Soph has had a rough couple of days...

[Katie and Sophie]

My poor little girl has had to spend a lot of time with the vet the past couple days.  We still don't have any concrete answers, so any insight would be greatly appreciated!  

Thursday evening around 7 I noticed some swelling under her neck (right above where the collar lays).  It was quite noticeable and I know it wasn't there within the half hour before when I put her collar on.  So off to the ER vet we went.  It took about 20 minutes to get there and within that time the swelling had probably tripled in size and was a very large.  They took x-rays and there were no skeletal abnormalities or foreign objects. they did and aspiration and cytology and saw no signs of infection, so abscess was ruled out (they aspirated a lot, enough to make the swelling go down significantly).  The area didnt seem especially painful and they couldn't find any bite marks anywhere, so snake bite and poisonous spider bite was also ruled out.  They didn't know where else to go from that point, so they gave her a steroid injection (dexamethasone) and sent us home with Cephalexin (500 mg) to be given 2X daily.  The swelling continued after we got home, now going up her neck more towards her chin, and also down her neck more towards her chest.  a couple hours later her lips and her jaw area started to swell as well on her left side.  Called the ER vet and they said to wait until our vet opened in the morning (about an hour and a half until it opened at this point).  Took her into our vet in the morning and they are thinking its an allergic reaction to an insect or spider bite.  They drained it, give her antihistamines, and keep her on the antibiotic.  The swelling on her neck went down throughout the day, but there was no change in the swelling on her lips/jaw.  Back to the vet this morning.  They are still leaning towards an insect or spider bite because of how quickly it came on, but aren't positive.  They gave her a stronger antihistamine and started her on Rimadyl.  If there is no change by Monday we go back for further evaluation.  

She was outside in our backyard prior to this happening, but I was out there with her the whole time and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, but that doesn't necessarily mean she didn't get bit or stung though.  she is a tough cookie and tends to not vocalize pain.  I can't think of anything else out of the ordinary either lately.  Any thoughts?

She has been so good throughout all of this.  She lets the vets poke and prod at her and doesn't even try to move.  she is quickly making herself a favorite patient.  

Sorry for the novel!  I just hate not knowing whats going on with her, and I figured the all-knowing DK members might :)

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Hugs and prayers for Sophie and the family!

[Katie and Sophie]

Thank you all so much for the well wishes and good thoughts!  You are all wonderful.  Sophs sister, Jade, has allergic reactions to bees, but never with this much swelling and it is always easily controlled by benedryl, so the length of time this has lasted and the amount of swelling had me worried that I was missing something.  I'm relieved to hear that you all seem on board with the allergic reaction idea.  Its definitely the lesser of some evils.  She is still the same as this morning at this point.  Still very swollen, but no worse.  I am watching her like a hawk and will take her in immediately if anything goes wrong.  Poor girl can't go long without her momma bugging her to check her swelling.  I am hopeful that we will get it under control soon.  I am so appreciative of all the support and advice.  You guys really are the best!  I will keep you all updated.

[Ginny Nightingale]

so sorry to hear about this---and that bee sting idea that someone else mentioned might be the key--she might have an allergy to bees and if I read this right, you had just put her collar on a short while before. If there was a bee lazing around inside the collar, as they tend to do this time of year, it may have been trapped by the collar when you put it on and stung her shortly after that. I think they are on the right track and I hope she feels better soon!!

[Leslie J]

I hope Soph is feeling better!  I had similar symptoms a few years ago- it was a mystery illness which had doctors stumped.  I would swell mostly (but not limited to) my face and neck- the swelling would move around but was always on the left or right- never both sides at once.  Finally a doctor diagnosed it as angio-edema and put me on high dose antihistamines.  That was what worked.  It came back when my immune system was compromised, like when I caught a bad cold.  It hasn't come back in quite a while but I still don't know what triggered it.  I hope the antihistamines help!  

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Hope Sophie and you have a quiet and uneventful night. It's sounds so scary. Hope the drugs work and she is back to normal soon. Keep us posted.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Katie, I am so very sorry for Sophie! I hope that the doctors figure out the cause of this very scary incident. Hoping to hear good news about her recovery.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We had a dog who was allergic to bees and whenever he got stung had major swelling that lasted for days.  The vet was able to diagnose that he had been stung, so we knew that we had to wait it out - with meds of course.  I know for people, swelling seems to spread as it is re-absorbed.

[BG and Gavin]

Best thoughts for you and Sophie.  I was thinking bee sting, but of course that is just a guess.  Will wait anxiously for an update.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Poor girl, I hope the swelling goes down!

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I will keep this in mind as Bella's favorite "hunting" bush is blooming and bees are just swarming it like crazy. She likes to stick her head under and in this bush when she sees lizards or who knows what. At least a bee sting will be my first thought to tell the vet should she start swelling up like this. With Bella my philosophy is not " IF" it will happen, but "WHEN" . And just be prepared. She's my little thrill seeker.

[Sue & Lily Grace]

I hope Sophie had a better day today and hope that all the swelling is going down. Have been thinking about you all.