Scary Allergic Reaction

[Willow Flats]

I left the house and a couple of happy horses for a few hours today and when I got home Annie was a mess! Her face was so swollen she looked like a hippo, she couldn't stand up, was covered in hives down both sides of her neck and down her front legs and sides. I tried calling my vet and her voicemail box was full so I couldn't even leave a message. My internet was down so I couldn't look for another equine vet on my phone.
I called a friend and she brought out some bute and antihistamine. (The banamine I had was out of date.) My friend called her vet who was attending another emergency referred me to another vet who came out, but by the time she got out here 2 hours later the drugs we gave her started to work and she was back up on her feet. I think she is going to be just fine, and she is still pretty swollen but the hives are starting to go down.

Hard to tell what it could have been. We have lots of bees and wasps and black widows around here. We don't have rattle snakes so it wasn't that. It gave me a good scare!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Wow! How scary. Did the vet who came out advise any followup? What antihistamine did you use?

 

[Willow Flats]

Tri-Hist granuals, which are by perscription. Although her breathing became rapid after we gave it to her so the vet gave me some Banamine to administer every 12 hours for the next two days which should take the swelling down and to hold off on the antihistamine for now. My friend said that side effects could cause either sedation or rapid heartbeat. (Like benadryl makes me hyper but puts others to sleep.)

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I wonder if an antihistamine should be one of those things we keep in our supplies? Did your mare just eat the granuals?

 

[Willow Flats]

I wonder if an antihistamine should be one of those things we keep in our supplies? Did your mare just eat the granuals?

I took a small handful of timothy pellets and soaked them and mixed the antihistamine in it and she ate it, but she is very food motivated. This particular product is called a granual but is really fine like a powder really, so I had a syringe as a back-up and could have just mixed it with water.
She was anxious all night pawing the gate and making a racket. Not sure if she was agitated from the medicine, itchy or just plain hungry as the vet said not to give her hay, but make a mash with a small amount of pellets. Same thing this morning until the swelling is gone. She looks a lot better. Face still a little swollen but the hives are pretty much gone. I'm really glad I clipped her last week, because it would have been hard to see the extent of the hives all over her under the thick coat she had!

 

[Cayuse]

Poor Annie. My Welsh pony has had reactions just like that, including the agitation. He gets zyrtec and banamine. Several times he has needed Dex but we try to avoid that if possible. It can be pretty scary.
In a couple of days, if it was a sting or bite you might find the area, it will get scabby and oozy. At least is does on Oatie.
Hope by tonight she is back to normal.

 

[Maryann at MiniV]

Agree with Cayuse about looking for a sting or bite. That sounds all very scary!

 

[Willow Flats]

All the hives are gone and her face is almost normal, but there is one perfectly round raised spot about 2 1/2" in diameter on her side that is firm to the touch. Thinking that might be the bite area. She certainly didn't like me touching it.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Glad the hives are starting to go and the swelling is coming down. My dog suffers exactly the same way when she is bitten by wasps or bees. She has been bitten twice now and each time there was a perfect round circle that stood out after the swelling subsided.

Hope she continues to improve

 

[Cayuse]

Since the area you found is on her side, I wonder if she rolled on something and it bit her. Watch the area to make sure it doesn't get infected, if it's from a spider it can get icky. I had one bite my head above my ear and ended up with quite an abcess.

Glad the hives are gone.

 

[Willow Flats]

Since the area you found is on her side, I wonder if she rolled on something and it bit her. Watch the area to make sure it doesn't get infected, if it's from a spider it can get icky. I had one bite my head above my ear and ended up with quite an abcess.

Glad the hives are gone.

Thanks!
I'll keep an eye on it. Now I'm thinking maybe if I hadn't of clipped her last week she might not have gotten bitten through her hair! But the rolling idea makes perfect sense.
Tomorrow I'm going to use the shop vac and suck up any spiderwebs in her shelter. Sometimes she goes in there to take a nap on the mats.

 

[Cayuse]

Glad I'm not the only one who shop vacs the spiders...actually I make Hubby do it. We have a plethora of them. I hate to do it, live and let live, but I also hate to look up when I am in the barn. Some of them get huge and they hang out on the rafters. I am a bit squeamish about spiders. Snakes, not so much.

 

[Maryann at MiniV]

Let your vet know about the spot you found. He may want it lanced.