Bee Sting, Food Allergy, or Plant Allergy?

[HefeNiko]

Hello all, so a week ago we let our 6mth old Niko outside for a little while and when he came in his eyes were swollen shut!

We were scared and since it was a Sunday we rushed him to the ER where I ended up paying $150 for a shot of benadryl........

Needless to say I now have benadryl stocked up at the house....

Anyway, we thought it was a sting but then it kept re-occurred (swelling in his eye and muzzle), I never did see a stinger or bite mark.

My fiance seemed to notice he swelled up after she fed him and he also loves to put his face in the plants outside, so maybe it the plants or food?

Last night I fed him and put him in his crate for a couple hours and when I came back his left eye was swollen shut and he was covered in hives this time!

Scared me, but gave him benadryl and cleared up. Fed him in the morning to test if it really was food and his hives and some muzzle swelling seemed to come back.

Went out and bought some new food today (from Purina ONE Healty Puppy Formula to Natural Balance L.I.D. Sweet Potato & Venison Dry Dog Food) which I was meaning to do anyways as I have been reading about the importance of better dry food. Fed him and he didn't break out with the new food (he loved the new stuff!)

I have a vet appointment tomorrow, but just wanted to get some thoughts from all of you before he charges me a million dollars to do a bunch of tests.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Well not to knock vets, but they were completely useless in diagnosing my boys food allergies and I did a much better job all by myself with the process of elimination.

IMO you did a pretty good trial there, two times you fed him and he swelled up and wasn't around anything else, the third time you fed him he didn't swell up and he was also not around anything else. IMO I would say the food is probably a very likely source of the issue, the question then comes into of which ingredient is it.

Regardless, I am glad you switched to a healthier food. I too use the Natural Balance Venison and Sweet Potato or Fish and Sweet Potato and have for over a year now with GREAT success with my food allergy boy (it's actually the only 2 commercial foods he can eat).

Good luck to you and hopefully it won't recurr again, but definitely keep an eye on him for another flare up or other possible allergens as well.

 

[Jan]

I am glad that you changed his food.

An allergic reaction to a sting or bite can go on for days and may require repeat doses of Benedryl. The symptoms may have just been coming back whenever the Benedryl was wearing off. Hopefully he has fully recovered by now.

 

[Cami]

You made a better food choice. That is a good thing.
That being said I would think it was NOT the food that caused the reaction.
How long had he been eating the original food? Did you feed him that right before he headed outside and then he had the first reaction?
Like Jan mentioned, an allergic reaction can last for days even with treatment (Benadryl). It wearing off and the symptoms returning (usually less than or different--think hives) is very common.
The swelling in and around the face with hives seems more of a reaction to a bite/sting OR an allergen he may have received from being allergic to something he inhaled or came into contact with (plants).
Not that you want him to have another reaction but I wouldn't be surprised if you see the reaction again, eventually while eating the new food.
Hopefully he is in on the mend and it isn't food related. Much easier to deal with and pinpoint things in the environment than figuring out what foods they are allergic to!

 

[Hemi Joe]

allergies?

I went through a similar situation with Hemi. Before we ran tests, we changed food and had the vet "pre-treat" him, just in case, before he was given shots. If the dog is allergic to food, it might be a good idea to look at what the main ingredient is in the food and choose a brand that has a different main ingredient. I am not a vet, but my vet did tell me that there are many foods that are available to try for this problem. Lamb is another ingredient that should be easier on their stomachs. Hemi is currently on royal canine and just loves it! Hope this helps!

Alissa

 

[Caney Creek]

Poor Niko! Allergic reactions can be scary, and it's even worse not knowing WHAT is making your baby so miserable :( Caney got terrible hives when she had an allergic reaction to her puppy vaccines at 11 weeks old. We at least knew what the reaction was from, but it was SO BAD, she was miserable for days afterward even though we were giving her shots of benadryl every 4 hours. I felt so bad for her.

It really sounds to me like Niko was stung by something. In that case it would take days for the symptoms to completely disappear, so the recurrence of swelling and hives would be normal even with a one-time exposure. Symptoms can linger for days (even weeks) after an allergic reaction. You just have to keep up with the benadryl.

Hope Niko's doing better now.

 

[HefeNiko]

Thanks everyone

Thanks for the info!

Niko is doing much better now, back to his old full of energy self....

I'm pretty convinced now that it was a sting as well. We took him to the vet though anyway and he believes it was probably an allergic reaction to something in the environment, but due to the hives he wants to for sure rule out a food allergy.

He put Niko on a diet of purina puppy chow and distilled water for a week (he said he wanted purina puppy chow for the test because it does not have a lot of ingredients and supplements?). We have to make sure he does not eat or drink anything else including plants & bugs (looks like some major babysitting for a week). If he has a reaction then we know it is a food allergy and he would them be able to figure out what it is.

Other than that he said that he looks perfectly healthy, so that's good...

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Thanks for the info!

Niko is doing much better now, back to his old full of energy self....

I'm pretty convinced now that it was a sting as well. We took him to the vet though anyway and he believes it was probably an allergic reaction to something in the environment, but due to the hives he wants to for sure rule out a food allergy.

He put Niko on a diet of purina puppy chow and distilled water for a week (he said he wanted purina puppy chow for the test because it does not have a lot of ingredients and supplements?). We have to make sure he does not eat or drink anything else including plants & bugs (looks like some major babysitting for a week). If he has a reaction then we know it is a food allergy and he would them be able to figure out what it is.

Other than that he said that he looks perfectly healthy, so that's good...

Personally I'd choose another limited ingredient diet that wasn't full of common allergens and fillers and garbage such as California Natural or Natural Balance limited ingredient diets or Wellness limited ingredient diets.

Purina is chuck full of garbage, fillers, and allergen causing ingredients.

 

[Caney Creek]

Purina Puppy Chow actually has a lot of ingredients, and even further, a lot of very low quality ingredients such as corn (several corn-based ingredients), soy, animal fat, animal digest (both from unnamed sources), and 3 artificial colorings.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=1840&cat=all

And just for a week??? A week-long trial is pretty worthless, considering allergy symptoms from one-time exposures (like bee stings) can linger for a week or longer. Every website and article I've read concerning canine allergies has said that to rule out food allergies, a food trial must be conducted for at least 8 weeks... most articles actually said 12 weeks, no less. One week of Purina Puppy Chow sounds a little absurd to me honestly :confused:

 

[HefeNiko]

Ya, I told him I didn't understand the whole puppy chow part... but he seemed to know what he was doing, so I will try it, but we are definitely not going to be keeping him on the puppy chow after this test.

It is one thing after another with this dog...haha, last night I found a tick on him.

Not sure if this could be the culprit of the allergies?

Although the tick did not seem too big as if it had been feeding for a while.... and I have to say one of the most frustrating things I have ever done is try to remove a tick from a puppy, he could not stay still to save his life.

Had to wait until fell asleep then I finally got it out...