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Hives...Allergies!!

50K views 11 replies 10 participants last post by  chip18 
#1 ·
About a month or so ago my girl had a swollen face & hives, gave her some benedryl & all was good till the other day, again swollen face, eyes shut closed, & hives 10x worse than the last time. We took her to the vet the first time it happened & he believed it was a bee sting that got her, now that I know its not that Im thinking its seasonal such as pollen (shes been on the same food for the last 4 months so I dont think its that) & hopefully in a couple of weeks it will stop. Even after I give her Benedryl it helps but it comes back..

In the meantime I want to give her Zyrtec instead of Benedryl because when shes on Benedryl she is sooo out of it, all she does is mope around & she just looks horrible when shes on it. Has anyone else experienced this with their dog?? Does anyone know the dosage I can give her with Zyrtec?? Thanks
 

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#2 ·
If I were you, I'd call the vet first. Your poor pup looks miserable! My poor Laney had hives like this once, caused by a spider bite or she ate it...took 3 trips to the vets in 1 day. They gave her a shot, hives went down, an hr later, right back??? On the 3rd trip, they kept her overnite and did not charge me. They wanted to watch her but the hives did clear up!!!
 
#4 ·
My last Boxer would get hives that looked just like that for numerous reasons. He was allergic to pollen, certain flowers, bee stings, other insect bites, certain foods and fruits, and many more. My vet and I were never able to pinpoint all of his allergies.. but thankfully some were quite obvious. The hives would range from mild to worse than what your photos show, and he always looked the worst after a bee sting. His hives would go away really quickly though.. usually within 5 to 10 minutes of popping up. I rarely had to use Benedryl, and so I never tried any other allergy medication. I would definitely check with the vet about that.

Good luck! I know you can't help but feel bad for them when it happens.. they look terrible!
 
#5 ·
I took her to the vet the first time & he told me to just give benedryl & he also said if they keep coming back to just give her the meds instead of bringing her back & forth...(of course he said if it gets worse to bring her in) i think its all the pollen in the air because i shut all the windows in my house & turned the a/c on & she has been back to normal last few days...i also give her the oatmeal baths to help her, she really doesnt scrath herself much,, but i can tell shes very itchy.. the benedryl makes her look bad, drowsy...i do feel bad for her, those sad eyes she gives me...lol
 
#6 ·
i've had similar with Bella - started 2 weeks ago. On the 2 occassions it occured (within 4 days of each other) I took her to vets who gave her steroid injections. They have now recommended that she has piriton twice a day for minimum of 4 weeks regardless of whether symptoms resolve or not. In the 10 days she has been on piriton this has worked great, she is her normal self (boisterous & playful) but no hives or horrific swelling of her face :).
 
#7 · (Edited)
poor baby!!! Buckles got hive's from a walnut went into resp. distress, had a sz. It was awful, her hive's were sooooooooo much worse then your baby. Anyways, allergies are big for boxers, benadryl make's my baby sleep and out of it too, so I dont use it unless I have to but for allergies I give here Tavist which I think is like Zyrtec? Just an antihistime. Anyways just watch for resp. distress, sz, vomting, etc. and if that happens bring your baby to the hosp. Sorry your going through this its tough for sure!!! Keep us posted.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the replies...I think I found the culprit for the allergies..strawberries..
My wife planted strawberries in backyard a few years ago that we put a fence around, however strawberries spread like weeds and had grown under the deck where she would go on occasion, i went under deck looking for bee hives when I noticed the strawberries...I cleaned it up under deck & all has been good since (about 3 weeks) no hives, scratching & shes back to her old playful self..:emtthumbs:
 
#10 ·
Hi there, my poor boxer has the same trouble and we ( and our beloved vet) also
thought bee sting. Then it seemed to happen worse at the vet on a visit where she
had to stay for a whole day. So, now I'm thinking cleaners, our vet also recommended 10mg of Zyrtec daily. She has done really well on it, no side effects of
drousiness etc. Good luck and your boxer is adorable.
 
#11 ·
Sting/Bite Question..

Iknow this is an older post, but I’m curious if those of you who had spiderbites or bee stings as a cause of the hives noticed a specific bite or stingmark....? My 8mo old, Chief, suddenly broke out in horrible hives - without anyrespiratory involvement - and I have no clue what the cause is... He hasn’t hadany change in food or environment that I can think of to cause it. The hivesimproved on their own after about 12hrs, and resolved completely with theBenadryl dose prescribed by the vet, but I’m wondering if there’s a specificbite/sting mark I should look for... I felt so bad - the poor puppy was rollingaround the carpet like a mad man trying to itch them:( It’d be nice to know ifit was a bite or sting - or if I have to watch for something else to prevent itfrom happening again...

 

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#12 ·
It maybe an old post ... but it still happens. I've had my experience also but it seemed to be limited to her face swelling up like the "Michelin Man???" WTH and off to the vet we go!

A shot of "whatever" and she was fine. It never happened again and I have no idea how or why??? The facial swell ups seem to be kinda common for insect stings???

Most likely that is actually the prefered level of sensitivity??? The hives are second level, I don't know if you got the face swell up and hives, I did not??

Or hives instead of a facial swell up??? But a Silver Lining is either is better than option three! Anaphylactic Shock, the dog can drop dead on the spot!! No swelling, no hivies the dog is just gone on the spot!! I know of that happening. :(

The Oatmeal baths and/or frequent baths with a Medicated Shampoo and the Benderaly are gonna be helpful. But there are no real answers as to why for the most part??? It just seems to be a Boxer thing??? Hope your guy is feeling better. :)
 
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