German Shepherd Puppy With Swollen Eyes and Muzzle
Reader Question
My 6 month old male German Shepherd became agitated during the night, beginning about 11:00 PM. He was pacing and his stomach was roiling. He didn't want to go outside to eliminate. I was up with him at 1:30 thinking he needed to go outside to pee. I turned on lights at 3:30 AM to check him out and found his face: eyes and muzzle were really swollen. The inside of his ears were red rather than pale pink. We took him to the ER Vet who suspects he was having an acite allergic reaction. To what we don't know. While at the vet office he vomited twice, paced, whined, and wanted to crawl under the furniture. All of these things indicated to me he was distressed. He was losing hair.
The vet gave him a steroid, an antihistamine, and prescriptions to help with the GI upset. She ran blood work that looked fairly normal.
By 7:00 the swelling was reduced and he just wants to sleep. So, still trying to figure out what he may have gotten into. The list is short.
1). We were removing Old English Ivy from a tree in the yard. He was playing in it.
2) I gave him a kong ball with his favorite treats and CHUNKY PEANUT BUTTER inside about 5:30 PM.. Only second time he has had peanut butter.
3). There is a new home under construction next door and I noticed some runoff from the exterior paint APPLICATION HAD SEEPED UNDER THE FENCE. Milky looking pools of water.
Anyone have any idea what is going on?
The vet gave him a steroid, an antihistamine, and prescriptions to help with the GI upset. She ran blood work that looked fairly normal.
By 7:00 the swelling was reduced and he just wants to sleep. So, still trying to figure out what he may have gotten into. The list is short.
1). We were removing Old English Ivy from a tree in the yard. He was playing in it.
2) I gave him a kong ball with his favorite treats and CHUNKY PEANUT BUTTER inside about 5:30 PM.. Only second time he has had peanut butter.
3). There is a new home under construction next door and I noticed some runoff from the exterior paint APPLICATION HAD SEEPED UNDER THE FENCE. Milky looking pools of water.
Anyone have any idea what is going on?
Answer from Our Team
This sounds like an acute allergic reaction, as your vet suspected. Common triggers include insect stings, plants and chemicals. English ivy can irritate skin, and paint runoff could too, so keep him away from both. Peanut butter allergy is less common, but check the label for xylitol, which is toxic to dogs.
It's good that he improved with treatment. If it happens again, take note of what he was doing beforehand, and go to an emergency vet right away if he has trouble breathing, collapses or the swelling spreads.
See conjunctivitis in dogs for more.
This is general information, not a diagnosis. Please follow your own vet's advice.
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