# pit has swollen leg!!!



## pjc (Jun 8, 2012)

I everyone, i am new to this site. The reason i registered with this site is because i am hoping somone here will know whats going on with my dog.
I have a male pure breed stappashire pit bull brindle, he's a beautiful dog, very tender hearted and nice. Anyways my mom has had him for 9 years so he is 9 years old, i am watching him for her while she is out of town for a few months.
I let him hang out in my fenced front yard chain free all the time and a couple days ago when i let him in for the night i noticed he was limping... So i checked his front left leg out and couldnt see any marks on it... So i figured maybe his arthritis is acting up??
The next morning i get up and go to let him out and his left front leg is really swollen bad! to wherre he wont put any weight on it at all. I had to pick him up and bring him up and down my stairs so he could go poddy. And he weighs 95 pounds so he is a monster lol. Anyways i brought him to the local vet and she took his tempature and he had a fever of 104.5, and since he had a high fever she was convinced he had gotten bit by a spider or stung by a wasp. She prescribed him some antibiotics and told me to give him half an aleve everyday untill the swelling is down, and she also gave him a shot while we were in there to help get the toxins out of his blood. Well tommarrow will be day 5 on the antibiotics and they are not doing anything for the swelling... In fact tonight i noticed the swelling is even wors then it was!!! what is going on here? what could this possibly be that an antibiotic isnt even fazing it! I'm worried for him because its close to his heart and he is an old guy.... I'm taking him to the vet first thing tommarrow morning and telling them to admit him in and do whatever they gotta do to get him better.
I was just thinking maybe some of you have seen this same issue with a pit bull and or heard of it. any suggestions on what it could be and why the anti biotiics he is on aint doing a darn thing. Please help, any suggestions are greatly appriciated


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## Blue_Nose_Bella (Jan 16, 2011)

Hi and Welcome! I was going to say take him to the vet but you already did that so...... You would be suprised how many new people come on here and say my dogs toe nail fell off and is bleeding real bad! What do I do??? (Just and example)  Anyways, I have NEVER heard of anyone giving a dog Aleve. If it's a bug bite and allergic reaction I would give him Benadryl instead. For his weight you would give him four 25 mg tablets every 8-12 hours and that will help with the swelling. If he isn't getting better then I would definitely take him back to the vet but skip the aleve and give benadryl only along with the antibiotics.


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## JoKealoha (Mar 22, 2011)

If a spider bite was causing that much pain and swelling, the mark would be visible. There would be an open sore or skin lesion and inflammation around the bite location. And after 5 or 6 days the tissue around the bite would begin decaying and would be pretty nasty. If you can find the bite ask the vet to use dexamethasone. Aleve is a bad idea and potentially dangerous to dogs. I would use small doses of aspirin (81mgs of enteric coated) for pain management and fever reduction.
If you can't find a break in the skin I don't think it's a bug bite. Some other kind of infection. Good luck. Let us know what the vet says on the next visit.


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## JoKealoha (Mar 22, 2011)

And if it does turn out to be a bite of some kind, like BNB said, Benadryl should be very helpful.


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