Allergic reaction?? *pics*

I know I rarely ever post here but I need some help/ideas. I took my dog to the vet Thursday because he was running a fever and above his eye was swollen and thought it was abcessed. They took him and cut it open only to discover that there was no abcess it was just incredibly swollen and more than likely an allergic reaction to some kind of bite (spider, wasp, bee, etc.) So they kept him overnight and medicated him with steroids, benadryl, and a pain killer. Friday morning they said the swelling was almost gone so I could come get him and bring him home. They sent me home with some benadryl to be given twice daily and eyedrops also to be given twice daily. Well the swelling has gotten worse over the weekend. I have a followup appt scheduled for tomorrow and I am afraid that since it is getting worse and not better they are going to want to do all kinds of tests and stuff and rack up another humongous vet bill (the one Friday was $356) I just can NOT afford it right now... do you think it is possible that this will just go away on its own?? I am still going to take him tomorrow but I want to be able to tell them to just wait it out before I waste more money! My boyfriend is already pissed that I spent soo much the first time taking him to the vet!

 

i forgot to say that it doesnt really seem to be bothering him... he acts like it is a bit sore but he isnt in terrible amounts of pain or anything

 

It is hard to tell from the picture. Is the eye itself clear? Is there discharge? Is it just involving the eyelid? Fever?

Did you have an e-collar on the dog to prevent him from messing with it or is it possible he has been rubbing it?

I would at least call the vet. Maybe they'll just put him on some oral steroids (cheap) without having him in again since he responded well on the first round. Just explain your situation.

It is important to have a family vet that you have a good rapport with. If they know you take care of your animals, aren't trolling around to a different vet for each vaccination or illness, they are much more likely to work with you on payments and meds.

Hope he does ok! Sorry I can't be of more assistance.

 

there was some discharge which is why he gave me eye drops to put in it but i havent seen any discharge today... i cant decide if the swelling is coming from above his eye or the eyelid. i also havent checked his temp again today... i do have a normal vet that i go to but they told me they couldnt fit me in their schedule on thursday unless i just came up there and sat until they could get me back and thats damn near impossible with a 60lb dog and a 14 month old son... if ya kwim. i am definitely going back to the vet tomorrow and ill ask him to do another shot of steroids and maybe hold off on any allergy testing for a while. thanks!

 

No need for an allergy test just yet. Those are really expensive and is going to do nothing to help him now. If he has a fever he should be on antibiotics there is probably an infection somewhere. If it was my dog and the eye it's self looked ok I would wait a day and see if it looks better. Also wait and see your regular vet. I worked as a vet tech for many years and I can tell you there are a lot of crooked vets out there. They really just want your money. Many vet practice's are commission based and they more they charge you they more they make. I would find a vet that owns his own practice and stay away from large vet hospitals like VCA unless an emergency. I cannot believe they would keep him over night for a swollen eye lid it sounds like they took you for a ride! Unless they needed him to be on Iv's or he had an extremely high fever he would have had better care at your house and not shoved in a crate by himself at the vets for a swollen eye lid. Vets make me so mad when they do things like that and then they try to make you feel like a bad owner if you don't leave them over night or spend your life's savings on them.

This is not life threating unless the fever gets out of control. Go to your regular vet and try the steroids and ask about antibiotics if your dog still has a fever. Good luck but don't let a vet take you for a ride again. An allergy test is to see what a dog is allergic to in it's environment. If your dog had allergies around the house you would see it in a more mild manner not acute like this. It is more likely a foreign body or a bite from something. keep us posted

 

ugh... the swelling has gotten way worse today... it is now covering his eye and there is a ton of discharge. i also noticed that he is scratching it with his paw so i might have to get him an ecollar to keep him out of it. the vet i took him to thursday actually helped me out and didnt charge me for a few things like the overnight stay and anesthesia and such so i feel like it could have been way worse than it was. i *think* they also will work with me on a payment plan which is going to be necessary because i maxed out my credit card paying the bill friday. here is what his eye looks like now... our appt is at 4 so i will update once i get back home from it! thanks!

 

My bet is a foreign body. An allergic reaction typically doesn't look like that or last as long. If it was spring I would say it might be a fox tail. Maybe he did get bit and the stinger was left behind causing all the problems. tough to tell....

I am happy to hear they didn't charge you for the overnight stay but 300+ is still more than I think you should have had to spend if they had YOUR best interests in and not their pockets. Good luck at vets let us know what they say.

 

Aww poor baby! It's def an infection of some sort . Hopefully your vet will start him on a good anti biotic like Cephalexin. Good luck let us know how it turns out.

 

well they decided to keep him again... he is dehydrated and running a fever still so they are going to look for an abcess behind his eye and get him on antibiotics and another steroid shot and keep him overnight to get fluids in him. i told the vet that i could not afford another large bill and that i actually couldnt pay him until i get my tax return since my credit card is maxed out from the fridays vet bill. he said that was completely fine and that he would help me out anyway that he could. i actually like this vet and i would consider going to him full time but i do believe that a $356 vet bill is outrageous

eta: by the time we got to the vet his whole snout and head were swollen he looked like a damn bull terrier and it was extremely painful to the touch... my poor baby

 

VCA blows big time I work for small practice and we would get clients from them and the diagnoses would be so far out there as well the treatment they do. There was one case a bullmastiff had a murmur we rated at 2 and we treated with meds for 6 mo and it cleared out completely and no reoccurence. VCA said it was a 4 and the dog had 6 mo to 1yr to live so enjoy the time left with him. The owner was so pissed.

 

WOW it got that bad! Something is going on with a high fever and dehydration. An abscess would make sense, but I wonder where the infection is coming from. I will pray for your little guy. Infections can be nasty if they cannot find out where it is coming from. Let us know how he is.
And you know your dog better than anyone, way to go on getting him back to the vet. The picture doesn't tell the whole story and your smart not to wait.

 

So sorry to see your dog in pain and I hope the vet finds a solution to the problem soon. Good luck and wishes sent your way.

 

Hope,your dog gets better.I had a boston terrier that it's head and neck puffed up,we couldn't save her,she died the next day.The vet thought she got snakebit,but it's winter so I'm sure that's not your case.Anyway,I hope you figure out something that'll help.Good luck.

 

Thanks for the support everyone. I called the vet this morning and he said he could not find an abcess again so he called the vet that owns the practice to get his second opinion on what to do. Apparently this vet has practiced for 40+ years so maybe he'll have some idea on how to get to the abcess, if there is one. For now they have Buddha on antibiotics and they did another set of steroid shots last night. He said the swelling has gone down enough that you can actually see Buddha's eye now but it is still extremely swollen. I asked him about something being in his eye causing it and he said no because on Thursday they flushed the eye out and did a gram stain(?) and everything came back fine so they know it's not that. Hopefully I will be able to bring him home this afternoon but if this other vet comes and puts him back under anesthesia they will probably keep him another night for monitoring. I will update again as I know more.

 

Good luck, poor thing.

 

thanks for keeping us posted.

 

Have they completely ruled out a bite by anything?

 

the vet told me that he did not see any bite marks or stingers around the area but i guess that doesnt rule out ANY bite from a spider or something...

 

just got the call from the vet a bit ago... they found the abcess!! he thinks it took a while for it to work itself up high enough that it could actually be reached with the needle... they took out a ton of pus and blood and they have a drain tube in it now to get out the rest. they are keeping him again tonight until they take the tube out in the morning. i am soo happy they found what was wrong with him and soon hell be back home safe and sound. they sent some of the pus off to be biopsied so they would know what they were dealing with and can treat with the correct antibiotics. now i just have to see what the money damage is going to be tomorrow when i go to pick him up.

 

So glad to hear they found the problem! It is hard with these dogs since they are so stoic that you sometimes don't know anything is wrong until they are really in distress. Sounds like you did all the right things to ensure his recovery!