[LifeOfRiley]

Ugh - I thought I was doing something special for the boys last night and cooked up some lamb for both of them. Well, they're both itching like crazy and have bumps all over their upper lip/muzzle area.

I gave Gunner some Benedryl and it seems to be helping him -- should I do the same for Riley??
And how long does this typically last??

 

[artbuc]

Ugh - I thought I was doing something special for the boys last night and cooked up some lamb for both of them. Well, they're both itching like crazy and have bumps all over their upper lip/muzzle area.

I gave Gunner some Benedryl and it seems to be helping him -- should I do the same for Riley??
And how long does this typically last??

Based on my experience, at least one week. But, food allergy reactions are highly variable.

 

[paula bedard]

Poor guys! Hope the benadryl helps. Ike has food and seasonal allergies, but has not had a localized reaction like your two have had.

 

[LifeOfRiley]

Based on my experience, at least one week. But, food allergy reactions are highly variable.

Thank you for your response -- I appreciate it!
I spoke to my vet and she said pretty much the same thing. Said I should give him at least a few days.
He seems to be doing a little better this morning. He's still real itchy, but the bumps (hives, I guess?) are pretty much gone.

 

[LifeOfRiley]

Poor guys! Hope the benadryl helps. Ike has food and seasonal allergies, but has not had a localized reaction like your two have had.

I've never seen a reaction like this. When it started with Gunner, I thought he might have been stung by a bee. Then when Riley started showing the same signs a couple hours later, I figured it had to be the lamb. It's the only "new" thing they've both been exposed to. I think it's odd that they both reacted pretty much the same way, though.

The Benedryl did seem to help. Riley was very restless overnight (didn't want to give him any when I wouldn't be awake to keep an eye on him.) But he's doing a little better this morning.

 

[moverking]

Wow, there's a lot of info out there on CAFR (cutaneous adverse food reactions) to lamb, beef and cow's milk, specifically...
Here's just one...
http://www.animalhealth.bayerhealth...]=132&tx_ttnews[backPid]=425&cHash=bab085be15

Poor itchy boys, the Benadryl should help immensely. Possibly use a little Gold Bond cream on their muzzles if they'll let you...

 

[Debles]

So sorry they are having such a reaction. I have learned not to change anything with my boys. It seems many new things I have tried (even very healthy stuff I have heard about here on GRF) my boys just seem to react to.

and when I changed their food! OH NO! Gunner lost his hair and at least 15 pounds. We are going with the adage here : "If it anin't broke, don't fix it!"

 

[BeauShel]

Hope they start feeling better.

 

[LifeOfRiley]

Thank you for that link, Maribeth. That's interesting. I had thought that lamb wasn't a very common allergen, but I guess it's not all that unusual. It seems strange that they would both react to the lamb, though, and not beef or cow's milk.

I'm still racking my brain and can't think of anything else that could have caused it. It HAD to be the lamb.
They'd been getting the same food there for a while, but we've been on the same bag since the 26th. Could it take that long for a reaction to present itself??

And yeah, Deb - that's going to be my policy too, from now on. They're not getting anything new after this.

 

[moverking]

Hey, their bowls....residual soap, bleach...? I wouldn't think an acute rxn like they had would have taken since the 26th to come up...
That link I sent stated a common protein between the 3 as culprit...maybe it's something else in the lamb that got him. Or maybe the lamb you cooked just put him over the edge with the amount of that protein.
Sheesh, our pups

 

[paula bedard]

Hope they're feeling better today. Was their kibble mixed in with the lamb? Could a bug or spiders have gotten into the bag of food? Maybe they were bitten on their muzzles? I've seen a localized reaction to a spider bite and bee sting...swelling, welts, and itching.

I'm gonna check Ike's food bags when I get home this weekend. I have noticed spiders coming in now that the temps are dropping.

 

[LifeOfRiley]

Hey, their bowls....residual soap, bleach...? I wouldn't think an acute rxn like they had would have taken since the 26th to come up...
That link I sent stated a common protein between the 3 as culprit...maybe it's something else in the lamb that got him. Or maybe the lamb you cooked just put him over the edge with the amount of that protein.
Sheesh, our pups

The common protein just putting them over the edge... now that could be. Since I tried putting them back on Orijen, at any given meal one or both of them have turned their nose up at it. (That's what made me wonder if it could be the food - I thought maybe they'd been trying to tell me something by not wanting it.) I'd been mixing a little cooked ground beef - a couple tablespoons - into the food to get them to eat it. Maybe it was too much for them and the lamb was just the final straw? That does make sense.

Luckily, they're both doing MUCH better today. Riley's still a little bit itchy and we have a little pudding poop going on, but they both seem to feel fine. In fact, Riley woke me up at 4am, all bright-eyed and ready to go. I guess he wanted me to know that he's feeling like his old self. :

 

[LifeOfRiley]

Hope they're feeling better today. Was their kibble mixed in with the lamb? Could a bug or spiders have gotten into the bag of food? Maybe they were bitten on their muzzles? I've seen a localized reaction to a spider bite and bee sting...swelling, welts, and itching.

I'm gonna check Ike's food bags when I get home this weekend. I have noticed spiders coming in now that the temps are dropping.

Yeah, I did mix the lamb in with their food, but I haven't seen anything in it - no bugs or anything - and the food looks and smells okay.
I still have to wonder about the food, though. It's one thing for Gunner to turn his nose up at it - that's not unusual. But Riley will eat absolutely anything, so for him to refuse it, is weird.
I don't know. Maybe it's just a combination of things - bad food, the beef and lamb being too much together... who knows?

I know I'm not messing around with food anymore, that's for sure! They're going back on the food that they both did real well on, and they're staying on it! No more experimenting and no more giving them something different for a treat. I think they'd rather I not do them those kinds of favors.