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Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / July 2004Can a dog get swimmer's itch?
I took my dog (mixed Golden Retriever) camping and we were next to a lake in North Carolina. We did some swimming in the lake although he did not really enjoy it. We arrived home on July 18th. On July 23rd (Friday) I noticed him licking his paws and some bleeding. I thought he had been in a fight with a small animal in the back yard or something. I treated what I could find with peroxide. The tops of his paws mostly and the backs of his front legs had small redish crusty blisters that also looked like they could have been punctures. Some of the "blisters" were a little swollen also. I got him to the vet the next day (Saturday) and she diagnosed some kind of allergic reaction or rash. She shaved a lot of the hair from his front paws and you could see how much blistering was really there.. Then we found more on his tummy, his back legs - on the insides of his thighs.. and one spot on his face next to his eye. He is now wearing an Elizabethan collar and I am treating him for eczema/itching with some Cortisone gel, Benadryl, applications of flax seed oil and tomorrow I will get some colloidal oatmeal and some Domeboro solution (recommended by vet). The vet put him on oral antibiotics also. My question is.. could this be from the lake? Could he have gotten swimmer's itch and he's having an allergic reaction to the parasites? From my internet research, it sure seems to be the case... Could it take 5 days for evidence of the rash to show up because of his fur? Can dogs even get swimmer's itch? Thanks for your help in advance.. >My question is.. could this be from the lake? Not unless that is one bad-a.s polluted lake, or your dog happens to have an acute sensitivity to some peculiar substance found in the lake. >Can dogs even get swimmer's itch? Well, sure. It's a generic term for a reaction to something in the water, or the side effects of being in the water too much (dry skin, chlorine, mildew, etc). Your dog's symptoms sound too swift and severe to be something you can chalk up to "swimmers itch." Not to say the lake didn't have something to do with it, just saying I would look for something more specific than a general catch-all like swimmer's itch. Thanks for your input Ceg... There is another thing I suspect - maybe someone can shed light on this as a possible cause. Earlier on the day when he had this bleeding breakout, I had given him some Valerian powder - about 1/2 of a capsule that I take to reduce anxiety or help me sleep. I gave it because storms were predicted and was hoping it would relax him. On other occasions I have given him an herbal anti-anxiety mixture made for dogs but have noticed it might be causing diarrhea so I won't give him that anymore. The main ingredient of that is St John's Wort and only a little Valerian is in that. Could this small amount of Valerian cause an allergic reaction? The Benadryl I gave him last night and the cortisone gel and flax seed oil have seemed to lessen the swelling of his welts and they seem to be on the upswing.. although he will have to wear that collar thing for a few more days. > >My question is.. could this be from the lake? > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > just saying I would look for something more specific than a general catch-all > like swimmer's itch. Earlier on the day when he had this bleeding > breakout, I had given him some Valerian powder - about 1/2 of a > capsule that I take to reduce anxiety or help me sleep. ..Valerian can cause digestive upset if used in large doses, but otherwise is safe. ...St. John 's Wort - some animals can develop a photosensitive rash (Info from Herbs for Pets by Mary Wulff-Tilford and Gregory Tilford). I gave it > because storms were predicted and was hoping it would relax him. ......Try putting a T-shirt on him or maybe melatonin. > The Benadryl I gave him last night and the cortisone gel and flax seed > oil have seemed to lessen the swelling of his welts and they seem to > be on the upswing.. although he will have to wear that collar thing > for a few more days. .......Could have been algae in the lake. http://www.co.humboldt.ca.us/health/envhealth/pressreleases/print.asp?url=pr essReleaseDetail.asp&ID=47 However, swimmers or boaters elsewhere have experienced skin irritation, gastrointestinal disorders and allergic respiratory reactions from blue green algae contact. ..What lake was it in NC? You might try a websearch and see if they have any warnings out. There's a link at the bottom of this page which might help: http://www.ncseagrant.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&filename=HAlgae.html .....To cover all your bases you might have a CBC run. Could be just a coincidence that this happened a few days after swimming in this lake. buglady take out the dog before replying Thanks buglady... What does a T-shirt do to help him with storms? Do you put it on him like he's wearing it or what? How does that help? Never heard of that one. The only thing that makes me think it was not something in the lake is that I did not get any reactions and I pretty much swam in the same water. I have heard about the bad effects of blue green algae .. My skin is pretty sensitive so I would think anything that caused a rash in him would have done the same to me. It also seems I might have seen evidence of this sooner had he gotten it camping. I keep a pretty close eye on him and notice behavior that is out of the ordinary pretty quickly. So far, nobody has any answers that are definite. The blisters seem to be responding to keeping him from licking them by using the Elizabethan collar, treatment with oral antibiotics and allergy pills (Benedryl initially and now Tavist) and I am applying Cortisone gel about once a day and Aveeno anti-itch lotion that has colloidal oatmeal and calomine in it. I also put some antibiotic ointment on about once a day. I sure wish I knew the cause so it doesn't happen again... > Earlier on the day when he had this bleeding > > breakout, I had given him some Valerian powder - about 1/2 of a [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > buglady > take out the dog before replying > What does a T-shirt do to help him with storms? Do you put it on him > like he's wearing it or what? How does that help? Never heard of that > one. ........it's a cheap version of the anxiety wrap http://www.anxietywrap.com/ > The only thing that makes me think it was not something in the lake is > that I did not get any reactions and I pretty much swam in the same > water. .................That's why I urge you to get some bloodwork done. buglady take out the dog before replying Years ago, I got a horrible rash...I can't remember if the outbreak was immediate or delayed by days...anyway, I was swimming in a local lake...MY rash was just like you described, and it was determined that it was poison sumac pollen floating on the water....This was at least 25 years ago.....And I don't know if dogs and humans are sensitive to the same plant irritants. Perry > Thanks for your input Ceg... > [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > > just saying I would look for something more specific than a general catch-all > > like swimmer's itch. >Could this small amount of Valerian cause an allergic reaction? Yes. Any amount of anything can cause an allergic reaction. The bigger issue is treating him on the notion that what's good for you is good for him. Not a very safe assumption. Hello ceg, I agree that we can't assume that what we eat is safe for dogs. I only gave him the valerian because it was in the anxiety pills that were for dogs that I have been giving him in the past. I only gave him half of what I might take. I only learned recently that grapes can be really bad for dogs..for example. I know I have given him a grape or two in his life.. never more than one or two.. but a friend said she read something about grapes being bad for dogs and I found some details on that and it's downright scary. The camping trip we were on was quite stressful for my dog between the numerous storms, the new experiences such as swimming and basically all the unfamiliar stuff... so it's possible the stress made him susceptible to this rash... whatever caused it may not be as important as realizing that he was really stressed out perhaps. He only ate maybe twice during the whole week and early in the week till about half way through, he also had diarrhea. > >Could this small amount of Valerian cause an allergic reaction? > > Yes. Any amount of anything can cause an allergic reaction. > > The bigger issue is treating him on the notion that what's good for you is good > for him. Not a very safe assumption. |
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