Swollen Muzzle...

[Janus'sMom]

I just took Janus outside to go potty about an hour ago. I just noticed that this muzzle is starting to get swollen across the top. I guess it would be like the bridge of our nose. It's swelling up, not out. I put some pressure on it to see if it was causing him any pain, and he didn't do anything, didn't even move or wimper. So I don't think it's causing him pain.

I'm thinking it was caused by a mosquito bite. Although I didn't notice one on his muzzle, but they were everywhere else on him. He's got about a dozen bites on his groin area, but nothing is swelling there. We were outside for only a few minutes cause of the mosquitos.

My question is, should I give him some IB Profein? If so, how much? Janus is almost 7 months old and weighs between 65 lbs and 70 lbs.

Any suggestions would be nice.

[fbkeays]

Are you talking about Advil? The answer is NO. The only safe, over the counter "headache" medicine that is safe is aspirin. By safe, I mean does not cause permanent liver damage. Regular aspirin can cause bleeding in the stomach/GI track. The "buffered" ones do not work well either because of the dog's short GI track doesn't get through the buffering until it is too late. The best aspirin product is Ascriptin. It is aspirin and Maalox.
If this is from a bug bite, then an antihistime would be a better choice, such as benadryl. I am not a vet and I don't pretend to be one. Swelling in that area is always a concern.

[Moosemom]

If you think this is allergic in origin, I'd do Benadryl. The ones on his legs may be itchy to him also. Benadryl may stop the swelling on his muzzle. I use one 25 mg. tablet for my 95 lb. girl and it works but they say you can do 50 mg. I hesitate to use Ibuprofen for any animals-IF I need a little pain medicine, I use a baby aspirin. Ibupro. isn't going to help with allergic reactions and Benadryl won't hurt (he'll get sleepy!). This is a people nurse talking but believe me, I've studied what to give my dogs when ailments pop up!

[Janus'sMom]

Thank you so much for the info. I'm going to keep a close eye on his muzzle for the next few hours. I guess I have to run to the store to get some Benedryl since I have none. Myself and my bf are allergic to asprine so we have none in the house. Glad I didn't give him anything yet. But would a cold press on his nose help with the benedryl?

Although we do have some allergy pills in the cabinet, it didn't say anything about helping swelling going down, so I didn't bother grabbing it. It's more for a stuffy nose than for something like what Janus has.

[thunderduck]

i don't know for a fact but i would suggest no human medicine for your dog, take him to the vet and let him give you some proper medicine to bring down the swelling.

[Moosemom]

A cold pack on his nose sure won't hurt but PLEASE take a picture of him letting you do it! My dog would have the ice out of it and eating it! Good luck with the Benadryl-here in the south are mosquitoes are rottie-sized so we keep Benadryl around all the time! A kiss on the nose always helps too.

[Janus'sMom]

As you can see on these pics, it's slightly rising on the top, not on the sides (much). But now I'm on the way to the store. Bf thinks I'm worrying for nothing, but I'll see if I can get him to give me some money to go get some Benedryl. Otherwise, I'm gonna be worrying like crazy (even more so if it gets worse)!

(Arrows in the pics show where it's swelling... he doesn't have a hump shaped muzzle, it's usually flat.)

[hokisteph5]

The attachments haven't been approved yet. Gretchen had something similar happen to her when she was a puppy. It didn't seem to bother her, but the top of her nose looked weird for a few days.

I have woods at the edges of my yard and Gretchen would always have her nose in the fallen leaves and underbrush. I've seen moles, vols, lizards, field mice, etc. I can't remember why, but the speculation at the time was that Gretchen offended a lizard.

[Janus'sMom]

Well here in the woods of Maine we don't have lizards... so I just gave him 25mg of Benedryl in a treat. It hasnt seemed to have gotten worse nor has it gone down in the past 2 hrs. (Stores are about a 45min drive.) Although as he's laying on the floor he's rolling onto his back and rubbing the top of his muzzle with both paws.

I'm surprised the attachments haven't been approoved but that I can still see them myself. Maybe it's cause I'm the one that posted them. But I forgot to point out that the first picture (when you can finally see them) the swelling goes from one arrow to the other, along the entire top of his muzzle, not just a spot.

If his swelling isn't better by very early morning, then I'll be bringing Janus to the vet's. But I'm thinking it should be ok by then.

[peachesandchubby]

2 of my dogs have had hives before. Peaches muzzle swelled up (she was around 6 months old then) and when I took her to the vet it was hives. They told me to give her 2 - 25 mg capsuls and not exceed 1mg per pound of weight...thank god it wasnt when she reached 96lbs!! LOL!!
Good luck and as said before it probly will make a sleepy doggie..

[Janus'sMom]

Well I can say that he definately didn't get sleepy!!! More like he got hyped up and was running around like a goof ball with the kittens for a good 3 hrs. I only gave him one 25mg. I didn't see any results for a good 4 to 5 hrs. I finally went to sleep around 4 this morning, and for some reason, now I'm awake (2 1/2 hrs of sleep). His muzzle looks normal and now he's finally sleeping which he would usually be tearing up the kitchen with the kittens (zoomies) after his breakfast.

Bf was a little annoyed with me last night, saying I was over-reacting (maybe I was, maybe I wasn't, but better to be safe than sorry). I told him if anything happened to Janus, that I'd never forgive him and I'd leave him... so he sucked up his ego and took me to the store (I hate driving at night and going to the city alone at night). He even let me bring Janus along for the ride, something he's not thrilled about now that Janus is getting big and we only have a three seater pick-up truck.

It was funny to watch him last night, dispite my worrying. I figured if he was running around like a clown and not showing signs of discomfort, then he's going to be ok. He'd be running around between the kitchen and living room and our bedroom. Every time I threw a toy into the living room from the bedroom he'd be sliding all over the hard wood floor. It was too commical. It was almost like he got new feet. After bumping into the open door and door frame a couple of times I decided to stop the playing before he got hurt from running into something. So he layed next to my side of the bed and played with Tigger (his lil buddy kitten). After Tigger was done playing with him, Janus decided to sit at the foot of the bed and watch the ceiling fan spinning. That was funny too. He never had an interest in the ceiling fan before. I don't think he went to sleep till after I past out from exhaustion. So I guess that means he'll be sleeping all day, good I could use a relaxing day myself

Thank you everyone for your help. Just another reason that I'm so glad to have this forum so handy (and the people here).

Oh and by the way, Janus wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get an ice pack on his nose, but it's a trick I'll work with him on, maybe I'll get that picture for you some day (It would make a nice "get well" card too.)

[Moosemom]

Glad your fur-child is better. My initial reaction when I saw the picture was that his nose was broken-I guess you would know if something had injured him. And with a broken nose you see bleeding many times. Benadryl is a great anti-histamine but in some children (and dogs too I guess) it reverses and makes them maniacs! Don't ever feel you have to apologize for caring for your pet-they didn't ask to be here and they sure have no voice but ours. Continue to be caring and encourage bf to understand you are the advocate for your dog's good health!

[bliss7373]

I'm glad to hear that Janus is feeling better. Certainly does sound like an allergic reaction. I'd just keep a close eye on it for a few days, make sure there isn't an actual bite that gets infected, etc. Maybe call your vet, let him/her know what happened, ask if it's okay to keep a stash of benadryl on hand.

And you were ABSOLUTELY not overreacting. For goodness sake - what if your bf went outside, got some bites, and shortly thereafter...HIS nose started swelling like that? I would hazard a guess that your bf wouldn't be saying it was no big deal then. After all, allergic reactions can worsen and come with other symptoms like impaired breathing!

Give Janus a butt scritch for us.

[Janus'sMom]

I told my bf the same thing about the reaction... to further my point with him, I told him "what if it was me? would you say "oh well, its no big deal" and let me sit there with it getting worse?" Now mind you, I'm allergic to bee and hornet stings, so having the benadryl is very important for me as well as having it on hand for Janus. So that shut him up and made go to the store with me.

Although I have to give the bf some credit. He's starting to change his attitude towards Janus He's actually talking at a normal voice tone towards Janus, and actually petting him before he leaves for work at the door, and when he comes home from work also at the door He's even banned me from putting Janus in his crate at night for bed, which I wasn't happy about, but Janus hasn't had any accidents in the house over night, so I can't really complain.

I'm still keeping an eye out on Janus's muzzle to make sure it doesn't re-occur, and I don't see a bite mark or little bubble anywhere to indicate where he got bit. Could a mosquito or other smaller insect have gone up his nose and into his nasaul passage to bite him? Would it have caused that kind of reaction, and be the reason why I'm not seeing a bite mark on his muzzle?

Oh and Janus appreciates all the lovings and butt scritches

[webangel2b]

That looked like a 'skitter bite to me, plus you said he was iching it.

I had to laugh at your comment, the Benadryl didn't make him sleepy at all. Doesn't do that to Dixie either. She's a layed back/relaxed dog anyway so I figured she would fall out, nope she's her normal self :)

Glad he's feeling better, Dixie sends him two paws up ;)