He has a tendency to break out in hives. He has for as long as he's been a member of our family and since he is mostly white with extremely fine hair, it's usually very visible. Usually, this problem can be handled with a couple of Benadryl and a nap and he goes on his merry way.
But, not this time.
He's been kind of groggy for a couple of days, but all of our pups have, because it's been raining for damn near three weeks straight, so I didn't think much about it, because that pup can DO SOME SERIOUS SLEEPING.
Yesterday morning when I got up for work he didn't want to go outside to potty with his brothers (not unusual for him), so I let him sleep and headed on out. About two hours later, Devon called me and said that his right eye was swollen damn near shut and his neck was swollen. I left work and headed straight home to give him Benadryl and Tylenol and to wash everything that he could have laid on just in case.
A couple of hours later his right eye was starting to look better. It was still red, but the swelling had gone down and his neck looked less swollen as well. So, I let him continue napping.
Well.... when he woke up from his nap his right eye was still red, but his left eye looked like it had a tennis ball attached to it and he couldn't open it, his neck was re-swollen, he was covered in giant hives from head to toe and when he tried to set down on his butt he cried out in pain (I later found out this was because he had welt-hives on his rear end that I'm assuming were quite painful.) Even his little private parts were swollen up and blood red.
I called every vet I could think of immediately and luckily got him into the one around the corner from our house. The poor little fella is not a fan of car rides and once I said the "v word" (vet) he used every bit of strength he had to try and not get into my car. I had to physically pick him up and put him in the car and carry him into the vet office.
He was diagnosed as having had a severe allergic reaction, but we have no clue to what. He also was running a temperature and has an ear infection.
One giant shot, steroids, ear drops, two prescriptions, the last nerve I had left, and $218 later, he's feeling a bit better.
When he got his shot I stood there holding him and the vet had to give it to him in his rear. Usually he will eat anything and everything in sight, but when the vet tried to give him treats as a peace offering, he was having none of it. He was all, I WILL NOT EAT THESE TREATS AS A SIGN OF DISRESPECT TO YOU, SIR."
The entire time he was sick the only thing I could think was, something was gonna happen to Momma's dog. Because he's my pup, but he was also Momma's baby and the thought of something being wrong was doubly unbearable.
He slept on and off for most of the evening and he's had a couple of the "normal" side effects associated to the steroid he has to take (heavy breathing/panting, restlessness, groggy, etc.) and he's had a couple of accidents in the house (he honestly can't help it though!), but for the most part.... knock on wood.... he seems to be doing better.
I came into work this morning, because almost everybody else is off due to Memorial Day, but UR is letting me go home at lunch and stay so that I can watch over him the rest of the day and since I'm off for the next three after today, hopefully I can keep a good eye on him.
Hopefully, in the next couple of days he'll be fully recovered and feeling like his regular/goofy/lovable self again. (Although, he's still all about some cuddles). ❤
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