URGENT!!! Sherman's Face is BRIGHT RED and HE Has BUMPY WELTS EVERYWHERE!!

sobitterlysweet

New member
Apr 9, 2013
7
0
Upland, California, United States
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Sherman
It started Saturday night...I took him to the emergency vet and they said it was hives which could have been caused from anything and they just gave him a shot of Benadryl and then told me to give him 50mg of otc Benadryl and to follow-up with my vet on Monday. When we got home that evening he seemed to be feeling somewhat better and was okay on Sunday as well, but when I woke up Monday morning he was 100 times worse!!!! The welts were HUGE and his face was swollen and red and his chin was extremely raw and it looked like there were spreading lesions!!! I rushed him to the vet and again was told that he had a reaction to something. This puppy eats everything and anything that he can get a hold of with his abnormally large tongue and he knows when he shouldn't eat something because he will innocently try to hypnotize me with his fabricated innocence as he tries to cover whatever it is he is eating with his big head, so I have no ideal whatsoever as to what's causing this. As of Monday he's been taking 2 capsules of Cephalexin 500 strength twice a day, along with the Benadryl, and 1 20mg Prednisone (once a day for 5 days, then every other day until gone). Also the Duox wipes. It seemed that all the hives were diminishing and the sudden rawness seemed to be healing, so I decided to treat him to a nice massage and brush, but as I was brushing him, I was unpleasantly surprised by 2 UGLY fleas on some fur that was on his brush!! I didn't want him to suffer anymore by getting bit all night, so I gave him a flea bath. The weird thing is I only saw one dead flea during the process of elimination. Well, I just now woke up and Sherman has MORE welts, but they're in the creases in his hind legs, on his sides and behind his ears and his poor little squishy face is BRIGHT red and he keeps trying to scratch himself and seems so utterly uncomfortable! What's going on? What are these bumps? They look different from the hives. Is he going to be okay?! I am so worried!!! :*(
 

Marine91

The New Casper
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May 15, 2013
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I am not much help here and I am sure others will be along shortly, but has anything with his diet changed recently? It sounds like an allergic reaction to something that has changed.
 

BruceP

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Aug 12, 2010
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Milwaukee, WI
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HRH Princess Gracie, aka: HRH; Princess Amelia Pond, aka: Amy
Try to think of something you have changed in the last few days.... anything, type of laundry detergent, insect spray, just anything. If he is that bad Im surprised that is all the vet did. Take him back to the vet if he continues to get worse.
 

bullmama

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The Home of the Desert Sky Pack
Yes as Brucep said, anything new or changed? Flea treatments? New shampoo? New bedding? Yard treatment? Carpet cleaner? New toy? New food? New treats? Vaccines? Flowers in bloom? Freshly cut grass?

Poor baby sounds miserable, take a deep breath hopefully we can help you solve the mystery. With the meds she is on she should certainly be getting better unless she keeps getting exposed to the allergen.


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk :)
 

Jennifer Clark

I can handle the whiskey, if you can handle the nu
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Apr 16, 2013
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Awe God Bless him!!! I'm no help but I understand your distress went through something like this with Sheldon his wasn't so severe. Did the vet check him for yeast, or staph infection? Sheldon had it on his tummy and in the creases of his legs he couldn't even lay on his tummy and his muzzle was bright red he looked so uncomfortable.

Love has a name and its name is Sheldon!!!<3
 

cali~jenn

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Mar 28, 2010
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419
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Could it be plants or something outside even? How scary! I haven't had anything this extreme so not much help. Welts can be dangerous tho cuz they can be internal as well.
 

Opie CHL

Well-known member
Dec 4, 2012
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635
Patchogue, NY
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USA
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Chumley and Hershey
It started Saturday night...I took him to the emergency vet and they said it was hives which could have been caused from anything and they just gave him a shot of Benadryl and then told me to give him 50mg of otc Benadryl and to follow-up with my vet on Monday. When we got home that evening he seemed to be feeling somewhat better and was okay on Sunday as well, but when I woke up Monday morning he was 100 times worse!!!! The welts were HUGE and his face was swollen and red and his chin was extremely raw and it looked like there were spreading lesions!!! I rushed him to the vet and again was told that he had a reaction to something. This puppy eats everything and anything that he can get a hold of with his abnormally large tongue and he knows when he shouldn't eat something because he will innocently try to hypnotize me with his fabricated innocence as he tries to cover whatever it is he is eating with his big head, so I have no ideal whatsoever as to what's causing this. As of Monday he's been taking 2 capsules of Cephalexin 500 strength twice a day, along with the Benadryl, and 1 20mg Prednisone (once a day for 5 days, then every other day until gone). Also the Duox wipes. It seemed that all the hives were diminishing and the sudden rawness seemed to be healing, so I decided to treat him to a nice massage and brush, but as I was brushing him, I was unpleasantly surprised by 2 UGLY fleas on some fur that was on his brush!! I didn't want him to suffer anymore by getting bit all night, so I gave him a flea bath. The weird thing is I only saw one dead flea during the process of elimination. Well, I just now woke up and Sherman has MORE welts, but they're in the creases in his hind legs, on his sides and behind his ears and his poor little squishy face is BRIGHT red and he keeps trying to scratch himself and seems so utterly uncomfortable! What's going on? What are these bumps? They look different from the hives. Is he going to be okay?! I am so worried!!! :*(
Shawna does his face look like this? Chumley is just getting over a bad bout of serious red inflammation on his head and big red bumps..I thought it was a reaction to a rabies shot he didn't need but the vet says differently..I had him on the Cephalexin also for 2 weeks. I kept giving him Benadryl also and washed him with a antibacterial shampoo..They would get better and then come back in a day or two..The vet then changed the antibiotic and just gave me prednisone which I started on Tuesday. Hes looking a lot better but he was starting to improve even before the prednisone. He's only on 5 mg twice a day for 3 days and then once a day for 4..it sounds like the dosage you have is much higher..I honeslty don't know what caused the improvement but it took over 3 weeks and now its looking really good. There was a lot of good advice given to me on the thread I started..it was titled "rabies shot reaction" if youd like to read it...I believe the shot messed with his immune system and now hes allergic to a lot of things. Good luck and keep us posted. chumhives.jpg
 

kazzy220

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Jul 31, 2010
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Maggie (My Angel Baby 5/31/2012). Daddy (2 years). Linus (1year). Bella (4 years)
He may be allergic to the flea bites too .... just a thought
 

DudleysMom

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Jun 25, 2012
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When I was a kid, we had a miniature Schnauzer that was "allergic" to fleas -- he would break out in welts, scratch himself raw -- mess. Things were much different then and the flea deterrents were not as good (I'm going back 40 years, I am old). I think I would take that poor little guy back to the vet. Good luck -- we'll all be praying for relief. :pray:
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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It started Saturday night...I took him to the emergency vet and they said it was hives which could have been caused from anything and they just gave him a shot of Benadryl and then told me to give him 50mg of otc Benadryl and to follow-up with my vet on Monday. When we got home that evening he seemed to be feeling somewhat better and was okay on Sunday as well, but when I woke up Monday morning he was 100 times worse!!!! The welts were HUGE and his face was swollen and red and his chin was extremely raw and it looked like there were spreading lesions!!! I rushed him to the vet and again was told that he had a reaction to something. This puppy eats everything and anything that he can get a hold of with his abnormally large tongue and he knows when he shouldn't eat something because he will innocently try to hypnotize me with his fabricated innocence as he tries to cover whatever it is he is eating with his big head, so I have no ideal whatsoever as to what's causing this. As of Monday he's been taking 2 capsules of Cephalexin 500 strength twice a day, along with the Benadryl, and 1 20mg Prednisone (once a day for 5 days, then every other day until gone). Also the Duox wipes. It seemed that all the hives were diminishing and the sudden rawness seemed to be healing, so I decided to treat him to a nice massage and brush, but as I was brushing him, I was unpleasantly surprised by 2 UGLY fleas on some fur that was on his brush!! I didn't want him to suffer anymore by getting bit all night, so I gave him a flea bath. The weird thing is I only saw one dead flea during the process of elimination. Well, I just now woke up and Sherman has MORE welts, but they're in the creases in his hind legs, on his sides and behind his ears and his poor little squishy face is BRIGHT red and he keeps trying to scratch himself and seems so utterly uncomfortable! What's going on? What are these bumps? They look different from the hives. Is he going to be okay?! I am so worried!!! :*(

How is Sherman doing.... can you possibly post some pictures?

Our girl had this happen twice and both times we could not identify what caused the problem... she was so swollen she could not open her eyes. We think it was a bug bite or she got into a tree/plant she is allergic too, but no idea and the two occurrances were when she was 2 or 3 years old. Now, she will be 8 in September and has not had any issues since those two --- but, we never knew the reason.
 
OP
sobitterlysweet

sobitterlysweet

New member
Apr 9, 2013
7
0
Upland, California, United States
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Sherman
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #13
Thank you all for the replies! (I am new to this). His vet opens in 45 min, so we'll be at the door when they open. Chumley, yes, his face looks similar to that. He's finally sleeping, I just took this, but it's not the bad side, I can't get to the other side at the moment. The bumps, you cant see in the pic, but the 2 behind his ear feel like there are m&m sized (maybe a tad smaller) and are hard as well. I can't think of anything that has changed and he's been on the same food with no problems since I got him at 10 weeks old. Poor little guy has already gone through 3 surgeries (he had cherry eye in both eyes and popped the stitches twice) and now this!

In regards to the couple of fleas....I was thinking it was from them, but would that really cause that much damage? I did use the antibacterial shampoo, but the vet said the ingredients weren't too harsh and didn't believe it was that.

Food wise, he gets very tiny pieces of human scraps here and there, but again, I can't think of anything that he hasn't previously had.

He's mainly indoors and we go on walks because I don't have a backyard, so I am not sure if the gardeners have done anything (pretty sure they haven't, lol)

He does get into everything, so he could have very well eaten something, I just don't know what...I feel so helpless!!


rash.jpg
 

Texas Carol

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Jul 4, 2012
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Brutus & Cami live in Heaven
Well Shawna, I know you feel helpless...poor babies~you & Sherman!

Yes, if they are allergic to fleas, ONE bite could do this to them, I too, think
it could be the problem as you mentioned finding a couple of fleas but that
was all. Or, possibly, on your waks, someone had newly sprayed their yard
with pesticides and he reacted to it.

Praying for the answer to be found, the vet having a solution and some QUICK
relief for dear Sherman & sending comfort to you, dear one. Hang on & GOD bless!
 

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