Both yesterday and today when I came home from work, Berman's face and head were covered with hives. Both days I called the vet and was told to give him Benadryl. The hives went away last night and they are going away tonight too.
We cannot think of what could be causing this. We haven't changed his food, our laundry detergent, soap, absolutely nothing! I walked around the yard and couldn't find anything weird - no strange weeds or bugs. Our yard is pretty small so it's almost impossible to miss anything.
Can stress cause hives? Do you think since Annie's passing, Berman may be getting separation anxiety when we leave and getting hives as a result?
I'm calling my vet in the morning with this new theory, but I wanted to see if anyone else has ever had anything like this happen.
Wow - I don't really have an answer for ya - but it is possible that he is stressing about something. Have you done a search on line regarding hives in dogs? Might be some info out there. Poor Berman - but glad the benadryl helps !
Jenny,
I know stress can cause hives in humans, I am not sure about the doglets! :dontknow: Nino, my son's "moose" dog, gets hives this time of year, he has allergies to things that go to seed in early fall. We give him benidryl and a steriod and bath him in anti-itch stuff. Once we have a good first frost, his will go away!
Nino has started allergy shots this year, we hope it is not as bad as previous years! Maybe it is some sort of allergy!
Hope this helps! We are sending :pray:'s and :sunny:'s for him and lots of belly rubs!
My gut feeling is no. Where is he being left while you are gone? Could he be getting into something? It is completely possible he's licking or chewing something (because he's left unsupervised and is bored) that has always been there, but that he never had a lot of contact with before. It is completely possible it's seasonal allergies too...though why he'd only have the hives when you come home from work and not all the time is a mystery. Is he being given some sort of special treat or toy or chewie that he didn't have before--since he's being left?
MaryAnne
We have a call into the vet to check this. I rememberd last night that he may be getting the hives from the poly fill that is in his favorite toy. A few months ago, I was putting more stuffing in Squeaky and Berman got ahold of some of the poly fill. The next morning, his head was covered with hives.
Well, Squeaky's head is coming off and some of the poly fill is exposed. My husband said he saw Berman pulling some of the stuffing out. I sewed up Squeaky's neck so we'll see if he has the hives today when we get home.
We had thought about stress because we recently lost our other dachsie to cancer and so Berman is all alone during the day.
I certainly hope we don't have to throw away Squeaky! Berman and Squeaky are just like that little dachie and his toy on the Petsmart commercial. They go everywhere together!
Jenny - sounds reasonable that it might be the filling. Wonder if you could stuff Squeaky with something else?
My husband just got home and Berman has NO HIVES!!! I'm not sure if it's because I sewed up Squeaky so he can't get to the poly fill or what. I'll just keep him far away from that stuff!
What about no filling. They have those flat toys now that only have a squeaker. I know mine wouldn't care if they are flat or fluffy as long as they squeak:)
Oscy gets hives from time to time for no apparent reason. I don't know if it can be caused by stress, but if there is something in the air that is not agreeing with him and he is feeling a bit blue, it would make sense to me that he might be more prone to the hives.
I use one of the childrens chewable benedryl as it is not quite as strong, works well, and Oscy thinks he is getting a treat. He's our little Sponge Bob Woosey Pants and he HATES taking pills!