Allergic Reaction.. Question for the vet.

[RaYne]

My 16 month old female Saint Bernard Lola was stung or bitten by 'something' Saturday morning around 7am. Her jowls and around her nose swelled up within 30 minutes.

I rushed her to the vet as soon as they opened at 9am. She was given a steroid shot, and an antihistamine shot. Later on that night she developed a bright red rash on ears, belly and armpits. Her skin was bright red everywhere else. She was panting and very itchy and uncomfortable. I was told not to give her any benadryl tablets until the following morning.

Since Sunday I've been giving her 50mg of benadryl 3 times a day and it is helping the itching to a degree but her her skin is still red and rashy. From what I've read she should be getting more than 50mg's for her weight. She's 115 pounds currently. Should I increase the dosage or leave it as is?

Also from what I gathered is the shots she recieved were suppose to stop the allergic reaction and the redness and rash developed afterwards. Is that normal? Or should I take her back to the vet or just relax and let the benadryl work? Just to add, my regular vet is on holidays so I saw the other vet he shares his practice with. He didn't explain anything even though I asked. Never mentioned the possibility of a a rash/hives or anything.

The pic was taken while I was waiting for the vet to open.. soon after I noticed the swelling.

[rainbow]

RaYne, the dosage for Benadryl is 1/2 mg. per lb. every 8 hrs. up (max dose 2mg. per lb.) Poor Lola. :sad:

http://www.diamondpaws.com/health/drugs.htm

[Frenchy]

I just want to give Lola a big hug :sad:

[mummummum]

How is she today RaYne ?

[RaYne]

She much better today! I increased the Benadryl dose to 75mg, instead of 50mg. As of this morning the rash is gone and her skin is more pink than red, but she's still a bit itchy. Her one ear was also swollen (I thought it was a hematoma starting) but the swelling is almost completely gone now.

I have no idea why the vet we saw said to only give her 50mg of Benadryl 3 times a day. We even weighed her so he knew what she weighed. When I called them to ask about the rash he said it was a common reaction.. Well geez why didn't you tell me that?! I think I need to find a backup vet for when my vet is on holidays so I'm not stuck seeing that guy again.

[mummummum]

Oh I so glad to hear that ? Does that mean we get to see more pix ?

[szelynn]

I'm so glad I found this thread!

A vet I recently saw, not my regular one, told me it's 2-5mg per KG! And she said Kali's 35kg (78lbs) so that means at least 70mg...I went to look at the dosage on the label for Adult humans, and it said 1-2 25mg tablets - so I was like how can my dog take more then me?? I'm so glad I thought to look at the label and comprehend the dosage before giving it to her..