Who's Had Hives?

[greenkozi]

those are ugly!

so i guess my question is what ARE hives? i get that they can be caused by almost anything, and i agree, it's something at the daycare that is probably causing her to break out. but since they don't seem to bother her, i can't tell if it's serious or not. i know that dogs are stoic, yadayada, but the vet did see her about 2 weeks ago for the issue, and thought she had been playing rough with another dog... right? but that was before she really broke out in them.

i'm sure i'm not going to get him to go the whole allergy test route, and i'm also like veronica's mom (i think) earlier in this thread of a less-is-more in terms of medication. he's not going to raw feed, and other than the hives, is very very healthy. i'd love to approach this holistically/whole body. which includes keeping her in day care- she's a crazy young pit bull and he isn't able to keep up with her without it!

[Nichole]

Hives are raised welts on the skin. If there was no fur the skin would probably be red on those spots. They're an allergic reaction to *something* but there's a ton of things it could be. The hives didn't bother Sadie either but I'm not sure I'd want her body constantly reacting to something like that. The benadryl treats the symptoms but doesnt get at the root cause of it. It's up to your boyfriend to decide if he wants to try and eliminate the issue vs treat the issue.

[greenkozi]

Hives are raised welts on the skin. If there was no fur the skin would probably be red on those spots. They're an allergic reaction to *something* but there's a ton of things it could be. The hives didn't bother Sadie either but I'm not sure I'd want her body constantly reacting to something like that. The benadryl treats the symptoms but doesnt get at the root cause of it. It's up to your boyfriend to decide if he wants to try and eliminate the issue vs treat the issue.

the allergic reaction to "something" is exactly what i was trying to understand. could be anything, right? they come when the body is fighting something?

he said the ladies at daycare are putting a shirt on her whenever she's outside in case it's a reaction to the sun (which would be hilarious because he's extremely sun sensitive), which might make sense, since almost entirely white? the vet did give him antibiotics in case the hives didn't go away and he is going to give them to her if they don't finish healing in the next couple days.

it is up to him, but he does ask and usually defer to my opinion on these things because stella is really his first dog and i was (until last month) a professional hives are something i know nothing about! i really appreciate your help!

[Nichole]

Yah it's tricky because that something really could be anything. I doubt it would be the actual sunshine though. Protection isnt a bad idea because the white pups are more prone to sun burns but i doubt it'll do anything for the hives. I'm definitely not an expert, my career isn't in veterinary medicine. I just know what the dermatologist told me. Pitties are more prone to skin issues, allergies, and the problems that come with them (ie hives, among other things). The most common issues are food allergies, toxins (flea medication, cleaning detergents, etc), environmental allergies (tree pollens, grass, etc).

The derm said if the issues returned we could either do poke tests to check for pollen/plant issues or we could tweak our environment to see if it helps (ie dont use detergents to clean, no flea medicine, elimination diets, etc). That's why I suggested pulling him from day care just to see if that's the actual cause. Cause from there you can narrow it down further - are there plants or trees there that isnt around your house? Do they use special cleaning agents? Maybe they use treats he is reacting to? Maybe another dog has flea medication on him that he's reacting to when he plays with him? Just be warned it can take a while for the affects to go away. So I'd give it 2-4 weeks after pulling him from daycare if you went that route because depending on what it is, it can take a while to work its way out of the pups system. If 4 weeks pass and he's still having hives then it's probably not the daycare that he is reacting to.

Hard choices no matter how you go about it though

[tia_leigha]

Dozer would get hives really bad in the warm months. They only appear down his back,and neck.
However since we changed his food to TOTW he doesnt get hives very often at all.
He gets about 10 bumps pop up , I give him a couple Benadryl, and they go away.
I definitely think its a seasonal allergy to some sort of grass or pollen that comes out this time of year. I feel like the change in his diet helps him fight off the allergy better.

When it would get really bad the vet put him on a 1/4 of a Pred. once a day . Very moderate dose just to help him through those weeks.

The hives are in a hard to reach area for them and look soo uncomfortable. I am sorry you're dealing with it. At least it is more common than you think . and youre not alone!

[greenkozi]

so i think i messed up by posting!

we figured out what was causing stella (the boyfriend's dog)'s hives. they got better, then on a walk with mac and me, she took a divebomb into the grass and the next day came up covered with hives in all the areas that touched grass. she's been pretty much good since then.


only this morning, i got home from his house and MY dog is covered in hives!! he's itchy and ugly. i want to cry- his skin is ugly and bumpy and his face and neck are fat. he has them on his head, on his front legs, on the outside of his back legs, on his back from about waist down. i bathed him in sulfur based shampoo and gave him benadryl. his face is obviously super itchy.

i have no idea what it could be. he barely goes out. i did wash one of his blankets with different soap last week, but we change soap all the time and he's never been sensitive. the only other thing is... he sat in my sunscreen tube on tuesday and it exploded all over his butt and legs. i was on the way to my parents house so i dumped him in the tub there, but there was no dog shampoo and i know i didn't get it all off. that stuff is REALLY greasy. the hives are all over him, not just where the sunscreen was, but it could be that.

the guy is suffering, i feel terrivle that he might have been like that all night while i was gone!!

[cinder06]

Oh wow I have never seen a dog with hives like that, to the OP.

I had a dog once that broke out in hives in her groin and "arm pits" when stung by a bee and the vet gave her a benadryll shot.

Hope things get better!

[dafox]

Taz had hives, but it was only after we got him, so I changed his shampoo and then he hasn't had them since.

[Jazzy]

Oh wow I have never seen a dog with hives like that, to the OP.

I had a dog once that broke out in hives in her groin and "arm pits" when stung by a bee and the vet gave her a benadryll shot.

Hope things get better!

If you mean the first picture in the first post...that's my dog. The picture is from a few years ago. Since she was allergy tested and started on allergy injections she has never broke out even close to that again.

She still has some itching during her allergy season and gets zyrtec; and she may get a a few hives and gets some supplemental benadryl...but nothing like in that picture!

[tia_leigha]

Well! It is October and the warm season is coming to a close.
I am SO PROUD TO SAY THAT WE HAD NO HIVES this season. We did it!!!
I didnt have to use anything special. Dozer has been eating Taste Of The Wild for about 2+ years now and has little to no issues with his skin.

Now itching is another story. He still managed to scratch his armpit until it was red and ugly. Benadryl fixed him that day !
Our poor itchy dogs.

[ewwies]

Poor Koda woke up this morning looking like this:





Axel took her in ASAP.. He said they just gave her some shots ad waiting to see if the swelling starts going down.

He thinks it was from a carpet cleaner...

[tia_leigha]

Very possible! I hope shes better soon! My Koda had some like that before. She got into poison sumac. Benadryl helped!