Last weekend we had a bit of a scare with Roxy. She was fine when we woke up, had a nice morning walk, and her usual breakfast. I left for a quick trip to the grocery store, and when I came back Roxy greeted me at the door. But, it didn’t look like our Roxy – her face was so swollen! She almost looked like a cartoon version of herself – her muzzle had at least doubled in size, and the rest of her face (around her eyes, forehead, and cheeks) were really, really puffy. She wasn’t acting like she was in pain at all, but I FREAKED OUT! (I apologize for not having photos to show you – I was in such a panic! Didn’t even think of it!) Brad calmed me down.. after doing some quick research online we discovered it’s pretty common. Online forums suggested that we give her Benadryl, so I rushed to Walgreens to buy some.
Within five minutes of giving her one 25mg tablet of Benadryl (basic over-the-counter Benadryl pills), the swelling drastically went down.We gave her 1 more tablet about 6 hours later because she was still a little swollen, and when she woke up the following morning she was back to herself again. (Note: Online resources suggested to give 1 mg of Benadryl per pound that the dog weighs. We only gave Roxy one 25mg tablet and it worked just fine even though she’s nearly 3 times that. I’d be safe and start with small doses).
Although we’re not sure what caused this reaction, it’s very likely that it was a bee sting. Roxy does this thing where she nips at bees that buzz by her. I think this time she finally caught one!! Hopefully she learned her lesson. But just in case, I will always make sure to have Benadryl in my medicine cabinet!
Here are some pictures I found online of other dogs that looked similar to Roxy
Has this ever happened to your dog? I would have taken her to the vet, but like I mentioned before she was acting normal – she just looked like Sloth from “The Goonies”! 🙂