Has anyone seen this?

[Boxer Nat]

My 7 month old male boxer, Hudson, has had a rather large medical history in his short life. He was diagnosed with puppy strangles when he was 2 1/2 months old... and was clear of all symptoms by the time he was 4 months old.

Now we have a new problem. Hudson's eyelids were really swollen about a week and a half ago. He had been to the vet a week earlier to get antibiotics for chin "acne," so the when we took him back to the vet for his swollen eyelids, the vet was stumped. She said it couldn't be allergies since he was on an antibiotic when it happened. I should also mention that there are little bumps on the inside of his eyelids and they ooze. So our vet then put him on a different antibiotic (Clavamox) and a steroid (Prednisone). It's been a week... the swelling of his eyelids has went down a little...but they are still infected. Now, just yesterday he has started getting these red bumbs all around his lips and underneath his nose on his muzzle. I am so clueless. How could he be getting worse while he's on an antibiotic and a steroid? Both medicines cured him from his strangles.... so I don't think he's allergic to them. He didn't have a fever as of last week at the vet either. We'll be trying a new vet tomorrow morning for a second opinion. Does anyone have any ideas??

 

[Empire0024]

Hi,

When my Boxer, "Blaze" was just a puppy, he had a host of problems i.e., Puppy strangles, puppy acne. Those both went away fairly quickly. Then a couple weeks later, he would have bouts of vomiting. He then couldn't have a bowel movement. We thought something was stuck in him. We took him to the vet, lo and behold, his one testicle which hadn't descended, had become twisted and infected and was the size of a baseball. Needless to say, after a 12" incision, he was neutered and has been healthy as an Ox ever since. We believe that all of his "puppy problems" were due to the stress of having this testicle become more and more infected and inflamed. I'm not a doctor, so its just my opinion. He is now 11 mos. old, 62 lbs and hasn't been to the vet, other than for vaccinations and Revolution, since his surgery. Is your dog neutered? I wasn't a proponent of neutering until this happened.

Brian

 

[Boxer Nat]

Brian - Thanks much for your post. No, Hudson is not yet neutured. And you've really got me thinking this could be the reason for his problems. His one testicle has a black spot on it.... have you ever seen that? I'm going to have the vet check it out tomorrow. Thanks again... Hopefully we'll have one month without going to the vet someday soon.

 

[ZachsMom]

Poor Hudson! It sounds like allergies to me, although I am not a vet. I have horrible allergies and antibiotics never help. I have taking steriods, but only when my allergies really flare up.
What about trying an antihistamine? Maybe he is allergic to something he is physcially in contact with, perhaps his bedding. Or the detergent you use to wash his bedding.
Good luck with your next vet visit.

 

[Empire0024]

He never had any black spots on his testicle. It just wasn't there; it never descended. I'm telling you, we were at the vet every week and spent approx. $1500 in ER vet bills, normal vet bills, meds., etc. Ever since the neutering, he's been 100%.


Brian

 

[JHBoxerMom]

Hi, I would definitely say he is allergic to the antibiotics. Even though you say he was not allergic to the medication when he was a puppy that could have changed. Even people develop new allergies over their lifetime.
I have 2 suggestions to you from my experience:
Try using tes bags for his eyes. There is something in tea that is antibacterial and especially good for eyes. I could do more research on that if you would like me too, but I swear by it. What you do is take a few regular tea bags and make a really really really strong tea, let it cool (the water must be very close to boiling to release all the nutrients) and then take a cotton ball and dip it into the tea and then put it on his eyes, hold it there for about a minute and then wipe the "gunk" off. Do not redip the same cotton ball. Do this a few times a day. It really helps.
Second, I would try over the counter allergy medication: Benadryll works very well, I also had success with Zyrtec for children.
Also you could put some antibiotic ointment on his eyes, make sure it coats the eye though, that means kinda massaging it in. He won't be able to see very good for a bit, but it also helps to fight off the infection.
Hope this helps and hope your doggie gets better.
Jules

 

[Boxer Nat]

Thank you all for your replies. We took Hudson to the vet and it turns out that he has a bad case of puppy pyoderma. The "2nd opinion" vet told me that he has a very weak immune system that will get stronger as he grows older. He just can't fight of normal bacteria like other pups his age can right now. He also said that Hudson has become immune to the antibiotics that our normal vet has been giving him since he's been on them so much. So he gave him a different antibiotic (Bactrim) and it seems to be working. His pyoderma around his muzzle is clearing up slowly and his eyes are slowly getting better as well.

Thanks for all your advice. Jules I will definitely keep that tea bag suggestion in my back pocket! Great idea!