Quote:
Originally Posted by Ellie May  I think you'd see symptoms anywhere from 5 or 10 minutes in a very severe, life-threatening allergy to years after in one that has been acquired after constant exposure. |
Very good assessment!
An example of a mild vs severe allergy:
My Trixie has issues with food that have corn (I assume that's what it is anyway). She has what I would classify as a
mild allergy. If she eats a food that doesn't agree with her, she exibits lots of biting at her paws and scratching her ears--to the point that they look 'bruised' inside and she has even developed ear infections as a result of excessive scratching. Really a bad situation, but not at all life threatening.
She also has a
severe allergy to shellfish, apparently. I had shrimp one day, dropped part of a piece on the floor and she snapped it up in a microsecond. 15-20 minutes later, I noticed her shaking her head (like trying to get water out of her ears) and drinking LOTS of water. She was licking her lips alot and I noticed that around her mouth seemed very swollen...almost like she'd been stung by bees or something. I immediately gave her benedryl and called the vet. Before the benedryl could take effect, her breathing changed....very shallow, labored breathing almost. Within about 10 minutes (while I was getting ready to rush her off to meet the vet), the medicine kicked in and her symptoms started to ease. Breathing became normal, stopped with drinking the water, and within an hour she was back to normal and sleeping.
I think that you would definately be able to tell the difference.