Wednesday, September 24, 2014

My Dog has Allergies

For the past couple months our dog, Eddie, has been licking his feet. At first we let it go thinking he was bored. But recently it's become incessant licking. His paws are turning red. Whenever we get on him about it, he moves out of our eyesight and keeps licking. 

Eddie's been due for his shots since the spring, we've been putting it off b/c we spent $600 earlier this year when he had his teeth cleaned and they removed 8 due to plaque build up. What great parents huh? 

So we'd been putting off this vet trip, but the feet licking was out of control. We googled it and found he could have an anxiety disorder, an allergy, a number of different diagnoses. 

The vet said he probably had an allergy and the grass on his feet was making them itch. Say what? My dog, who spends a good 2/3 - 3/4 of his day outside, is allergic to our grass? 

Hubby took him in today and the vet prescribed a solution to wipe on his feet once a day and said we could give him Benadryl. All we have in the house right now is children's Benadryl in liquid form. I planned to pour some in his water dish and he'd lap it right up. 

Yeah right. He sniffed it and backed away. 

Not to be discouraged I came back w/ a syringe from the infant Tylenol. I held Eddie by the collar and poked the syringe into the corner of his mouth while he twisted his head trying to avoid me. It took several tries but I managed to squeeze all 3 ml of medicine in his mouth. Now to fill up and do again. And again. Lots of treats were given between doses and he still wouldn't cooperate. 

Tomorrow we're buying the chewable tablets and sneaking them into some cheese. He loves cheese. (Who doesn't??) 

Oh and he's overweight. :( By 2-4 lbs. so not too much. His portions have been cut and he wasn't too happy about that today. He does have a big backyard to run around in and we do play w/ him out there. But he's getting up there in dog years (he's 8) and after a few throws he starts limping and we feel bad for him. The vet assured us it was healthy for him to run even when he acted sore. 

This is the first pet I've had that's stuck around the longest. Growing up we lived along a highway and dogs were always showing up and would stay for awhile. We've had him since he was a puppy, he's my first "baby." Who wouldn't love a dog like this? 

This isn't my Eddie but he looks very similar to this corgi. Same coloring and same brown spots over his eyes. 

My Eddie is laid out on his back, feet up in the air, snoring. That must be some good Benadryl. 

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