help alleviate it? Think it might be beneficial to go to the store and buy some "real" Benedryl liquid, since I only had the generic pills?

I'm pretty desperate here.


----------



## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

That is a VERY severe reaction, I know you just had a huge bill with the cat, but I'd fill out a CareCredit form and get him in. Honestly it looks like he's been bitten, stung or sprayed in the face.

5mg of Benadryl per 10 lbs of dog is a safe dose

Wash the affected area with mild soap and water to be sure it's not something topical, look him over really well to see if you can find and marks on him.

If he starts having problems breathing you'll need to get him to an Emergency Vet IMMEADIATELY.


----------



## BigLittleSmall (Sep 25, 2009)

I know .. he looks HORRIBLE!

He's only been outside 4 times today, both times on leash (he doesn't get to go out off leash yet, since he doesn't respond to verbal commands very well).

I took him out the 1st 2 times, my BF took him out the second 2 times .. neither time did he act like he was stung (and he is a big ole baby, lemme tell you), and I'm not quite sure what you mean by "sprayed in the face" .. like, by a skunk or something?

The wet cat food is all I can think that has been different today.

Maybe I will fill a form out (never heard of that before), but honestly .. I don't see them approving it .. since my credit is pretty stretched right now with $60k+ in school loans and I only work part-time at the college.

I'm guessing I need to make a Wal-Mart trip here soon. *puts head in hand*


----------



## lucidity (Nov 10, 2009)

Oh no, I know what you mean about vet bills piling up.  My pup seems to always be sick with something or other as well. Doesn't help that my vet charges exorbitant fees! You should look into pet insurance for future illnesses.. I only pay about $20 a month and they covered $330 of my recent vet bill which was $400. 

How much does your dog weigh? The Benadryl you gave him might not have been enough. Call your vet and ask them for a good dose of Benadryl to give him and see if it works better.


----------



## BigLittleSmall (Sep 25, 2009)

I would imagine he weighs around 70lbs. He weighed 67 when I got him neutered last week .. and his food got increased this week, from 4 cups to 5 a day.

I read that it was 1mg per lb, but then I read here 5mg per 10lbs.

I gave him 50mg around 8-9pm. I was afraid to give him more until about 6 hours had passed.

I don't want to cause him more problems, yanno. He's snoozing right now. Seems to be breathing ok .. except for the snoring (which, unfortunately for us .. is normal lol).


----------



## cecelia11matt (Mar 20, 2010)

Rocky got swollen like that with diarrhea and itchyness it was when he got sprayed from a skunk....If you think it might be this as well i can tell you what i did


----------



## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

By sprayed I mean by a chemical, perhaps bug spray, pepper spray or a skunk. Is there anything he could have gotten accidentally sprayed with in the house?


----------



## BigLittleSmall (Sep 25, 2009)

No, I don't see how he could have gotten sprayed in the house.

He's crated during the day, only goes out on leash, and when he's not crated we make sure he stays in viewing distance (so that he doesn't either knock things over, trying to go places he won't fit lol, or chew on things).

I bucked it up and just went ahead and took him to the vet this morning at 9am.

I finally had to go to bed at 4am and at 7 I had to get up and give Marie her medicine regimene .. and his face was even worse. He literally looked like a freakin Sharpei. 

I got all my doggy chores done and called the vet at 8 when they opened.

I collected a stool sample, some really thick, white, gunk he coughed up, and a can of the cat food he ate and bagged it up, loaded his big self in the car, and took off.

He's still there 

They didn't find anything really wrong with him .. except that his poor face is swelled to 3 times what it should be.

They are going to run some tests and put him on a steriod drip. Hopefully by 4pm, when I call to check on him, he'll be able to come home with some steroid pills and get over this.

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering .. my vet said you can safely administer 4mg of Benedryl for every kilo of body weight.

Bain actually weighed 75.5 lbs (wow, he was only 67 last week at his neuter!) so roughly around 30 kilos, so around 120mg of Benedryl .. the most I gave him was 75mg. 

The 75, really didn't seem to do much of anything except make him sleep; which was a good thing .. because when he was snoozing he wasn't scratching his face .. which could have resulted in another eye removal surgery .. since he still has his dewclaws.


----------



## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

Poor guy.. let us know what the vet finds. Hope he's better by this afternoon and can come home!


----------



## Jod-dog (Mar 28, 2010)

Hopefully he gets back to his old self here soon!


----------



## BigLittleSmall (Sep 25, 2009)

Thanks!

I called around 2 to check on his progress, if any, and the nurse said she thought (personal opinion) that it looked like it was finally going down, but still had a ways to go to be "normal" again.

I think they are still going to let me pick him up at 4 tho. Hurray!

Although, spending the night at the vet might be good for him .. he is awful skittish around loud noises .. and I've read that actually letting him experience them on his own (and not around me .. where he can run hide behind me like shy 2 yr old) might actually help him get used to them.

For a dog, well puppy, so big he is such a scaredy cat. lol


----------



## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

Well, he's about the age when they go through a fear period. Look in the training forum for good desensitization excercises for all the BST's (big scary things) he'll be coming across. Glad to hear he's getting better though. 

It's so scary when we don't know what's happening to our babies, I've had a couple of good scares with both Rocky and Angel. The worst was when Angel ate a bunch of paper towels (I didn't know she had gotten them) and then drank a bunch of water, I got to watch as her tummy SWELLED up and rushed her to the E Vet who wanted to do and immediate surgery that would have cost $5000.00 I DID NOT have, I called my vet (who had just opened) in tears and descibed the symptoms. He said to bring her in with the x rays taken at he E-vet. Once he took a look he informed me the surgery was not needed as the obstruction looked like it would pass, kept her overnight with an IV drip and she was home the next day and it only cost me $75.00.


----------



## Mr. V (Jan 28, 2010)

Whoa! That is an acute allergic reaction if I've ever seen one. Maybe something got into your house? Spider or some stinging insect? If you're living in Alabama right now, that would be my bet with all the insects flying around. My dog was almost stung the other day by a wasp that was trying to set up a new home under my grill. 

I hope he turns out OK. He looks so sad and miserable in the pictures.


----------



## Mason (Sep 17, 2008)

My dog frequently has reactions like that. Not only does his face swell, but also his butt.. and HUGE hives all over his body. Fortunately, I've only had to take him to the vet once for a steroid shot. Within 2 hours of having benadryl (at 1mg/lb), he's completely back to normal.

It scares the crap out of me every time it happens.


----------



## Jod-dog (Mar 28, 2010)

How's he doing???


----------



## BigLittleSmall (Sep 25, 2009)

I could have sworn I posted a reply several hours ago. HMMMM lol, my internets must be playing tricks on me!

Bain is home .. thanks to all the well wishings!

His face is completely unswollen now! Just some minor redness around his eyes.

He's gotta take 40mg of Prednisolone twice a day for the next 2 weeks .. ugh, poor Bain.

I sure wish he could tell me what caused it .. so I could steer him away from it should it get near him again.

Perhaps it was a bug bite, but I cannot find a sign of a bite anywhere on him, but him being a merle .. it's kinda hard, since he's all different colors all over the place lol.


----------



## Jod-dog (Mar 28, 2010)

Could have been a sting or a spider bite.

So glad he's home and feeling better!


----------



## BigLittleSmall (Sep 25, 2009)

cshellenberger said:


> It's so scary when we don't know what's happening to our babies, I've had a couple of good scares with both Rocky and Angel. The worst was when Angel ate a bunch of paper towels (I didn't know she had gotten them) and then drank a bunch of water, I got to watch as her tummy SWELLED up and rushed her to the E Vet who wanted to do and immediate surgery that would have cost $5000.00 I DID NOT have, I called my vet (who had just opened) in tears and descibed the symptoms. He said to bring her in with the x rays taken at he E-vet. Once he took a look he informed me the surgery was not needed as the obstruction looked like it would pass, kept her overnight with an IV drip and she was home the next day and it only cost me $75.00.


My 13 yr old just broke his wrist last week, playing tackle football .. with a shoe .. during Band Practice ..(wtf, right) and I don't think I was "as" upset (although I was pretty upset) as I was when Bain's face swelled up lol. Dogs will freak you out. They can't tell you what's going on .. the suspense is KILLER.

OMG .. that sounds similar to my dobie when she was muuuch younger. My neighbor fed her a whole bag of dog food .. like 20lbs worth .. I came home and her stomach was HUGE. I thought for sure she was going to have to have surgery. Luckily enough, they were able to just pump her stomach .. and they didn't even charge me lol.


----------



## cecelia11matt (Mar 20, 2010)

BigLittleSmall said:


> For a dog, well puppy, so big he is such a scaredy cat. lol


Just like Scooby Doo


----------



## BigLittleSmall (Sep 25, 2009)

cecelia11matt said:


> Just like Scooby Doo


hahaha.. great comparision .. he is exactly like that at times. lol


----------

