Little Bumps

[urupe]

Hi everyone, i'm very concern about Cassius. He's 1 yr. old and we've noticed bumps on his body. The first time we saw these pumps were months ago - summer time. One night out-of-no-where he had a swollen eye, we brought him to the Animal Hospital emergency room immediately, they gave him benadryl and cortisone, he had some hives. The vet said it could have been a bee or something since he was playing outside earlier. Everything went away. Few weeks after that, he woke up with a swollen eye and hives - we brought him to the Animal Hospital emergency room again and same thing - they said it could have been a spider. Now, a month ago we saw the hives again!! no swollen eye - brought him to our regular VET and he said that he could be allergic to some kind of food. We switched him to Venison and Potato (super expensive) and they gave him medicine. The hives went away and he LOOVES his new food. BUT now! he's getting hives AGAIN!!!! we have not change his food (i did start giving him treats again tho), but still.... what can he be allergic to? I used carpet powder - can that be it?

Also he has been peeing in his crate! Everyday! we live him there for the day - usually 6 hours and when we get back, he has urine on him (back, paws) we bathe him and the next day he does it again!. He never did this before, until we relocated his crate from the Kitchen to the bedroom in the summer (AC was in the bedroom) and thats when he start peeing in his crate. I dont know what to do.

(Sorry for the LOOOOONG post)

 

[Zannie]

it could be anything the best thing to do is limet anything you give him that way it would be easer to figure it out also carpet powder or anything like that is not good for your dog try a narural oder control thats not so strong smelling, we might ike it but i think it realy bothers our dogs

 

[Cami]

I doubt it is the food since if he were eating the same food every single day and the hives were not consistently there......then that just doesn't make sense but your vet did get you to buy prescription food!
Not making a jab at you but at your vet who I am sure is a nice enough person but sometimes *some* vets just don't think. ARRGG!!

Easiest way to figure this out would be to take away all treats, bones etc....anything edible except his food (prescription or otherwise). Continue on this until you have another experience with hives/eyes swelling.
Since you are dealing with a Boxer and *most* love treats you could always slice up some apples, bananas or similar and keep in a container in the fridge or freezer. Green beans also work nicely (low salt variety and rinsed off). No other human food to speak of either (if he was previously getting people food).

If you go weeks/months without any other episodes you can assume it was something he was eating previously. Figure out what ingredients were in that food that are not present in the new food. This could help to pinpoint what the allergen(s) were.

Eye swelling and hives oftentimes point to a sting or a bite. Could also point to a contact allergen (carpet cleaner, laundry detergent, etc...). I'd keep Benedryl on hand just in case this happens again and you can start administering as soon as you see symptoms and not have to make ER visits (expensive!). Of course ask your vet about administration and dosages before giving anything.

 

[MissM]

Molly had the same issue with bites and ensuing hives. We gave her benadryl and she cleared up each time. We removed some grass/bamboo type plants that she was constantly foraging in. She hasn't had hives since! Those plants had a lot of spiders and we think that was the issue. Does Cassius snoop around in plants a lot?

You mentioned that you used carpet powder... did the hives pop up immediately after? These pups can be so sensitive. I even use "free" detergent and skip the fabric softener on their blankets. I hope you figure it out! Hang in there!

 

[urupe]

Thank you all for your responses. I will not give him treats (except apples) - my poor little munchkin. And i will check the carpet powder as well. The bumps dont seem to bother him - they are small.

yeah the prescription food is so expensive but we are so concern with his weight that we are afraid to switch food. We dont have any plants in the house but we does go to the backyard a lot. OH and since we live near the beach, there is alot of geese poop. We dont let him eat it.

PS: we dont give him Human food. We stop doing that the first time this happened.

 

[Caney Creek]

Thank you all for your responses. I will not give him treats (except apples) - my poor little munchkin. And i will check the carpet powder as well. The bumps dont seem to bother him - they are small.

yeah the prescription food is so expensive but we are so concern with his weight that we are afraid to switch food. We dont have any plants in the house but we does go to the backyard a lot. OH and since we live near the beach, there is alot of geese poop. We dont let him eat it.

PS: we dont give him Human food. We stop doing that the first time this happened.

What brand of food is the Venison and Potato that you're currently feeding? If it was prescribed by your vet then I'm assuming it is either Hills or Royal Canin? If that is so, then you can try switching him to another brand that offers Limited Ingredient formulas, such as Natural Balance, California Naturals, Wellness Simple Solutions, etc. They are not necessarily cheap but are not near as expensive as the "prescription" brand foods, AND on top of that they typically have much better ingredients than the Rx foods.