A Trip to the Vet: Allergies

So, last week Athena was feeling a bit under the weather.  All of a sudden her eyes were very red, runny, and had goopey green/yellow discharge throughout the day.  Along with these sad looking eyes, Athena was also experiencing some loose stool.

You gotta wear them stunna' shades when you got the eye funk!

Of course we went WebMD crazy and tried to figure out what causes "red goopey eyes and diarrhea" in dogs.  Most sources pointed us in two different directions: allergies or virus.  From this information, we tried to think of anything in the environment that may have caused these symptoms in Athena.

Last Sunday we attended our first Portland Pit Bull Parade, so we thought that maybe Athena caught something from being in close contact with other dogs.  We also remembered that Athena had a homemade dog treat from another dog owner...and being the novice owners that we are, we didn't ask what the treat was made of because as of yet, Athena hasn't show signs of any food allergies.

We also started giving Athena some new treats last week.   I am going to be so upset if it is these new treats causing the allergies because I bought two bags of them just because they are so super cute and Halloween themed.  Meet Boo Bars:

After trying to diagnose Athena's issues on our own, we called the vet to seek advice.  They suggested that it was probably some sort of allergy causing the symptoms and told us to call back if Athena continued to show symptoms after another couple of days.  Because I'm a worry wart responsible dog owner, I called the vet back only a few hours later to schedule an appointment.  I couldn't stand looking into Athena's sad blood shot eyes with green boogers anymore!

Seeing as we couldn't get an appointment until the following day, we tried to do the best that we could to keep Athena comfortable at home.  Throughout the day we applied warm compresses to both of her eyes and wiped away any goop that formed.  We also added 100% pure canned pumpkin to Athena's dry kibble to help firm up her stool (we added a heaping spoonful to her kibble at breakfast and dinner).  Pumpkin is pretty much a miracle worker because it only took a few hours to works its magic on Athena's poop.

The next day we ventured to the vet (for the third time in the past two months I might add-- see last time's visit here).  The vet determined that Athena's symptoms are in fact probably stemming from some sort of allergy.  Since we have only had Athena for two months, it can be hard to determine whether or not the allergies are environmental or from food.  She told us that many dogs experience seasonal allergies, so it might be the case that Athena has fall allergies.  We can't be totally sure of this though until we have had her for a full year and determine if similar symptoms arise next fall.  The vet also told us that it's possible that her symptoms could be food related (either from the new treats that we fed her, or even from the one homemade treat that she ate at the Pit Bull Parade).

With that, Athena cost us a pretty penny at the vet (interesting how each visit just gets more expensive...).  Aside from the general checkup, she also had a fluorescein eye stain to ensure that a scratch wasn't the cause of her eye irritation.  Once that was shown to be clear, she was prescribed Neopolydex eye drops to treat the eye irritation.  We are suppose to give Athena one drop in each eye every 12 hours for the next two weeks.  PLEASE tell me how it is humanly possible to put drops in a dog's eye?!  Twice a day?!  For two weeks?!  Oh no, Athena is not having it.  It has been a major struggle to get those dang drops in her eyes.  Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Athena's eyes almost totally cleared up after the first dose of eye drops though.  The redness is pretty much all gone and she only has a very tiny bit of eye discharge.  Her loose stool is also a thing of the past.  So from now on we are on allergy alert.

I tell ya, pitties and their allergies!