Last night, around 4:30 am, Snickers woke up really itchy and continued to wake pace around the bed and couldn't get comfortable. He wanted to rub his head and paws all over the carpet. He was just going crazy with irritation all night. It continued the rest of the night and this morning. We are visiting family in Canada, but have been here for a week already and this is the first time this has ever happened.
I called my vet and got instructions to give Benadryl. But by 1pm, I started seeing a rash with lumps about the size of my fingernail all over his chest, under the armpits and on his tummy. So, I decided to take him to a local vet to get checked out. My whole family went on a day trip to the mountains, but I stayed home so that I could take him to the vet if nessessary (not to mention, I was exhausted from the dog waking me up all night)....I ended up having to ride a bike there and maybe the fresh air did him good, because the vet couldn't see the bumpy rash I had seen just 30 mintues before....He couldn't even see what I was talking about. It was just red from scratching, but not the bumps.
The vet was going to give him an antihistamine shot, but I had already given benadryl within the last couple of hours, so we elected not to. He doesn't know what's wrong with him...just seems like a contact reaction to something. I have no idea what. I think that there has not been any changes in the last day, and he was fine for a week prior in the same environment. Overall, I think the visit to the vet was pretty useless.
But, he's so itchy! I think he is maybe causing his skin to get worse from the scratching. I asked the vet about something topical, but he said it was probably best not to give him anything so that he doesn't absorb too much of anything from his skin, since he is small and doesn't want him to get too much from something both internally and externally.
He said to bring him back by 5:30 if it got any worse or he had trouble breathing. It's not nessessarily getting worse, but it's not better either. I just don't want him to tear his skin up, because that will make it more painful than just having the itch. Does anyone know anything soothing I could do for him?
I rinsed him with cool water, and thought about doing an oatmeal bath, but I don't know if I should torture him with another bath if it's not helpful....hes so restless and I feel like there is something more that I should be doing to help. I don't know if I should take him back to the vet, if there is nothing they can do....Any suggestions of any natural or OTC remedies or even something specific to ask the vet about? I'm feeling like a bad dog mom right now.
How do you eliminate any causes if there doesn't seem to be anything you can even start to pin point as a change? Is it possible to be fine one day and allergic to something the next? I thought maybe he got bit by something, but the area that the rash targets makes it appear to be a contact allergy.