So yesterday, I took Mia to get her annual vaccinations. Around 6 PM. Around 10:30pm she vomited her lunchtime meal. After that she was rubbing her face on the carpet and rolling around. I did not think anything of it because the rollaround thing is something she does. About 10 minutes later I looked down at her and her face was swollen up like a Rottweiler. I called the vet and spoke to her, She told me too give her two regular 25mg generic Benadryl pills. In the next three hours, she attempted to vomit two more times, but it was only liquid. About an hour after I gave her the generic Benadryl, her swelling did seem to reduce slightly.

This morning her face is still swollen. But no vomiting so far. I fed her bfast with a little bit of yogurt.

BTW she does not get any weird table scraps for trash food. I feed her quality Drive dog food. High protein and no grains, rice, no junk.

The only things and new introduced to her yesterday were the vaccines and possibly exposure to a little bit of catnip that I rubbed on the scratching post for a cat that I recently rescued.

I am planning on taking her back to the vet clinic but I got the vaccines at. What are your thoughts?
Bad reaction to vaccines? Or allergic reaction to the catnip?

Since catnip is a sedative for dogs, I wouldn't think it was the catnip if all it was is catnip.  Unless it was raw catnip from your yard, I'd check the packaging and see if there's anything else in there.

I'd be inclined to go with your comment that she had a reaction to the vaccine and if that's the case, I'd suggest the vet make a note of it since further exposure can be more extreme than the initial reaction.  

In either case, a return visit to the vet is probably called for.

This is normal Mia (she's deathly afraid of thunder storms in this photo. She's in her little cave)




These two photos are from last night.

It almost looks like she might have gotten 'hold of a bug of some kind. While bees are the notorious culprits for causing the type of swelling I see around her mouth, a lot of other bugs will cause similar reactions ( caterpillars are bad since their spines cause the same type of swelling and you can't see them in the hair to remove them! )

I'd still make the vet visit ...

I am highly doubtful that it was a bug. She was inside the house from 7:30pm till the point that I noticed her face. After we got home from the vet, she found her spot and was laying down for most of the evening till she got up vomit.

Stupid holiday! They are closed today in observance for Father's Day.

Benadryl is the saving grace for swelling, whether it's from an allergic reaction to something or being bitten by a snake / insect ( which is still an allergic reaction, isn't it?   )

from PetMD.com:

Quote :

The standard dosage for oral Benadryl is 1 mg per pound of body weight, given 2-3 times a day. Most drug store diphenhydramine tablets are 25 mg, which is the size used for a 25 pound dog. Always double check the dosage before giving an over the counter medication.

She looks to be pretty well grown, so 2 Benadryl ever 8-12 hours should work to help keep the swelling down.

ETA: Make sure that this is straight Benedryl, no additives. The only active ingredient should be diphenhydramine. Some benadryl tablets for allergies also include, for axample, caffiene to counteract the drowsy effects of diphenhydramine. Caffiene is a big no-no for dogs.

Even if the swelling goes down overnight, I'd still pay a visit to the vet when you get a chance and they're open.  Because it comes so closely to a vaccination, I'd ask that she do an allergy check - you don't want this to happen next time since, as I said earlier, it could be a worse reaction.

aljones wrote:

Benadryl is the saving grace for swelling, whether it's from an allergic reaction to something or being bitten by a snake / insect ( which is still an allergic reaction, isn't it?   )

from PetMD.com:

Quote :

The standard dosage for oral Benadryl is 1 mg per pound of body weight, given 2-3 times a day. Most drug store diphenhydramine tablets are 25 mg, which is the size used for a 25 pound dog. Always double check the dosage before giving an over the counter medication.

She looks to be pretty well grown, so 2 Benadryl ever 8-12 hours should work to help keep the swelling down.

ETA:  Make sure that this is straight Benedryl, no additives.  The only active ingredient should be diphenhydramine.  Some benadryl tablets for allergies also include, for axample, caffiene to counteract the drowsy effects of diphenhydramine.  Caffiene is a big no-no for dogs.

Even if the swelling goes down overnight, I'd still pay a visit to the vet when you get a chance and they're open.  Because it comes so closely to a vaccination, I'd ask that she do an allergy check - you don't want this to happen next time since, as I said earlier, it could be a worse reaction.

She is 5.5 yrs old now. I have been giving her two 25mg generic basic CVS Benadryl. Her swelling is majority gone. I can barely tell it's there, if it is even still swollen. When I get off of work I'm going to try to make it out there to the vet before they close. I'm thinking the only