Severe Reaction to Puppy

[Chin-up]

Hi Lupus Family

Just had an awful weekend and wondering if there’s anyone out there had a similar experience...

I’ve always loved animals, particularly dogs. I’ve wanted one for years and finally got a jack Russell puppy on Thursday evening, adorable little thing. Anyway, a few hours after bringing her home my wrist was throbbing so much I thought I’d injured myself maybe picking her up. When I tried to climb the stairs for pain relief I could feel pains in my ankles which spread to my left wrist, hips, neck shoulders, knees pretty much every joint. By Saturday morning I couldn’t lift the bed sheets off myself, every movement was excruciating pain.

We brushed off the thought of it being a reaction to the puppy at first, I spend time with friends much bigger and hairier dogs all of the time and this little pup barely has hair. However, I was also getting hives which disappeared after taking antihistamines as soon as I had some time apart from her, then returned again on contact.

I have moved in with parents who are caring for me whilst my partner has re-homed her and deep cleaned our house this evening. I am much better after the hospital advised me to go up from 5mg to 80mg of prednisone daily and obviously from being apart from the lovely puppy. I’ve never heard of this happening before and couldn’t have predicted such a dramatic reaction after a long history with all types of dogs.

Any similar experiences would really be appreciated. Will try to post a pic of my puppy Luna, lasted about 24 hours with her just wasn’t meant to be.

[Hidden]

Aww that’s so sad. But dogs and cats each give off unique pheromones and some of us can just be allergic to one particular animal but fine with others. I had a very similar reaction years ago to a kitten we adopted. We had happily had kittens and cats previously but this one had a particularly strong scent and was all over me. I gradually started to swell and by the time I saw my GP my eyes were almost sealed over and she diagnosed blood poisoning with anaphylaxis. Loads of steroids.

Now got two dogs no problems and have never reacted to our old cat or other people’s in this way since.

[Chin-up in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for replying Twitchytoes, it’s really useful to know that maybe one day it could work out with a pet. I think it will take me years to build up the courage to try it again but I could spend time with the animal first to ensure there’s no reaction before bringing it into our home.

I could kick yourself for making a decision which made me so ill but I couldn’t have known such a small thing would cause such a reaction!

Thanks again x

[cuttysark]

What about trying one of the of the breeds with much less tendency to cast their hair, such as the poodle family, and cross poodle types.

A friends child with asthma is fine with their labradoodle but he is allergic to most other dogs.

I would try again when this massive flare has settled.

Hope it works out for you as my dogs have been such a huge psychological support over the decades of ill health. xx

[Chin-up in reply to cuttysark]

Thanks so much for the responses, I will maybe try again in future with the knowledge things could be very different. For now the experience has been so scary it will take me some time to build up the courage to try. Your words do ring true as I have been close to many types of dog recently without even a single symptom, probably Sod’s law the one I chose didn’t agree with me x

[AgedCrone in reply to Chin-up]

As it happened so quickly with your lovely little jack Russell, maybe you could go to a dog re-homing kennels & have a few "practice runs" with a few dogs you fall in love with? Of course it could happen again, but it won't be as bad if you haven't taken him/her into your home. I'm sure the staff at these kennels will advise you on suitable breeds.

As you've been in close contact with friend's dogs it seems to be a one off with the puppy you chose....let's hope you find "your own" pet soon.

[Chin-up in reply to AgedCrone]

Thanks for the reply, I hadn’t thought of this to be honest. If I do ever build up the courage I’ll definitely research particular types of dog and spend time with the one before it comes anywhere near our home!

[Dtj131]

I had a similar reaction to one particular Guinea pig, it absolutely floor me. Skin rash couldn't breath and we had to pass him on. Never had it before and not as bad as yours but it was a real shock as we always had pets of some kind and this really kicked all my she's and pains and everything off. Hope your well now, it's such a strange condition

[hmbuss]

So sorry perhaps you should try a non shedding dog like cockerpoo? Or smaller cavapoo??

[Chin-up in reply to hmbuss]

Thank you for your reply - there was a cockerpoo I was interested in, I didn’t realise there was such a difference with breeds in terms of allergies, i thought a dog with short hair would cause less problems. Learning the hard way that this isn’t the case. I’ll remember this if I build the courage to try again.