Can a Boxer Get Hives....HELP

[GillianF]

We've been lucky so far with no problems with hives with either Ttakas or Bronte - but thanks for all the information - especially the dosage for Benadryl, Boxrmum. It's good to be prepared and since both my son and husband suffer with allergies (especially bad this year) we have a stock of Benadryl in the house at the moment. Our previous boy, Chester, used to get bumpy from mosquito bites but didn't suffer at all to the extent of needing medication.

 

[jenna]

hives and heat

One of you briefly mentioned the possibility that hives might be related to heat, but I was wondering if anyone knew for certain. About six months ago our boxer, Bucket, woke up with hives and swollen eyes that made her look like she had gone a few rounds in the ring! I ran her to the vet and he gave her a steroid shot then prescribed Benadryl. She was fine in a few hours and we assumed she had been stung or bitten by an insect.

Up until June she showed no more signs of hives-- though she was bitten terribly by Mosquitos at night.

Then, when the weather warmed up (we live in very hot Mississippi), she started to get bumps all over her body whenever she was outside for more than a few minutes. Even if we keep her from lying down she gets bumpy so it seems to me that it is purely a reaction to the heat? Or could she still be carrying some of the "venom" of that insect bite? I am very lost and wonder if there is a history of "heat bumps" in the boxer line.

Funny thing: She doesn't get bumps if she is in the house, which is nearly as hot as the outside!

Thanks for any help!

 

[BXR MOM]

We did it again

Lucy had another reaction and had to go to the vet for a round of cortisone and now she is on prednisone. She woke up Thursday a.m. and her eyes were almost swollen shut and her little nose was all swollen. She didn't have any hives thoughon the rest of her body. I gave her some Benadryl and that helped some. I took her to the vet where they observed her all day and didn't give her any medicine. They thought she was fine. My husband picked her up and when he got home she still had the same "cottage cheese" look to her little head. To make matters worse on Thursday our yard was treated with the same chemicals that may have caused the reaction last year. On Friday I came home from work and she was all bloody from scratching her ears. I gave her more benadryl and kept her off the grass (as much as I could). On Saturday a.m. after having given her benadryl at midnight she had scratched the inside of her armpits bloody and had developed hives all over. I took her to the vet and he gave her a shot of cortisone. She is also on a two week round of prednisone. He said she could have had two seperate reactions (one of which was the yard chemicals) or she never got over the first one. He noted that some times dogs have several allergies and then one additional "seasonal" type allergy just sets them off. While he also recommended Bendadryl, for "small" allergies he said obviously in Lucy's case it wasn't doing anything besides just temporarily covering up her seizures. While we will never know for sure if it is the yard chemicals that get her, next year we aren't going to have it put on the yard, or if we do, do it when we are going out of town for the week!