Allergic Reaction X 3

[Cazwah]

Hey everyone, long concerned post ahead!

My pup Chestnut, 6.5 months old, miniature short-haired dachshund, has had his 3rd allergic reaction in a matter of 5 days. On friday I woke up and his mouth was swollen and lumpy and he had a welts over the back of his body and hind legs. I took him straight to our vet where he was given a cortisone injection and an antihistamine injection. By the end of the day he was lump free and looked great. His breathing was not affected, nor was his mood or his interest in food. We were hoping it was a one off thing..

Saturday and Sunday he was fine and was away from home with my partner camping by a waterskiing dam... home sunday night.

Then monday morning we woke up and he had a collection of welts over the back of his head and generalised welts over the back of his body and hind legs. Again, went to the vet, this time the reaction had started to settle down by the time he was seen so he got an oral antihistamine and a take home pack of the same tablets. At this stage the vet said the reaction was not typical of something he may have ingested (as there were no gastric symptoms like vomiting or diarrhoea and also not the typical red skin itchy rash of food allergies), but of either a contact reaction (she asked if we'd changed our laundry detergent which we haven't) or most likely it was an insect that was biting him in the early hours of the morning before we woke up. She also said the thing that is causing these reactions is biting or contacting him 45mins to an hour before the reaction shows up, so it is not due to anything we may have done or given him the day before. We gave him two more tablets that afternoon/evening because we weren't seeing any improvement and it started to come back on the side of his face.

So we slept with the house all closed up last night- windows and doors closed and this morning when we woke up he had more welts! Certainly not as bad as the first or second time, but certainly more of them than he had last night, they were more swollen and this morning he also had them on his belly. We gave him two antihistamine tablets straight away in case it might get worse and i can see it settling down now. I've also washed him in aloveen shampoo and conditioner this morning, washed all his blankets and mats at 95 degrees...

His info:

He is up to date with his vaccinations- 8, 12 and 16 weeks. He is on monthly sentinal worming chews and monthly advantix. We feed him Nutro puppy chicken and rice dry formula mixed with a bit of their wet puppy food and have done since he was about 12 weeks old. We use chicken and liver as training treats, and feed him chicken necks once or twice a week. He sleeps on our bed (shameful I know!!) on a polyester blanket which I have now washed. He's been sleeping on our bed on that blanket for one month... Usually we sleep with the window open (garden bed right outside) but it was closed last night. Each time he's been welt-free or mostly welt-free when we go to bed and then first thing when we wake up he's had a reaction. He is also currently intact, but we will be getting him desexed soon.

I can't think of anything that has changed in the last 5 days but obviously something has! Has some mysterious bug that only wants to bite dogs set up home in our garden bed? Or could he be allergic to dust mites like me? I really want to figure it out so we don't have to keep medicating him.. he gets so sleepy with the antihistamines.

If you have any advice or thoughts I would love to hear them! Thanks for reading...

Caroline and a lumpy Chestnut.

[Mas1981]

It could be that he has developed an allergy to something, nothing has changed at our house either but our dog now licks huge sores into his paws which they say he is doing because of allergies. I would try take him to a dermatologist they should be able to help you both. Allergies are such a pain in the butt!

[persephone]

try getting him to sleep on plain cotton sheets etc washed in hot water ONLY (no detergent) His own bed would be good do you sue any air freshener/insect repellant etc at night?

Do YOU shower/spray/anoint yourself with any cream etc at night?

Where does he do his final toilet? what plants are around (photos would be helpful). Or- what have ypu used in teh garden recently that he may be rolling in?

Does he get any treat at bedtime?

[Cazwah]

Thanks Mas, we will definitely look into allergy testing if we can't figure out what's causing these reactions. The vet has mentioned that we can arrange that if we can't find out soon what is going on. It just seems so sudden! Although I have noticed him licking his paws more lately (over the last few weeks I guess) although there's been no hair loss to date.

try getting him to sleep on plain cotton sheets etc washed in hot water ONLY (no detergent) His own bed would be good do you sue any air freshener/insect repellant etc at night?

Do YOU shower/spray/anoint yourself with any cream etc at night?

Where does he do his final toilet? what plants are around (photos would be helpful). Or- what have ypu used in teh garden recently that he may be rolling in?

Does he get any treat at bedtime?

Thanks Persephone, food for thought...

I will try clean cotton linen tonight and no blanket.. didn't think about not using detergent though, I will do that. I also want to get him into his own bed, will be buying the next size up crate asap (he's grown since 8 weeks!).

I/we don't use any creams at bed time but I have bought a new soap.. maybe that's it? although, usually the shower comes long before bed time, so I would expect to see a reaction between shower and bed time. But I can change the soap easily enough.

We're in a unit and Chestnut has an indoor toilet. Outside is a courtyard with pavers but there is a communal garden bed beyond that, which is elevated so he has no access to that. It also extends to our bedroom window. I suppose there could be something new in the garden though, that might be blowing into the house. I can ask our building manager, even though he hates dogs!

Treats at bedtime... we don't give him anything... we use his kibble in kongs.. get him to pee in his indoor toilet and then he's carried to bed. Especially since the first reaction on friday it's been just kibble, liver treats and chicken...

[Mas1981]

The sad thing about allergies is that they only show up sometimes after 6 months old and then continue to get worse as the dog gets older. At 14 months I am only seeing the allergies in my dog now....

[Kelly_Louise]

Could possibly be a one off due to the weather? My Chloe has similar very severe allergic reactions about once a year (had one a couple of weeks ago) - they seem to be seasonal, and from what we can gather it is possibly a type of grass when it's wet. Can't be sure mind you, and for once a year it doesn't seem to warrant allergy testing. Nothing else has been changed, no different food etc. But for the last 3 years it has happened around the same time.

Her recent one lasted for about 5 - 6 days when she was on antihistamines daily - and then it just settled down and have had no recurrence.

It could be something in the garden/outside etc?

So many possibilities... allergies are a nightmare

Hope your little one is better soon.

[Cazwah]

Thanks Kelly Louise,

That's really interesting what happens to Chloe... hopefully it's something similar with Chestnut! We ended up buying a new cotton blanket for him, a new one for us and he was thankfully lump-free this morning and has remained that way all day. Also kept the windows and doors closed again. Anyway I'm so relieved! Fingers crossed he's just had a bout and now he'll be fine...