Friday morning Jake woke up and started shaking his head.  He shook it so continuously that he couldn’t walk down the steps.  We went outside and he just shook, shook, shook. After breakfast I got a wipe and clean his ears out.  They weren’t dirty but the cool wipe on his ears seemed to help and he relaxed.  I left for work and he seemed fine. Random checks to the Jake cam showed him sleeping.

When I got home, the note from the dog walker was…funny and yet not.  Jake had refused to go out, he then ran into the foyer and pee’d. Then Melvin poop’d closed by. Since Jake refused to go out (he does this when it is just too hot/humid), she took Melvin for a walk and came back to Jake making love to Rug.  (Seriously, who gets notes like this about their dogs?!  I love it.)

Then I looked at Jake.  He was bright red, like a cherry.  His eyes were red, ears red, white spots red.  And he was shaking his head non-stop.  We drove to vet.  Turns out Jake was having an allergic reaction to something — still no idea what that something was.  They gave him a Benadryl shot and a rub down with a steroid cream.  Within in five minutes the redness faded.  He is still shaking his head but for the most part he seems to be slowly improving.

I don’t know what could have caused it and with a dog like Jake (low to the ground, inhales things just by breathing) I don’t know if we will figure it out. Perhaps he got stung by something, although I don’t see any bite bumps. He’s on Benadryl for a few days then back to his normal allergy antihistamine.  I have the steroid cream so he will be massaged with that for a few days too.

When we returned from the vet I went to look for my phone (I was bummed I didn’t take it with me in our hustle to get to the vet).  Once I found it, I realized Jake was nowhere to be found.  I finally found him, apparently he needed some privacy and a cool floor post Benadryl shot. 

Living with Melvin has created a world where we don’t change anything in the house.  Laundry detergent, hand soap, treats, cleaning products – you name it, it stays consistent.  That is why for this situation with Jake, I can almost confirm 100% that it was something outside.  I can’t imagine how difficult it would be for someone to have this happen who doesn’t have to have the structure we live with.  How would you ever figure out if it was inside our outside!  Oye!

“I’m itchy, but adorable.”

Stay tuned tomorrow for the update on how we were BACK at the vet!