Completely Baffled

[SandSeven]

I would not beleive the situation my 5 year old chihuahua, Gizmo, is going through without seeing it myself. Started a few days ago (day 1) when I noticed a small change in energy levels coupled with a small dip in appetite. Thought nothing of it, but made a mental note.

The next evening (day 2) he had definite signs of illness. He was very lethargic, he showed signs of physical discomfort and wanted to be alone which is very unusual for him. But, morning rolled around and Giz was at super sonic excitement about the start of a new day (day 3). Weird but maybe he had an upset stomach, I pondered?...

That night he had gotten worse than the previous nights. This is ehen I began to take it seriously and started searching for answers; however, symptoms of being tired, in some pain, and a small appetite loss is like %50 of all diseases lol. Started really looking into flea and mites, which occasionally a he'll need a bath and a tiny bit of vegtable oil which prevents fleas on him for a week. While the oil is something I have used only in the last 6 months, it doesn't seem likely that it is causing the issue.

On day 4, he was a bit lethargic in the morning, and he was very uncomfortable that night. By this point I had searched for 10 hours or about what might be wrong. Day 5 came along and he was 100% better which made think he got over whatever it was.

But, day 5 turned to night 5 and he was in as much pain as I have ever seen him in. At around 7 pm I detected a small amount of swelling on his upper back below the neck. It was oblong shaped running from shoulderblade to shoulderblade. Over the 3 hours it increased in size and he was giving me the, "do something I hurt signs!!!"

Baffled and scared I searched for the symptoms and found a couple post made here a while back that mirrored his condition. I had given Benadryl a few times during the week at night to helf him sleep, but he refused to eat and he has never refusef to eat in the past. Also a bad reaction to benadryl is unlikely since he's had a number of times in the past.

As night 5 was turning to day 6, he was in ALOT of pain with swelling that now showed up on his front leg shoulders, a bit on his chest just below his neck. I messaged him till we both drifted off to sleep.

That was a couple hours ago, and when I woke I had the worst leg cramp that I jumped out of bed to stretch. Giz sleeps in the bed as well and seeing me jumping around screaming like a fool figured it was morning play time.

ZERO symptoms this morning. No swelling, no pain, no appetite loss, and it might as well never have happened. Gotta say Im relieved but cant figure it out. I do not have the money for the vet now but if he was no better I had planned on creatively raising the vet cash today :P

His diet has not changed and consist of meat, veggies and fruit. He has had this siet for a couple years. Another weird aspect about the night vs day is I have no set sleeping schedule and was awake for 40 hours or before falling asleep a few hours ago. His schedule is like my schedule and his contact with possible allergens does not fit a night morning cycle that the symptoms are showing.

This is the 1st time I have spent a summer transitioning to fall at this house, and being that is a common time of increased allergies. When outside in a fenced in yard, I haven't ever seen him eating or sniffing, or rolling in anything that I could find online causinging a bad reaction.

He just finished breakfast and began the nascar sprint around the house with his buddy (roomates dog that has shown no signs of being sick). There has to be something he is allergic to or its a disease that was created to mess with my head ha ha!!!

I'll update tonight about whether this trend happens again but for now Im gonna get some zzzzz's. Thanks for taking the time to read.

[tonyb286]

Hi. Thank you for responding with the information. It is very interesting. Airborne allergies in dogs are unusual in themselves, but this is a real puzzle. I'm starting to wonder about possible pollutants. Are you living close to any industrial premises or manufacturing factories?

I think this article may help, even if only to explain the process with dogs a little more. But also, maybe something here hits a red flag for you:

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=597

Tony

[SandSeven]

For the last 2 days I have been narrowing down the possible allergens. It's pretty simple considering as soon as he gets in contact with whatever it is, there is slight swelling on his back. No other symptoms any more.

He will get a reaction when I take him outside. To figure out if there might be something in the house and yard causing it, I took him to the store with me by carrying him in a travel bag to prevent  as much contact from the house and yard.

Sure enough, slight swelling. Then tobrule out possible activity causing it, I had a long play session him in my room (the only place no reaction takes place. Also, the amount of time spent outside seems to have a correlation to how much he is affected.

While trying to figure out why my room is the only place he has no symptoms, it hit me. The other rooms in the house always had open windows. So, I waited till he had no symptoms and opened my window using a small fan to blow air in to circulate. Sure enough, it affected him.

So something airborn, outside, with increased affects appearing in the evening. While the weather got cool for thr first time lining up with the timing of the symptoms, so did hurricane Joaquin's historic flooding which broke just every record of rainfall our city has ever had.

The possibility of the vegtable oil being a contributing factore is possible, but it was last used about 2 weeks prior to any symptoms. Amount used was ~1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml).

What I don't understand is how, for the first 4 days, he was sick but norhing pointed to allergies until night 5 when the swelling started. Since then, no symptoms have been noticed that are anything like day 1 through 4. Day 6 through 8 have had only slight swelling after outside air contact that relatively quickly dissipates.

Is it possible another illiness weakened his ability to fight off the allergies bothering him? Right now I can't say with certainty that the allergies are decreasing as he has his immune system has recovered, but that's where I think it's going, or at least I hope so.

[tonyb286]

Hi. It's good news he's much better. Allergies can be a real nightmare to try and identify. There are so many possibilities. I am still a bit concerned about the oil though, as that's a direct contact source you know about.

Tony

[SandSeven]

Thanks for the reply. I took him outside only long enough to do his business and start a neighborhood barking contest. Watched him the entire time outside, and unless it's an allergy from pollen etc, it's not outside.

At 3:20 I checked him for swelling finding a very slight bump that continued to enlarge for about 10-20 minutes. As soon as I found took him to my room and quarantined us while catching up Walking Dead shows about people in quarantine lol. After about a half hour swelling began to reduce and at 6:15 was completely gone.

The entire time he was out of my room and not outside, I watched him. His energy was crazy high like a kid that's been inside all week and finally gets to play. He spent about 45 minutes playing with the other dog.

I'm leaning towards a food allergy from the other dogs food which a piece could have spilled and not been eaten by the other dog. I caught him just before he ate one but possible he got one without me seeing it. The food is not left out but if splilled or knocked out during his feeding my dog would be in character to guard it and then eat simply cause its food even if he hates. Makes getting him to take meds easy. Drop then try to take it without the verbal command of ✋ Not even sure what type of dog food it is yet since roomate isnt home, but they change food quite often and my dog does have plenty of opportunity to get a few peices that are splilled or not eaten.

If it is not the dog food then the allergy is possibly associated with seasonal allergies as a result of the weather, for the 1st time, moving into fall temperatures on the day after he showed his first symptoms.

The vegtable oil, not sure what brand, is used by a few drops scrubbed into his coat during the beginning of a bath. He gets a bath every 3-4 weeks. The shampoo is the same dog shampoo I've used on since I had him. The veg oil has been extremely effective vs fleas, so hope it's not that.

I will say it was a huge relief, and very happy unecpected sight this morning. I plan on taking him back outside to the frontyard in order in hopes of narrowing it down some more, but whatever it is, it's a 1000x better than the worst case scenarios goin through my head since last dog that looked like mine did died a few hours later in surgery.

[tonyb286]

Hi. Curious reactions, although it does sound like a contact allergic reaction, I agree. The vegetable oil seems to be a major possibility - but equally could be a red-herring and pure coincidence. Did you rub the oil onto his skin? Have you still got the oil in your home? If yes, what are (all) the ingredients listed? Although you say you've been using it for 6 months, sometimes allergies build-up over that time and cause a reaction after prolonged use, so it's a definite possibility.

There's also the possibility of a flea bite or other bug bite, although I would suspect your neighbour's dog would have shown similar symptoms by now if that was the cause.

Night time is often when these things get worse, because it's at the end of the day when the body is at its weakest, and dogs get fatigued from the day's activities.

Tony