Mr. N is allergic to chicken, fleas and bee stings. Chicken is the easiest one to avoid because most things are labeled and he can have it in small doses without becoming too itchy.
He is on flea medication pretty much year-round though because the weather is mild here and we have bugs pretty much all the time. Even one flea bite drives him crazy for weeks and then we have to cone him and he uses that cone as a weapon to show his displeasure (who says dogs can’t use tools?).
I have tried various holistic measures and several different flea medications. Right now, he’s wearing a Seresto collar and I spray him with the Pet Naturals Flea + Tick spray if we’re going hiking or somewhere with a lot of dogs.
My biggest concern though is his bee allergy because the last time he got stung by a bee (which was before we had him), he had to go to the ER. At his last vet visit, I got a prescription for juvenile EpiPens for Mr. N. I didn’t know this was a thing for dogs until I went to a canine first-aid workshop a few months ago.
The vet told me to stab Mr. N in the thigh muscle with the EpiPen. The boyfriend said what muscle to which I replied that Mr. N has very nice hind muscles… the vet said so! I can see his point though, it’s not exactly a large target area.
Now we’ll have to see if his insurance will cover the cost.
What kind of allergies do your dog(s) have and what do you do to combat them?
January 9, 2015 8:53 am
Poor Mr. N!! That sounds so scary!! Neither of my dogs have any known allergies. We just haven't really had anything pop up. Zoe has been stung twice and both times I got the stinger out and benadryl in very quickly. When she got stung on the foot it did swell up and she would not walk on it for a day or two. Phoenix has been stung a bunch of times and she hasn't had any reactions, though she is now afraid of flying insects that go bzzzzz. Which is probably a good thing.
January 9, 2015 11:24 pm
It's probably a good thing. The dogs found a dead snake the other day and I called Mr. N away because that's exactly what we want. Interest in snakes.
January 9, 2015 11:26 am
I am not allergic to anything. I am happy about that, now that I've heard about that Epi-pen thing. Yikes! I'm not nearly meaty enough for that nonsense either, Mr. N.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
January 9, 2015 12:51 pm
Thankfully my sisters and I have no allergies. Katie and I have been stung by bees and thankfully had no reaction other than some pain and a touch of swelling around the area. It is cool to know they have the epi-pen for use with dogs too!
January 9, 2015 11:21 pm
Yeah, I had no idea.
January 9, 2015 1:45 pm
I had no idea there were epi-pens for dogs, either! Thanks for sharing that info. Barley doesn't have any known allergies, but I'm glad we learned about it just in case!
January 9, 2015 11:22 pm
It's useful information! I'm not sure if bigger dogs also get the juvenile version or the adult one.
January 9, 2015 2:55 pm
Maggie doesn't appear to be bothered by anything, but Jack has chicken and beef allergies so we have to steer clear of that. Luckily we don't have much of a bug problem out here.
January 9, 2015 8:30 pm
Poor little guy. Stay away from Mr. N you nasty bees and buggies!
January 9, 2015 8:42 pm
Poor Mr. N! Our pups don't have any known allergies per se. Buzz doesn't tolerate chicken too well ~ it causes gastrointestinal issues, but no itching. That's why we don't feed anything containing chicken.
January 9, 2015 9:48 pm
Hi Y'all!
Since I get allergy shots regularly for grass and cottonwood, I doubt you'll have any problem using the EpiPen. Mr. N will appreciate it, trust me.
Y'all come on by,
Hawk aka BrownDog
January 9, 2015 11:23 pm
Well he'll probably forgive me afterwards.
January 10, 2015 2:36 am
Poor Mr. N – although he does look particularly handsome in that photo with his tongue out! 😀 Riley has outdoor allergies, which means his paws are constantly tinged pink from him licking them…his ears also seem to bother him a lot 🙁 We give him meds in the spring, but the only other thing that vet said we could do is constant steroids, and we haven't wanted to put him through that yet.
January 10, 2015 3:22 pm
I didn't know you could use epi-pens for dogs either, that's a very good thing! Allergies can be scary when they're more than just mild. So far we've been lucky not to have to deal with them (knock wood).
Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets
January 10, 2015 4:09 pm
oh, the bees sound nasty! Rocco got stung once, but children's Benedryl (suggested by his vet) did wonders in getting him comfortable. Good think you have the EpiPen now! Thankfully Rocco doesn't seem to have any allergies, but Cosmo was allergic to just about everything. I know how difficult it can be to control it all. I used Comfortis for flea control after trying lots of other stuff and that seemed to work well.
January 14, 2015 1:20 am
I think bee allergies are one of the scariest. They can go down a bad road fast. Glad you got the epipens.
January 19, 2015 11:03 pm
Oh no Mr. N. Fleas and bees have be the scariest. Please be careful…