Dogs face swollen! HELP

hatwoman22 · #1 04/02/05, 07:37 PM

Alright we noticed this about ten minutes ago, our female jack russels face is swollen, her top lips spacifically. We cant find any abrasions, she was outside most of the day but it was rainy and cool here most of the day.
She spent several hours outside chewing on a ham bone, but shes had those before with no problems.
We gave her some benedryl does any one else out their have any ideas??

We have no ideas hwat could have made her swell up like that, she's running around playing just fine and seems to be breathing ok.
She also has some weird spots on her back, no abrasions or bumbs, its just like small tufts of fur standing up

Any ideas, I'm hoping not to have to run her into a vet, the nearest emergency vet is 40 minutes away. Any help would be great

goatlady · #2 04/02/05, 08:45 PM

Sounds like a possible spider bite. When that happened to 1 of my pups my vet said give the dog a child's dose of Benadryl (one 25 mg tablet) sure helps the swelling go down and seems to counteract the venom.

southerngurl · #3 04/02/05, 08:48 PM

Both of my dogs have been bit by snakes on the face. They were both fine, but looked funny for a day or so.

One of the cats was also bitten on the foot by a snake. He was also fine... I can't say what kind of snakes they were, but they caused some real swelling!

fordy · #4 04/02/05, 08:53 PM

................Could be a snake bite or a sting from a scorpion or spider . My akita was bitten on the side of his head by a very small copperhead . His whole head swole up but he was Ok . Copperhead bites are Less injurious than rattlers or other poisionious snakes and it depends upon the size of the dog vs the amount of venom injected and the particular species of snake . The coral snake is a cousin of the Cobra and it's venom is the most likely to cause death from what I've read . fordy...

GrannyG · #5 04/02/05, 09:01 PM

Hopefully the Benadryl will help. When we had hound dogs, and they were out running racoons, if they got snake bit, they always gave them Benadryl.If she was chewing hard on that bone, she may have injured her gums. Maybe some cold compresses to her mouth area would help. Keep us posted as to how your dog is doing. Wishing you the best.

momlaffsalot · #6 04/02/05, 09:06 PM

One of my dogs got bitten by a spider and his whole face swelled up. That's what this sounds like..and I odn't know about where you are, but here in Kansas, the spiders are waking up!

Jen H · #7 04/02/05, 09:19 PM

When my dog tried to eat a bee last year, his face really swelled up. The benadryl worked great.

insanity · #8 04/02/05, 10:04 PM

Yep could be wasp or bee stings.With the sun out and the temps riseing they are comeing out here.My Boston T. used to like to chase and eat bugs.She noes better now.They do swell.

jillianjiggs · #9 04/02/05, 10:13 PM

A tooth abcess can make the face swell up, too. It sounds more like a bite though. Our vet has us give our dog two tabs of benadryl if he's itching bad, and one if it's more mild. Two tabs will sedate our dog, also a Jack Russell. He'll be sleepy enough that he won't bother the rash that gets brought on by his allergies. If the benadryl doesn't help, I'd get him over to the vet for a check-up.

hatwoman22 · #10 04/02/05, 10:58 PM

Thanks so much for all the replys, I think its probably a wasp sting, as those things populate the back doorframe.

Her face still hasnt gone down, she slept for a few hours probably the benedryl, she's in the living room running around like her normal self

Unfortunatly she still looks like elmer fudd, but her face hasnt swollen any more, and in a few more hours we'll give her a bit more benedryl.

I've never seen a dogs face swell up like that, she had been inside for a few hours when it happened, then she started itching I think she musta pushed the stinger in farther and set off the venum. It happened in about ten minutes, fine one sec swollen like all heck the next.

If she doesnt go down by tommorrow we will find a vet to take her too, stuff always happens at night and on the weekends! But in general our dogs see a docter(there vet) more than us their human counter-parts.

Once more thanks for all the replys, I'll put a post up when her face starts to do down. I know this wasnt exactly a homesteading post, but thanks so much, this was the first place I thought of to get some experienced opinions. Thanks so much.

paden · #11 04/03/05, 10:02 AM

Sounds to me like it could be time for x-rays. My guess would be a bone chip got pushed up into her mouth. I had a dog once that got a piece of wood pushed up behind her back teeth and lodged up behind her eye. The whole eye and top of her head swelled up.

almostthere · #12 04/03/05, 02:50 PM

We had a dog who was allergic to something in the yard, and the vet said Benadryl as well. we were worried it would swell his throught shut, but the meds worked. It seemed every time it got nice and warm then something odd would grow that he was allergic to. Scared us pretty good, but we learned to keep that on hand from then on. This was before we had kids so we weren't yet used to these kind of emergencies.

big rockpile · #13 04/03/05, 04:10 PM

My Dogs get Rattler bit all the time.Vet says worst thing is they swell where they can't breath.And to give them Benedryl.

big rockpile

hatwoman22 · #14 04/03/05, 11:12 PM

It went down! this afternoon. We're keeping her on the benedryl for a couple days or so, she acted sick for a while this morning, but perked up this afternoon and spent some time outside, we watched her closely. By this evening she's doing a lot better, and seems to be back to her perkier self. I looked her over agian, and still cant figure out where she got stung ( or whatever it was that got her) but since she's ok, we'll just keep an eye on her closely.

Once more thanks for all the replys, I figured if there was anything else I could do for her, that someone in here would know what it was. I"m glad what we did agreed with everyone in here it made me and my mom who was worried about the benedryl feel a lot better about giving it to her.
So thanks everyone, I appreciate it a lot.

BCR · #15 04/04/05, 09:39 AM

For future guidance, call your vet this week and ask what an appropriate dosage of benadryl for your dog's weight is, then write it down and keep it with the benadryl. Sometimes you never find the location of the wasp sting, but at least you aren't worried anymore about her airway becoming blocked.

jerzeygurl · #16 04/04/05, 01:07 PM

our dog got ahold of a yard spray bottle and his face swelled up, he recovered shortly.