Our question this week was:My dog (a 6 year old English setter) was out on his run in our back yard last night and when I looked out at him, he was eating grass and running around, trying to every so often. When I looked closer, I saw his face was red INCREDIBLY swollen, particularly his lips and the skin around his right eye. He looked terrible and was trying to rub his face on me; he was clearly itchy. My husband brought him to the vet as I searched the yard for signs of what got into him. I found a pile of vomit and a 1/2 chewed mushroom, which have been prevalent in our yard this fall. The vet said he had been bitten by a bug and gave him a shot to combat an allergic reaction. We did tell the Dr. about the mushroom. The dog has not vomited or had diarrhea since, but has been very thirsty and is subsequently urinating frequently. I'm worried about the mushroom and fear a miss-diagnosis. Thoughts?
Lou FruscianteAnswerHi – thanks for your email. It sounds like an allergic reaction – it could have been to a bite or sting (that is by far the most common thing we see) or it could have been to the mushroom (much less common). If you are worried, I'd recommend taking him back to your vet. They can run some blood work and even put him on fluids if necessary. If it is a simple allergic reaction, I'd expect the signs to be better within a few hours.
An article that might be helpful to you are
Allergic Reaction from an Unknown Cause in Dogs and
Allergic Reaction to Insect Stings in Dogs.
Best of luck!
Dr. Jon
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