# Poison Ivy/Oak on Muzzle??



## TerriNC (Sep 23, 2011)

Has anyone ever had a dog get poison ivy/oak on muzzle? Our newest edition has something breaking out on her muzzle. It started this morning after our walk with a couple of bumps popping up. I noticed it because she was rubbing her face on the carpet to scratch, then used her paws to rub. As the day has progressed, more bumps have popped up on the muzzle, and they look very red, even bleeding a little where she has been rubbing. I started her on Benadryl and put hydrocortisone cream on it. She's stopped rubbing it, but her muzzle is SO whelpy. When we are walking, she is high energy at only 2 years old, and shoves her nose into every bush and hole. I guess it could be something besides poison oak/ivy, maybe fire ants, but it seems like ant bites would've all popped up at the same time instead of progressing over the day. I know from previous experience with myself that poison oak/ivy is a gradual increase in blisters. She doesn’t have any other symptoms—she’s eating and acting just like normal. Has anyone ever had a dog get whelps/blisters on their muzzle suddenly???


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

My dogs have given me poison ivy without getting it themselves. I don't think they are prone to it. Not sure about oak.
Hope her itchiness subsides and it doesn't get worse, whatever it is.


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## TerriNC (Sep 23, 2011)

It seems crazy because we have A LOT of poison oak and ivy around here, and she walk through it all the time with no problem, I'm sure because it only touches her fur and not her skin. But, maybe since there's very little fur protection on the muzzle it got to her skin? I have noticed that the plants are starting to turn yellow with the cooler temperatures around here, so I wonder if the plants are oozing more irritants?? I have no idea, just guess work right now. Hopefully, it'll look a little better in the morning. At least she seems fine and the medicines are keeping it from itching now, or I'm sure she'd have a hard time sleeping tonight


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

CAn you post a picture of what it looks like? I would be careful of putting that stuff on her muzzle lest it get in her mouth.


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## TerriNC (Sep 23, 2011)

*Pictures*

Here are 3 pictures I just took. It hasn't gotten any worse overnight, and she slept well, so maybe the worst is over, at least I hope so. It's strange because we walk these same trails at my home every single day at least once, and sometimes twice a day, and we've never had a problem before. I've seen her multiple times run right through a bunch of poison ivy/oak and never had a problem. Weird! Well, hopefully she's on the mend, but I'll have to keep my eye on her. Probably call the vet in the morning when they open and see how long to continue giving Benedryl. Thanks for the input! When your worried about something, it's nice to have a input from like-minded/interested people...


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

Ouch! If it doesn't clear up by tomorrow I would definitely take her in just to have the vet look at it. I have never heard of a dog getting poison ivy...


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

X2 get her to the vet. It looks like that autoimmune thing dogs can get.


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

msvette2u said:


> X2 get her to the vet. It looks like that autoimmune thing dogs can get.



ohhhh....I hope it's not pemphigus, definitely hoping for poison ivy!


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

We have a lot of poison oak around here, and dogs are always getting into it, but I've never seen a dog actually have a reaction to it. That looks nasty, I'd think a vet visit is in order!


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## Stella's Mom (Mar 8, 2011)

LisaT said:


> ohhhh....I hope it's not pemphigus, definitely hoping for poison ivy!


Wow, I just looked pemphigus up. I hope it is not that either.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Yeah was posting late on my android and couldn't think of the name. But it makes sense if the dog is new to you, perhaps the stress of change set it off...


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## TerriNC (Sep 23, 2011)

*Devastated...*

I hardly know where exactly to begin to tell the heartbreaking news that I received from our vet yesterday (Monday).

There is still a small possibility that is she is having an allergic reaction to something, but when I took her to the vet this morning, the doctor felt it is possible that Mia has an autoimmune disease--she said lupus. They can do a biopsy, but it is very costly, so we opted to treat with a steroid shot and antibiotic (Cephalexin 500 mg) 2 capsules twice daily for a total of 4 daily. Dr. Raines said that this should clear it up whether it's an allergic reaction or lupus. Then, we wait for a week or two and see if it comes back. If it does come back, we will biopsy to confirm lupus, which she highly suspects. At that point, if lupus is confirmed, Mia will go on lifetime medications to control it, and the medications have a lot of side effects. That's was the first blow...

Then, I mentioned that Mia breathes very rapidly after exercise. Dr. Raines checked and said she has a heart murmur on the left side and she did digital x-rays to see what was going on in there. Mia has heart disease, much like Kaya's. She has a slightly enlarged heart, but most concerning is the fluid build-up around her heart. This was not good since they had just given her a shot of steroids for the blisters on her nose, and steroids cause fluid retention. They then proceeded to give her a shot of Lasix, a prescription for heart medication that Kaya is on called Enalapril, and another prescription for Lasix. They let me bring her home, but I have to take her back on Wednesday for more x-rays to see if the fluid has gone down. She will be on heart medications for life now and will have to have x-rays and tests regularly to monitor her condition.

There is still a chance that she does not have lupus, but she definitely has heart disease, and the doctor said it is considered heart failure since there is already a fluid build-up. If it is confirmed that she does have lupus, we will run into another problem because the medications for each disease conflict with the other, as in the issue we ran into with the shots today, but we will cross that bridge when and if we get there.

This little girl just turned 2 in August, and we rescued her less than 4 months ago after she had been tied out to a tree her whole life and never been to a vet. She had just had 11 puppies and was heartworm positive. In early June we had her spayed and in late June started heartworm treatment that she finished up in July. This is simply ridiculous. And what are the chances that we rescue 2 GSDs with heart failure at such a young age? We rescued Kaya in February of 2010 and found out she has DCM 6 months later. She has survived over a year after diagnosis so far and is doing well right now, but we know our time is very limited with her....now this....
I am devastated. We go back to the vet for more x-rays on Wednesday. Stupid backyard breeders who are hungry for money and don't care about animals or the people who love them .


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## jetscarbie (Feb 29, 2008)

I am so sorry!


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

This really sucks, I am so sorry :hugs: 

So young, and two with terrible chronic disease  that is very difficult!

If this were my dog, I would have a full blood panel done on her, and look at blood counts. With the steroid shot however, I don't know how that might alter the results. If you are in tick disease country, I would have a Snap done, though that won't catch all of them. 

Instead of starting with steroid therapy, I would start with a doxycycline and niacinamide protocol, together with diet and supplement changes, to see if that controls things. 

With the fluid around the heart, does this mean that she is in congestive heart failure? If you can swing the expense, I would have an evalutation by a cardiologist. It's really hard to balance these disease processes with two in the house, I am so sorry for your news


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## TerriNC (Sep 23, 2011)

I’m noticing (and Mia’s foster mom from the rescue noticed too) that all the pictures I find online of lupus in dogs don’t look a lot like what Mia’s blisters look like. The placement is different. The online pictures have dogs’ noses right around the rim and even on the nose itself. But, Mia’s blisters are on the bridge of her muzzle. Her nose and the edges aren't affected at all as far as I can tell. And, she hasn’t had any pigmentation changes that would be very noticeable with her dark black color. Has anyone else on here looked at her pictures and compared to online pictures or experience you may have with lupus in dogs? My vet told me that they do see cases of lupus, but not many. She said that if Mia has lupus, she’ll probably be their only one this year they’ll see. Her breed was the first thing that caused the doctor to think lupus because it’s so prevalent in GSDs. Thoughts about the pictures? I’d love to hear what anyone, especially with experience, thinks… 

We go back tomorrow for more digital chest x-rays to see if the fluid is going down. The research I did last night said that lupus can affect the heart and even cause fluid around the heart. Interesting don’t you think? Could this all be related? So many questions.

I’m sure we will be doing a blood panel soon. With Kaya, my other GSD with DCM, they have to do blood panels every so often to check on her liver and kidneys from the medicines, so I’m sure we’ll be going through the same thing with Mia. Yes, the expense of having 2 dogs with heart disease is frightening, and the doctor did say it is considered heart failure because of the fluid building up already. We are VERY blessed, though, because we have an organization that is helping us with Kaya, and today offered to help with Mia too. It’s an unbelievable story, but it started with an attempted robbery at our home on June 9th, 2010, only for 4 months after we adopted Kaya and before we knew she was sick. She ran the robbers off and was the community hero because these guys had robbed 12 homes in 4 months and Kaya’s bravery saved us and helped lead to their arrests within 1 hour of the attempted robbery. If you are interested, you can check out the story our local newspaper did about it at Paying back a hero | The Tryon Daily Bulletin For some reason, when the newspaper archived it online, it messed up some of the print, but it’s still very readable. It didn’t save the picture that appeared in the original article either, but you can see Kaya’s picture on here…she’s the cream colored one. Anyway, as you will read, the timing of publicity and us finding out Kaya was sick was evidentially a Divine arrangement, because one thing led to another and the day I took Kaya to the vet and got the terrible news about her condition “just happened” to be an exact day and time that the founder of a local organization that helps people and animals happened to be in MY vet at the same time. He works with 4 vets in our area, so what are the chances he would be in my vet at that moment? I introduced him to Kaya as the Hero Dog that he had heard about, and that was where another chapter in our lives began. This organization has helped us tremendously and, out of gratitude, I became their Volunteer Fundraiser Coordinator and, with the help of family and friends, have put on 2 fundraisers in the last year, with another one coming up on November 5th. It’s our 2nd Annual Bark-in-the-Park. Through these first 2 fundraisers we were able to raise $5,500 for Lennie’s Kids, and we hope this year’s will be even more successful. The company I work for got on board right away last year and now helps sponsor all the fundraisers I do for LK. I can’t explain any of these remarkable circumstances and how we’ve been able to help SO many precious, deserving animals through Lennie’s Kids, all from the sickness of my Hero GSD. I know in my heart that God has orchestrated it all, and I’m just a small piece of the big picture. That’s what I believe 
Here are a few pictures from last year's Bark in the Park. You can also check out Lennie's Kids facebook page and we'd love for you to click "like" to help support the efforts. Thanks! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/...69129736#!/pages/Lennies-Kids/109446469129736


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## TerriNC (Sep 23, 2011)

The x-rays today were much better. There is less fluid in around Mia's heart, which is great considering that they gave her a steroid shot Monday before we realized she has heart failure. The doctor was pleased with the job the Lasix and Enalapril are doing. YAY!

Mia's nose blisters are all dried up and look MUCH better. Now, we'll just pray it stays that way with no more issues. I didn't get the chance to tell the doctor that the pictures online look different than Mia's nose and ask what she thought. Instead, I used the time to drop the bomb on her that I've switched both dogs to all natural/raw diet 6 weeks ago. Her response was a relief. She said she had no problem with it, and thought it was fine especially with both dogs having heart failure. I told her that I switched Kaya who has DCM to all natural almost a year ago when she completely lost her appetite from the illness. I really believe this has paid a huge roll in her survival for over a year with DCM, not only her survival, but she walks with me everyday again, which would've been impossible in her condition one year ago. At first I cooked everything, except liver which she seemed to love raw rather than cooked, then 6 weeks ago we completely switched them both over. I had done a lot of research over for over a month before we made the decision. Thankfully, I didn't have to defend my decision because she was on-board. Whew! I'd been dreading telling her because I read that many vets are against it.

Anyway, I feel better about everything now


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## Original11 (Nov 14, 2013)

Hi! I would like to know if you have ever figured out what it was. My dog, a German shepherd mix, got the same thing today after sniffing the leaves in our front yard and on the street. 2,5 years nothing and this autumn morning big bumps then blood on her muzzle. I took her to a vet and hopefully she'll sleep well tonight and look better tomorrow. Thank you!


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