Help, my dog has hives!?

Question

Earlier this week, dog came down with hives on her head, swelling of the skin on her neck (she almost looks like a turkey with the droopy skin) and constant licking on her front legs (armpit area). We took her to the emergeny vet and he gave her a shot of steroids and benadryl. It went away for a couple of days, and now its back. I've been giving her doses of benadryl (seems to help a little).

I'm in the process of moving (which i think is the only change surrounding her). Also, if I changed her food (about 5 weeks ago, could this be a problem too). Is it dust mites, or a food allergy. Where do I even start to begin looking to find out what her problem is? Has anyone ever experienced this?

Thank you for the responses. I'm hoping that after the move, things will settle down. I'm going to go to petsmart and buy some different dog food and the shampoo that was suggested.

Answer 1

Your vet will be able to administer the tests needed to diagnose your problem. They can test if your dog has mites. If she doesn't they can also administer tests to see what your dog is allergic to.

It probably isn't mites because her problem is so spread out.

Generally, it takes fewer than five weeks for a food allergy to manifest itself. Furthermore, if your dog has a food allergy, she would be breaking out all over her body, not just on her head, neck, and underarms. Your vet can give you antihistamines that are fairly inexpensive if you visit now. This may take care of some of the problem until you figure out what the real problem is.

Another thing to consider is the age of your dog. Many dogs don't show signs of allergies until they are one and a half to two years old. If she is in this age group she may just be showing signs of an allergy she's had all along.

If she isn't in this age group, buying special shampoo isn't going to help. Giving her a bath may help if she has something in her fur she's allergic to, but special shampoo only helps dogs that are allergic to the regular stuff. The same goes with the food. But if you do decide to change the food, make sure that you change it only a little bit at a time or your dog will have stomach problems. Mix the old food with the new food, using more of the old food a first and transitioning into using more of the new food gradually. This process should take about a week's time.

My dog suffers from both food and inhalant allergies. He still lives a fairly normal life as long as we feed him properly and keep him medicated. I've found that keeping up on the problem ends up being cheaper than waiting until the problem gets worse. If you don't visit the vet soon you'll probably have to deal with infection treatments and more steroids. It's best to catch the problem while it is still manageable.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Yes, dogs get hives. She has gotten into something that she is allergic to or she is very stressed. You can give her a bath in warm water. Call your vet and see if you can give her Benedryl. I'm not certain how much your chihuahua weighs but bigger dogs can have it. Good luck.

Answer 4

I recently accompanies my friend to the vet for this very problem. Hers had some kind of dermatitis caused by fleas and it sometimes takes several shots to cure. I have another friend who has a dog who has something similar but has to get shots regularly because her dog developed a grass allergy. I've included a link which can help you.

Answer 5

It could be stress, dust or the new food.

Change back to the old food and see whether that helps. The familiarity of the food should also help calm her down, which will reduce the stress in general.

Answer 6

my friend has a yorkie and she started scratching and always biting places. so she went to petco and bought some shampoo called Dermix or something like that and she isnt scratching anymore. but it sounds like she really allergic to something really bad.

Answer 7

Did she just have any shots recently? My dog does this exact thing when he gets his shots. Try the benadryl.