Wandering Jew

[nessa704]

Hi all

Overnight my poor little puppy has come up in a terrible rash. The poor thing woke us up at about midnight with her scratching. Her belly, groin and arm (leg?) pits are very red and has big, raised welts on her. We gave her a quick cold wash to help soothe her and put some Aloveeen on which seemed to help some.

After some research this morning, we've pinned it down to Wandering Jew that we have in our yard and another plant of the same family at a relatives house (where we were at last night and she was laying in the plant for about half an hour!). We had no idea these plants were dangerous to dogs!

We've got a vet's appointment booked in for tomorrow and will of course be doing all we can to get rid of the devil plants but just wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to help her in the meantime? Aloveen does seem to help the itching but the welts and redness is still there?

I've seen a bit on here about Calendula Tea....would that help in this case?

ETA - I've been recommended Benadene - is this something you can only get at the vets? Or do pet stores stock it too?

Edited February 4, 2011 by nessa704

[persephone]

Calendula tea- YES.Also phone your vet and ask what human anti histamine you can use for her..and the correct dosage.That will tide you over until teh vet app't.

[sas]

They're not dangerous perse' but they can cause irritation.

You can use an anti-histimines:

http://www.ingleburnvet.com.au/antihistamines.htm

Make up some Calendula tea and sponge or spray on.

Wandering Jew is hard to get rid of you can pull it but it's sneaky! I've had to posion mine, luckily it's not where the dogs can get to it.

You can follow the below link to see what other plants may cause irritation to your dog:

http://www.albertanimalhospital.com.au/AllergyPlants.pdf

I have Wandering Jew in my yard that looks like the photo but has a Purple line in it, so some can look a bit different.

Edited February 4, 2011 by MEH

[nessa704]

I have Wandering Jew in my yard that looks like the photo but has a Purple line in it, so some can look a bit different.

Yes! That's the plant at our relative's house that she thought would be great fun to have a lie down in last night. But after researching it, I've discovered that we have creeper variety with the little blue flowers in our yard. She'd been itchy before (nothing like this though!) and we'd always put it down to grass allergens. Now we know better!

Make up some Calendula tea and sponge or spray on.

Thanks! Was just going to ask how to use it too...I've just bought some tea leaves and was a at a bit of a loss as to what to do next. I'm assuming you wash it on cold?

[sas]

I have Wandering Jew in my yard that looks like the photo but has a Purple line in it, so some can look a bit different.

Yes! That's the plant at our relative's house that she thought would be great fun to have a lie down in last night. But after researching it, I've discovered that we have creeper variety with the little blue flowers in our yard. She'd been itchy before (nothing like this though!) and we'd always put it down to grass allergens. Now we know better!

Make up some Calendula tea and sponge or spray on.

Thanks! Was just going to ask how to use it too...I've just bought some tea leaves and was a at a bit of a loss as to what to do next. I'm assuming you wash it on cold?

I make up the tea as you would if you were making a cuppa for yourself, just make more. Leave it for 15 minutes, chuck in the fridge to cool if neccessary but you don't want it really cold as that can make dogs itchy.

I strain mine, I think someone elses puts the leaves in a stocking and uses that.

Edited February 4, 2011 by MEH

[Erny]

Use a couple of tablespoons of the tea when making it up. You may find you don't even need the antihistamine let alone the Vet appointment, if you are able to give your dog 24 hours to see how the Calendula worked. Do a couple of applications before bed-time tonight and then again in the morning (by which time you should see improvement in any case, assuming you are now keeping him/her away from the Wandering Jew.