So, last night was a drama fest. Susan, our 1-year-old chihuahua climbed onto my lap and made a loud sigh, so I picked her up to hug her. I looked at her eyes and the right one had a swollen upper lid, the left had a swollen lower lid, and her snout looked twice its size. We rushed down to the 24-Hour Animal Hospital, they examined her and gave her a steriod shot, and a shot of benedryl and an RX for benedryl. I asked the vet what could cause this sort of reaction. All she said was that she didn't have symptoms of a food allergy. But what was it then? What sort of allergy is this? I want to know, so I know what to keep out of her reach or remove from my home.

I've thought of the things that have changed, and the only things that have really changed in her home environment are the brand of pee pads, but she actually seems to use these ones more, and is do good on re-training on them, and its been two-weeks since she started using them, so I kind of discounted that.

The other is new doggy treats. But again, the vet said that it probably wasn't a food allergy.

She did eat a piece of Foccaccia bread (olives and cheese), Thanks BF. I was wondering if it was like a yeast infection or reaction or something.

Sorry, this is so long. I just want to know what the problem here is. If anyone can offer any insight it would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you.

Some wee wee pads do contain pheremones to attract the dog to urinate on them, perhaps you should return to the previous brand you were using, or contact the company that makes the ones that you believe made her ill. Also, if you use any flea or tick preventatives, it's possible that she had a reaction to them.

I never said that I believe that that was made her ill, in fact I said I doubt it. Wouldn't she have had a reaction sooner than two weeks of constant use of these pads?

And we use as little chemicals on her as possible... no flea or tick medicine... She's an indoor animal. So those worries aren't too serious.

I would be more suspicious of a spider bite, bee sting or something similar, with that much swelling. I realize she is indoors, but occasionally some little creepy crawly gets inside, and the dog literally sticks her nose where it doesn't belong.

That's something that I was thinking... but if that's the case would benedryl really have taken the swell away within the minutes? I thought that stuff was just for allergies.

Do you have another dog? Don't remember if you do or not. If you have another dog then she probably got bit hence the swollen nose. That's my gut guess on that one.

Nope, she is the only animal in the house.

Benadryl works by combatting the histamine that is released when the body has an allergic reaction. The reaction can be to the things that make us sneeze like pollen and dust mites, and also things that cause skin reactions, such as bee stings and insect bites. People (and animals) who are really allergic to something release a greater amount of histamine. The reaction can vary to the red bump of a mosquito bite to a fatal anaphylactic reaction.
You frequently see swelling of a dog's face and muzzle because they are curious and just have to see what that strange little bug is like--sometimes they even decide to see what it tastes like. The mouth and nose are prime targets for a bite or sting.

So you think it's a bug bite?? Poor baby. She looked so pitiful when they brought her out, as soon as I grabbed her she clung onto me for dear life and tried to climb into my coat.