Foster failed my Bull Terrier. The next day, he's covered in hives
Having some vomiting episodes, normal temp but depressed personality and appetite. Do 1cc IM Benadryl and 2cc's (underdose) of Dex at my job (work for a surgical orthopedic vet). Palpate abdomen, no pain or blockage. One of the vets I work with suggests auto-immune.
Hives aren't touched, head to our regular vet the next day. Still emotionally depressed but taking treats. Not painful, or itchy. Sit with the vet and flip through books for awhile while we scratch our head. Give another dose of Dex, 3cc's this time and it seems to do the trick. We come to the conclusion it must have been an allergen in the environment. (I feed Taste of the Wild and there's been no dietary changes on his end.) My vets not UNCONVINCED it might not be because of his breed and something specific but she can't find anything in the books that matches his issue. No belly rashes, not hot itchy spots still, just lumps. She listens to him and says the way he's breathing almost sounds like a heart murmur, but she's convinced its just lung noise. Says she's seen one other case like this before of systemic, on-and-off hives and the only thing that worked for the owner was Zyrtec, so we started on 10 mg 2x daily (he's currently still taking it but its never helped a day.)
Next day, they're PRETTY much gone and we brush it off. A few days later theyre back again...now we're circling the wheals and tracking the larger ones to see if they come and go in the same places. So, my dog looks like a connect-the-dots disaster
Yesterday he's covered in them again, gets another boosting of Dex at my job and it wipes them out again. Both my reg vet and the vets I work with are in agreement they suspect auto-immune; potentially Lupus or rare forms of lymphoma. By all accounts he's FINE other than these lumps....theyre not painful, he's upbeat and happy, alert, great appetite. Which I suppose is the most frustrating part! They're obviously not normal, but isn't it nice to spend hundreds of bucks at the vet on a happy-tail wagging dog? We've considered steroids but apparently they can alter the biospy results (?or something, it was a phone-exchange in busy traffic) so they think biopsy first is the way to go.
Anyone have any experience with this? My regular vet of course finds this terribly fascinating as I already own another dog with an incredibly rare, "wow never seen this in my life!" skin condition so I'm SO thrilled to have added a second one to the family.
I'm really just venting all of this out, I don't expect a vet here to have an answer or something...just frustrated. it never ends!
The first day they showed up (while on vacation, of course).
Two nights ago, after they had dissapeared and re-appeared.
And just becuase I'm evil, Catfish with his head stuck in the scratching post (and to make the photo relevant, you can see where we've been drawing on him with the sharpie
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