Canine Solar Urticaria

[medic16]

So I posted a while back about how Roxy was getting these hives whenever she was sitting in the sun. (Original topic: Prickley Heat)

She had continued to get them, I wasn't terriblly concerned because they would disappear after being inside for about 30 minutes. To make a long story short, over the weekend we went down to play in the river with some friends. I got her home and she had them everywhere and whenever she would wake up from sleeping she would just cry and whimper. Turns out she has Canine Solar Dermititis (or Canine Solar Urticaria, same thing). The vet said it is fairly common with short haired, light skinned dogs such as pits (dalmations, am staffs, etc). She needs a higher level sunscreen (we were currently using spf30). She needs at least spf 50 (I'm an irish white girl, so I can totally relate) and she needs a sunsuit or sun shirt.

I found the sun shirts on amazon.com for $24 and they are actually quite cute.

I just wanted to update everyone because I was reading in a lot of different forums that owners just think its an irritation or a bug bite and its not. It can be fairly serious and lead to skin cancer.

[dogs4jen]

Were the spots on her back and areas more exposed to the sun, or on her underside? I was just curious because Austin is mostly white and gets what looks like hives or bug bites on his belly quite a bit. I'm glad you found out what is going on with Roxy and how to treat it.

[medic16]

The hives were almost always consistent with what part of her body was in the sun. Any sunscreen made for children that will protect from UVA & UVB with an SPF of at least 50 should protect them from damage related to this issue. Although I do not know yet if it will stop the urticaria or just protect her skin from further damage.

[jamielvsaustin]

After reading this and looking at the pictures you posted in the prickly heat thread, we're wondering if this is what happens to our dog. We know she's allergic to certain things-the grass, mosquitoes, fleas, etc. But we never thought about the sun being a factor. She does get bumps on her back seemingly randomly. We let her hang out outside whenever she wants, and she doesn't roll in the grass, so the sun would be a plausible reason for the bumps. They too go away on their own and don't really seem to itch or bother her...although I notice a few days after the bumps she has dandruff. We're going to start paying better attention to when we let her out and when those bumps appear and see if it's related.

Thanks for posting this We, really, would have never thought of it.

[amalie79]

Well holy crap. I just went back to your original post, too, and Luna gets those. I assumed they were bug bites and the fact that she's the shortest furred dog I've ever had so I just assumed I could see them more readily on her. She's also allergic to almost anything and everything. Her improved diet, coconut oil, salmon oil, etc. seems to have yielded a better summer this year, but still... I am definitely going to start paying more attention to this.

Thanks for posting this.

[medic16]

I never knew about this either, it was like a freak thing that I ever brought it up to the vet.

We had gone down by the river to play with a friend of mine and her 2 pits. After an awesome day of fun in the river (and the sun) I got Roxy home and she just passed out. Well I had to work that night and my girlfriend said Roxy was crying allllllll night. Of course, I was flattered that she would miss her Mom so much, but it didn't stop. The next day every single time she woke up from a nap she was crying (almost screaming) in pain. So off to the vet we go. She had freaking sunburn. Who the hell knew. I mentioned the hives she gets, and now we are ordering enough accessories to officially call my dog a ginger.

She LOVES the sun, completely obsessed and I feel horrible that she has to stay out of it. So I put some children's SPF50 on her today (as per the vet any sunscreen made for kids that is UVA & UVB) and let her go lay in the sun for 10 minutes. The hives were INSANE. Worse then they have ever been, some were actually blotched, raised areas and not just hives. I don't think her skin likes human sunscreen, so I ordered some Epi-pet sunscreen (their entire line of products got great reviews). I feel horrible that I have to keep her in the house in such beautiful weather, but, it is better than skin cancer down the road.

Oh, one more thing while I'm ranting....whenever you see your pup get the hives, take pictures! That way the next visit to the vet they have those photos. I hope all ends up well with everyone.

Also, here is a link for the sunshirts (because it took me a while to find them, and there seems to be only one brand. I will post pics of Roxy sporting them whenever they come in)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0069UUMBM/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00