Hi everyone

I'm quite new here and already an addict!  I have a 16 week old whippet called Cashie and I got a huge fright on Friday night.  It was about midnight and I was just getting into bed (where he also sleeps), when I thought his face looked a bit odd.  I'd removed my contact lenses so thought it was just my eyesight but put on the light to have a closer look and realised that he'd gone into anaphylaxis.

I immediately rang a cab then called the 24 hour hospital to say I was on my way, then tried to get dressed, while trying to reassure Cashie.  By now his face was swelling at an unbelievable rate and he was frantically pawing at it.  Luckily the cab arrived in about a minute and there was almost no traffic, so we got to the hospital in about 10 minutes.  I'd calmed down enough to keep checking his pulse and respiration, his heart rate had gone up to 180 (his normal resting hr is about 100) and he was having real trouble breathing, I could practically see his airways constricting.  When we arrived the nurse kept asking what he was cross-bred with, he didn't believe that Cashie was a whippet as he looked more like a Shar-pei.  By this time he couldn't even open his eyes, and his paws were swelling, and his mucous membranes were very pale.

The vet immediately gave him a massive shot of dex into his quadricep, and also injectable Piriton (can never remember the drug name), and the swelling did start to subside fairly quickly.  They asked if I wanted to take him home and monitor him myself as I'm a nurse, but when it comes to my own I'm hopeless so I asked for him to be hospitalised overnight.  I think if I'd been another 5 or 10 minutes I'd have lost him.

He's pretty much back to normal now but I keep thinking of the "What Ifs" - what if I'd been asleep, what if he'd been in another room, what if there had been loads of traffic, etc.

I know there's no real point to this post but I just wanted some response from other dog-lovers, as people without pets can't understand how scary this is.  Also, I have no idea what caused the reaction, although I suspect it may have been some sort of insect, as he'd been out for last pee in the garden just before this happened.

Thanks for reading

Mary-Caroline

What an awful fright for you!  It was so fortunate that all factors came together  at the right time (you being there, knowing what was wrong, having the presence of mind to act first & panic later, available cab, light traffic, etc.).

So pleased your dog is going to be ok. He will probably recover from the episode more quickly than you will ! It is after the emergency is over that the real shock sets in & we start sweating and thinking 'what if...'.

Could you not get something off  vet incase it happens again (sure it wont). To put your mind at ease. What ifs are the worst things in the world but we all think of them.

I'm actually a vet nurse so from now on I'll be carrying a syringe of antihistamine at all times just in case.  Hopefully I won't need it but better safe than sorry.

Years ago I had this happen with a bitch in whelp, in those days I fed raw liver in small quantities to in whelp bitches and she had spat it out, foolish owner wrapped in a piece of tripe, so she ate it, minutes later she was like a balloon, rushed her to the vet, and all was well. I have never again fed raw liver! It was one of the most scarey things I have ever seen, it just happened so fast.

What a horrid experience!  But you are lucky, thank heavens you've still got your babe!
Over 2 years ago, my Didgy was stung.  She was nearly 6 and had never been to the Vet in her life - I use nosodes.  She was "Mother's favourite" so I took her to my Vet of 15 years and asked for an antihistamine.  He said that she needed an anti inflammatory and after my initial objection, he convinced me that she needed Rimadyl.  By the afternoon she looked like a Staffie - she was a Rough Collie!  He administered more Rimadyl and the swelling went down over the next 2 days, I thought we were sorted.  But by the morning of the 3rd day she was spaced out and had white gums.  Emergency appointment, put on a drip and in 4 hours she was dead.  I was devastated and couldn't even tell anyone for 3 months. 
I now carry Piriton in my handbag everywhere but have never had to use it - sod's law eh??!!

Val, I'm so sorry.  My heart really goes out to you.  Makes me realise how lucky I was.