This summer Guilty had encounters with two different allergic reactions. She had a bout of Flea Allergy Dermatitis, if you didn’t get to read about it you can read it here, during the Flea Allergy Dermatitis I found out Guilty is allergic to chlorhexidine and I also found out she had an allergic reaction to a bee.

Allergic reaction??? What you talking about???

Allergy:

Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, are a number of conditions caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment.^[12] These diseases include hay fever, food allergies, atopic dermatitis, allergic asthma, and anaphylaxis.^[2] Symptoms may include red eyes, an itchy rash, sneezing, a runny nose, shortness of breath, or swelling.^[1] Food intolerances and food poisoning are separate conditions.^[4][5]

Common allergens include pollen and certain food.^[12] Metals and other substances may also cause problems.^[12] Food, insect stings, and medications are common causes of severe reactions.^[3] Their development is due to both genetic and environmental factors.^[3] The underlying mechanism involves immunoglobulin E antibodies (IgE), part of the body’s immune system, binding to an allergen and then to a receptor on mast cells or basophils where it triggers the release of inflammatory chemicals such as histamine.^[13] Diagnosis is typically based on a person’s medical history.^[4] Further testing of the skinor blood may be useful in certain cases.^[4] Positive tests, however, may not mean there is a significant allergy to the substance in question.^{[14]  ~Wikipedia}

Guilty’s first allergic reaction happened while we were at a hunt test this fall. I was watching Guilty run the land series of the hunt test, she picked up her duck was racing back with it and then all of a sudden she dropped the duck and then starting chewing at her back leg, she did that for a few seconds then picked her duck back up and brought it back to John. I didn’t think much of it besides that she must of gotten bitten by something. When we got home unloaded the dogs, unloaded the truck, came inside and all of a sudden I looked at Guilty and was taken back. Her face blew up, she looked like a blow fish. At that point I knew she was having an allergic reaction to what I had no idea until I thought back at earlier in the day when she dropped the duck and I realized at that time she did get bit and whatever bit her caused an allergic reaction. Usually the insect causing a lot of the allergic reactions is bee’s. I called my vet, had benadryl and prednisone on had so I gave her some and within a couple hours her bumps were gone.

Guilty’s second allergic reaction was more of a mystery. She would be covered in hives, the hives would be all over her body and not her head.

I couldn’t put my finger on what might we causing her reaction. I was still giving her baths to treat her Flea Allergy Dermatitis with medicated shampoo in which I had bathed her in before with no problems. Was it the shampoo? Was it something in the environment? I didn’t know, all I know is that the hives were all over her body, they were releasing histamine which was causing her to itch. I still had benadryl and prednisone on hand so more medication was given to counteract the allergic reaction. A little bit after the medication was given she was no longer itchy or had hives.

Guilty had a lump on her head, she had what was called a histiocytoma. A histiocytoma is a benign (cancer free) lump that usually goes away in time. Her lump wasn’t going away in time nor fast enough for me as with her allergic reactions she was itchy and would itch her head and the lump would break open and bleed, so I decided to have it removed .

Guilty’s surgery went well, no problems at all during the surgery. She recovered nicely and then when she was recovered and able to walk I took her outside to go potty. I took a look at her and her eyes were puffy, she was having an allergic reaction again. This time I was at the clinic so she got a injectable antihistamine to counter act her allergy reaction. I had no idea what she was reacting to.

Guilty’s medicated shampoos with Chlorhexidine shampoo continued, it was time for her bath so I gave her a bath. When I bathed her I scrubbed everything but her head. Two hours after her bath she broke out all over her body again with hives. There were no hives on her head where no shampoo had contact. I then knew it was the shampoo that was causing the problem. I turned around and gave her a bath with dawn dish soap to strip all the other shampoo residue off her body, I then gave her more oral medications to counteract the allergic reaction.

Her hives went away after a couple of hours. What I needed to figure out now was what ingredient in the shampoo was Guilty allergic too. I thought back to the day we took that lump off Guilty’s head. When we do a surgery we scrub the area with surgical scrub to remove all the debris and create a sterile field. The scrub we use is chlorhexidine the main ingredient in the medication shampoo is chlorhexidine, at that time the light bulb went on and I realized Guilty is allergic to chlorhexidine.

Chlorhexidine is used quite often in a veterinary clinic, I even own a gallon of it to keep on hand for when any of the dogs gets a scrape or cut while out hunting, I use that to scrub the wound to get the bacteria out of it. I won’t be able to use this now on Guilty as I know now it will cause her to have an allergic reaction. I had to find another alternative in which I did, I now have betadine on hand and at the vet clinic to use if I need to create a sterile field or clean a wound.

Dogs just like people can develop allergies to different things at different times, one should be diligent with what is going on around your dog so you know why it’s having a reaction.

Hopefully Guilty will be free for a very long time.