Following on from last week, where Squidge's face swelled up and we had to go to the emergency vet, the exact same thing happened to Willow today. We were nearly home at the end of a lovely walk - and Willow had been on a run with me immediately before that, too. I looked at her and asked J if he thought she looked normal. I thought I might be being paranoid after Squidge's allergic reaction last weekend, but she just looked a little odd. She had a couple of small bumps; one on her right eyebrow and the other on the right of her snout, but the dogs are always getting little knocks so it's not out of the ordinary to see things like that. As I looked at her, though, her face started changing and new lumps started appearing. Then her left eye went bloodshot and started swelling closed. I had the prednisone with me, so I gave her a couple of those and then rushed home (luckily we were only about 100m from our gate at this point) and got her some antihistamines while we called the vet. The vet said to just keep an eye on her over the next couple of hours and to let the drugs do their work, but to call again if it got worse or started affecting her breathing. They started working while we were still on the phone, which was a relief. More than anything, we wanted to give the vet a heads-up that we might be needing her to come to the surgery in case of emergency. We apologised that these things always seem to happen on a weekend!! These are a couple of photos we took after we were sure the swelling was going down. My pretty girl was not looking very pretty at all! She's still quite swollen around her face (we're calling her Fat Face Willow), but not lumpy anymore and she's stopped rubbing her face against our legs, so the itching must have stopped. We really don't know what's causing it, but think it's likely that it's something that isn't normally around at this time of year, as we've never had a problem before. The locals say that everything is happening later than usual this spring because the winter here was very cold, so maybe that explains it - and hopefully that will mean whatever it is will bugger off soon!
Blimey! Not again! Poor Willow.. I would be tempted to track back to where you first spotted the swelling...then walk back approx for 5-10 minutes, and try and find where she might have been bitten/stung.
The problem is that it's a very narrow winding track through the woods and the dogs wander into the dense brush on each side. I don't think we have a chance of finding anything. The fact Squidge's episode occurred after she'd been home a while is baffling, unless she brought the beastie home from her walk on her coat and then got bitten/stung/ate it later on.
The antihistamines are being added to my walking kit now, too! And I'm going to get the vet to prescribe for two epi-pens. I'm going to need to start taking a rucksack with me on our walks
Poor willow! This happened to the Pig on and off for about two weeks a few years ago, her eyes and muzzle puffed up, ears went heavy and lumpy and her whole body was covered in lumps. We were at our wits end trying to work out what was doing it, because it would go down then come back up every day or two with no regularity to it. Thank god it just stopped after a while and that was the last we saw of it. But it did leave a horrible open sore on her snout that didn’t heal for a month, the vet was at a loss but we suspected some crazy virus she was having a reaction to...I hope willow recovers fine and it doesn’t recur, whatever it was!
Do you all have processionary caterpillars up there? They are horrible down here, but way earlier in the year. The little spines get in the air (best case scenario) and do that bumpy/red/swollen action on humans and dogs. Dogs who try to eat them usually lose their tongues, or at least that's the urban legend. I had problems last year with them. Described to some friends what seemed like a cross between a flurry of the worst mosquito bites ever and nettle sting along with red swelling and itching - and they said, "Oh it's the processionaries". I'd never even heard of them! I'm sorry for Willow - I hope she's feeling better very soon.
Poor Willow. Our vet suspected Snowie either put his nose into a thorny plant or got bitten by ants cos he also had several bumps. But nothing like Willow’s - blimey, that’s quite a reaction. Good that your vet is so calm! I suppose they’ve seen it all, many times. Hope she gets her smooth face back soon. It’s been a couple of weeks and Snowie’s nose is still bumpy, but less so.
We do but, like yours, they march much earlier in the year when we're not around (thankfully!). I keep a look out on the local forums and they were active in February this year, so it's far too late even for any stragglers.
Could it be that there are plants like hogweed? That they are still small now it is spring? Just thinking.....
Oh poor Willow and poor you, what a worry. There was a strange mosquito type insect that bit my Lab a few years back, the vet had never seen it before, maybe you have a new one as well as result of global warming? Or a plant?
Oh no! Poor Willow, glad she started to get some relief quite quickly. Hopefully what ever is causing this goes away quickly. It would almost make me too nervous to go out for a walk
Has anyone else in your area had a similar problem this Spring? Was Willow out of your sight long enough to get into some kind of wasp nest? Has your vet seen any similar reactions this year? Note that Epi Pens are not normally used unless there is a systemic reaction, not just local swelling. In the the US, Mylan Labs who make the Epi Pen raised the price to around $600 a pair and they only have a year or two shelf life. There are some cheaper alternatives now, but they are still expensive. If Squidge a and Willow only have local reactions, the benadryl is probably a better choice.
