Allergy or contact dermatitis?

[Shaunsmom]

I have a question...not sure if it's an allergy or contact dermatitis (or is there a difference, haven't googled either yet).

Let me start by saying that we do have a dog at home. He is a 5 year old (will be six soon) male Rottweiler named Harvick. His living area is in our finished basement.

DD adores Harvick as does the rest of our house. She loves to pet him, take walks with him, and beats on him recklessly (with love you know, he doesn't mind) sometimes.

On Christmas Day, we were at my cousins house visiting. She has a small dog. I think she is a Boston terrier mix of some sort. Little yippy kind of dog though. That dog was just the right size for DD. The dog licked DD's face a few times when we weren't looking.

Shortly after her face being licked, she had red splotches where he licked and the corners of her eyes were reddish in color, as if she was having a reaction to being licked. We washed her face and gave her a small amount of benadryl. The splotches cleared up after the benadryl.

Would this be an allergy to something in the dog's saliva?? What would you advise, if anything? I guess I'm wondering if I should get her checked out?

(our dog at home does not lick her face so we've never had this happen so far yet)

Thanks!

[Indigo]

It sounds like she is allergic to the saliva, you can be. I am fine around my cats except if I get licked or cuddle them after they've just cleaned themselves.
Not much to do about it but try to avoid the saliva.

[KatieLou]

DD can not be licked by a dog at all without a pretty big reaction. She is allergic to the saliva as well as the dander.

Not much you can really do to avoid it IMO other than keeping her away from the dogs. We have no pets at this point. I see no harm in keeping your dog if you have not seen her react to it. For people who are mildly allergic to pets, our allergist recommends bathing the pet at least once a week to keep the dander down. Of course that will not help with the saliva.

[Nipple_nectar]

I personally wouldn't medicate so quickly, it may have just been a slight reaction to something in the carpet or, so many things.

The only way you'll know, is to have a re~exposure. I think it would be pretty remote to be allergic to the spit of one dog but not another?

It does sound like an allergic reaction, any chance she ate something new that day? That happened to my DS with ONE cheese curl!

[_Gypsy_]

Yes, it's possible she is allergic to the dog/saliva, but it's also possible she is allergic to something in the dogs food that would be in his mouth/around his mouth.

I'd check the ingredient label on the dog food.

[Shaunsmom]

I personally wouldn't medicate so quickly, it may have just been a slight reaction to something in the carpet or, so many things.

The only way you'll know, is to have a re~exposure. I think it would be pretty remote to be allergic to the spit of one dog but not another?

It does sound like an allergic reaction, any chance she ate something new that day? That happened to my DS with ONE cheese curl!

She has never been licked up by our dog:) The dog's saliva in question is my cousins dog. We have little contact with the dog.

DD ate nothing new that day. Her red blotchiness started almost immediately after we realized the dog was licking her face.

[JudyJudyJudy]

Your question has already been answered, but I do want to address this:

She loves to pet him, take walks with him, and beats on him recklessly (with love you know, he doesn't mind) sometimes.
Please don't allow her to beat on the dog. That isn't fair to the dog, and it's possible that one day the dog will get tired of it. Please teach her that this is not appropriate.

[Shaunsmom]

Your question has already been answered, but I do want to address this:


Please don't allow her to beat on the dog. That isn't fair to the dog, and it's possible that one day the dog will get tired of it. Please teach her that this is not appropriate.

Sorry Judy...should have added more to this in the original post. After reading your post, I realized I didn't address the part that concerned you.

When we notice her running at the dog, we are now telling her to do her "nice touches" and she usually then is very gentle.

[JudyJudyJudy]

Gotcha! :)

[_Gypsy_]

Doesn't she have eczema too? I really think you need to look into food allergies and the dog food and its ingredients.

[Shaunsmom]

Yes she has eczema too. We have an appt. coming up this month with a pediatric allergist.

Here's the ingredients to the dog food (from the dog that licked her face):

Ingredients
Chicken Meal, Wheat Flour, Ground Whole Wheat, Rice Bran, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Corn Gluten Meal, Ground Rice, Lamb Meal, Natural Flavors, Yeast Culture, Calcium Carbonate, Monosodium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Dried Buttermilk, Dried Kelp, Dried Egg Product, Lecithin, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Oxide, Garlic, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin (source of Vitamin B2), Calcium Iodate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Folic Acid, Copper Sulfate.

I don't know anything about allergies. I'm guessing the wheat stuff or dried egg product can be maybe what caused her reaction? Help me please:)

[_Gypsy_]

The egg stands out to me.

Try eliminating all egg from your diet and keep her away from that dog.

See how her skin in in the next 3-7 days, if it's an allergy causing the eczema - IN MY EXPERIENCE, eczema starts going away really quickly and is better every single day until it's gone (if all allergens are eliminated). So if there is NO improvement within a week it's unlikely egg, but you have to be diligent and eliminate all traces of egg, read every label and be very careful or the results won't mean anything.