Allergy Attack

For the past month or so we have been thinking about getting a dog. David really really wants a dog (some kind of lab or retriever) and I'm ok with it as long as he does most of the work, haha. We started looking around and going to pet shops and adoption events. A couple of weeks ago we went to an adoption event and let the boys pet a couple of dogs. About half an hour after we left I noticed that Seth's eyes looked a little irritated and gradually they became very swollen to the point that he almost couldn't open them. He seemed to be able to breathe ok, but he had been congested anyway so we couldn't tell for sure.

We immediately gave him some Benadryl and eye drops and decided that if he didn't get better soon we'd head to the ER. Luckily, the swelling started to go down and by the next morning he was better. The swelling kind of freaked Seth out and he kept saying he didn't look like himself. As it started getting better he would say, "I'm looking more like Seth."

He had an appointment with and ENT/allergist later that week and she said that often people don't have a reaction to a given allergen until after several exposures. She also said that people are usually allergic to dog saliva, not fur, so the allergy test he had a few months ago wouldn't have indicated that kind of allergy. We're hoping it was some kind of fluke like the dog rolled in something he was allergic too, but we may not ever be able to get a dog now. Just in case though, we are now the owners of two epi-pens because apparently you never know when some kind of attack might occur. We're grateful it wasn't more serious than it was!