Skip to content

Spring is here…with that Allergies!

Basenji Health Issues & Questions
  • Hello Everyone,
    Yes Spring is among us and now comes the sneezing and itchy eyes :eek:
    For the first time in our lives we have a dog who recently developed skin allergies. Last week Kiya our 2 year old tri started developing hives all over her body. She couldn't stop itching and you could tell she was in quite a bit of discomfort. We rushed her to the emergency room and the vet gave her a steroid and some anti-biotic to clear up her body. It worked and a few days later we took her to her regular vet for another follow up appt. The vet suggested we take her off the meds since she no longer had hives. A day later they came back!
    From process of elimination we have since ruled out a food allergy and now know its not related to the grass outside. Try keeping your B off grass for a few days. Poor girl had to potty on rocks and dirt :( She was not a happy camper.
    This morning we woke up and the hives came back. I immediately called the vet and he thinks its something in the house :confused: Man this is tough! Our poor girl is obviously having an allergic reaction to something in our house yet we can not for the life of us figure it out! The Temaril-p is working and the vet said to use it as needed so at least we have something.
    Now the elimination process begins yet again. :(

  • I am really surprised your vet had you stop a steroid mid course without weaning off of it. When Nicky had a problem with allergies and was put on pred it was really emphasized how important doing the whole course was and especially the gradual weaning off process.

    For Nicky the course of pred worked and he did not have a recurrence. In Southern California, several people have had their dogs break out in full body hives this time of year. It is not known exactly what causes it, the vets suspect either a bug or plant that is active at this time. The hives usually take 1-2 weeks to clear up completely.

  • Having gone through this recently, it is fresh in my mind. Our vet gave a steroid shot, and prescribed Benadryl every eight hours for a week. He pointed out that once the hives are there, the treatment will not remove them, only keep more from forming, and as Lisa mentioned, they can take quite a while to resolve. The plan was that if one steroid shot did not stop the reaction, we would come in for another, but he was hoping one dose would do it, in combination with the benadryl. It did stop, and he does occasionally get hives, but one dose of benadryl usually resolves it. My vet also mentioned that we could drive ourselves crazy trying to figure out what the dog is allergic to in the environment, or just treat allergies as they occur. We chose the latter…

  • @Quercus:

    Having gone through this recently, it is fresh in my mind. Our vet gave a steroid shot, and prescribed Benadryl every eight hours for a week.

    What is the dosage of Benadryl that is being given? The smallest 'human' tabs I believe are 25 mg.

  • the dosage I have always used is 1 mg/lb; so, yep the smallest human tab is what I use.

  • We used to have a dog that had seasonal allergies with hives, every year, for about 2 weeks. We never figured out what it was, but our vet had us give 25 mg benadryl every 8 hours for a week, then stop. If the hives came back, we started again.
    He was funny, I always took him into the kitchen to get his pills. One night he woke me up in the middle of the night, when I petted him I realized he was covered in hives, when I got up he ran to the kitchen and waited for me, he related his pills to his itching…and to it stopping too, I guess. Of course that night I was out of benadryl, so had to run to the all night drugstore at 3 am!

    Definitely start giving benadryl and keep it up for at least a week.

Suggested Topics

  • Cooper update (allergies)

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    8
    0 Votes
    8 Posts
    4k Views
    subaruthieS
    Cooper is a rescue of unknown origin (found as a stray, in a shelter for their maximum time, then to an all-breed rescue group). His ears are somewhat offset at resting position and his tail was docked before he was found as a stray, but he otherwise looks and acts like a trindle basenji. We occasionally entertain the idea that he may be part rat terrier or something else of similar size and color, but he has to be at least 75% basenji.
  • Food Allergies Out of the Blue?

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    10
    0 Votes
    10 Posts
    5k Views
    D
    It might be a combination of food and seasonal allergies. The food/biscuits might be a slight problem but then added to the seasonal allergies, the allergies become major. Arnie has allergies and he rarely gets treats because of this and his kibble dog food is his treat. Does your dog also have a rash on his stomach area or the inner part of his rear legs? Arnie usually starts off with this and then if he is biting his feet I know the allergies are bad. He has not had this for a few years though! I would clean the area and this would help tremendously. Allergies are difficult to diagnose. The allergy season here in OH has been extended because of the crazy weather. If you have leaves on the ground that are/were wet, there could be mold, fungi, etc. on them and your dog is getting it on his paws. Jennifer
  • Allergy/inflammation

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    28
    0 Votes
    28 Posts
    11k Views
    S
    We are going to talk to the vet again Thursday, and I will discuss all various suggestions with him. When reading on EPI, IPSID and IBD, all include symptoms as weight loss and diarrea. She does not suffer from any of these 2 symptoms. Her only symptom is vomiting on an empty stomach, and the stomach empties in no time at all which makes her vomit without the cortison. I will still go through the various conditions with the vet and take necessary tests to see if any of the mentioned diseases might apply anyway. IBD should have been tested during the Gastroschopy, only that it is called something different in Swedish. I will ask the vet. But more and more, I believe the problems were caused by myself giving her too big a variety of proteins, and too much food, when she was little. I am hoping to be able to go around this through finding the right food for Della, and cure her with a good nutritional balance rather than with medicine. Fingers crossed for Thursday/Sofie
  • Prednisone-Allergies

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    4
    0 Votes
    4 Posts
    2k Views
    snorky998S
    No Vicki, not the Temaril. The breakout was so severe that my vet just phoned a prednisone Rx in to my local Walgreens. She actually hasn't seen Katie yet. Thanks Macpack.
  • Allergies

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    11
    0 Votes
    11 Posts
    3k Views
    V
    Do you live in the country in MN? My 4-year-old hound mix, Priss, has problems in the summer months starting about August. She will lick her feet until they are red and the fur is almost gone. I have tried all kinds of medications, shots, and changed her diet, but it is something environmental. I've even taken her to different vets to see if someone might have a solution. Most of the medications are steriods; they work for a week or so, then are ineffective. I won't use them anymore. Priss bloats up like a balloon! My vet thinks it is either a particular weed that grows this time of year or possibly a mite or small insect that is invisible to the naked eye. I wash her feet in vinegar and water when she comes in the house and have started using Willard Water, http://www.dr-willardswater.com, too. Sometimes, I use a diluted solution of tree tea oil to soothe the itching. Priss smells like a dirty sock from licking her feet when she is troubled by allergies. Also, she runs a low-grade fever, especially in the morning. I give her 1/2 a baby aspirin and wash her face with cool water.
  • Allergy Meds

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    18
    0 Votes
    18 Posts
    7k Views
    luzmery928L
    thanks I will check.