Max and the hives (long) - Paw Talk

jmb9101 · #1 10-03-2003, 11:38 AM

Well, sorry I havent been on latley...well in the past two days, Max has been completley covered in hives. We still dont know what caused them, since we havent changed anything in his evironment like laundry detergents or soaps or things like that, the only things we could think it might be is maybe a bug bite that he was allergic to, or maybe he found something in the yard...but we really have no clue, and the vet said we may never know. Well it all started on wednesday morning, Josh woke up, let the dogs out of the crate and let them out, next thing I know Josh is screaming for me to wake up. Well I groggily walk into the kitchen and try to figure out whats going on, I look down and Max is covered in them. I felt so bad for him. I gave him a benedryl (vets said it was ok) and I waited a bit. About an hour later they seemed to be going down, so I went to work. Well Josh came home around 3 and called me at work and said they were even worse than that morning! I was so upset and felt so bad that I had stuck him in the crate and left him there all day itching! Josh called the vet, and she prescribed a steroid to give him, Josh got it and she said to give him two of those and a benedryl, and things should calm down. Well by about 8 wednesday nite, he was looking good, just was really tired. Well we were glad to have it going away, then it was bedtime and I gave him one more benedryl and put him to bed. Well next morning comes around and Josh is screaming for me again. I was really sad, they were back and worse. I have no clue what he got into. Well I gave him 2 more of the steroids and another benedryl per the vet, and Josh's mom said she could watch him for the day while we had to work (unfortunatley our bosses are not pet sympathetic) Well she called me around 9 and said the vet had called her and said to just give him 2 benedryl ever 4 hours whether or not he had hives just to keep them away. Well he did good at grandmas for the day and his hives went down but not completely away. Well by 5 he just had a few little ones on his back, so we gave him more benedryl like the vet had said (she said not to give any more of the steroids unless absolutley needed) by about 7 they were gone, and I gave him a bath, incase whatever he came in contact with was still on his fur. Well they stayed away all nite, I gave him some benedryl before bed again, and this morning he woke up all clear! So I was very happy. Josh's mom took him again today just to be safe. The vet called again this morning and said if they seem to be going away try not to give benedryl for now. But if he gets even one, pop some in his mouth. So so far I havent had a call from Linda saying that he has any, so Im glad. Hopefully whatever has got him all bugged is gone. So Im back!

And here are some pics of his hives on the first day (wednesday)

http://www.angelfire.com/oh5/brossiapack/hives10-1.JPG

http://www.angelfire.com/oh5/brossia...ng_to_itch.JPG

http://www.angelfire.com/oh5/brossia...ves10-1-03.JPG

Poor baby...Im glad he is doing better. I was going crazy for a while there!

~Melissa

***Dena*** · #2 10-03-2003, 12:14 PM

Oh my goodness! My dogs get bug bites that look sort of like that but only one or two never that many! Poor puppy. I hope he feels better give him a hug for me.

Jodi · #3 10-03-2003, 12:31 PM

omg! Poor guy! I'm glad they're gone now!!

jmb9101 · #4 10-03-2003, 12:57 PM

Hopefully they stay away and dont come back. Harlie had haves once when she was a puppy, but they were never as bad as Max's were. Im crossing my fingers they dont come back!

Becki · #5 10-03-2003, 01:07 PM

Poor baby! I'm glad they're gone, hope they stay that way!

Mallory · #6 10-03-2003, 02:55 PM

Hey Melissa, I bet I've seen the pictures before, but I just wanted to tell you that I can't click on links from the school computers, (who knows why???) and I tried to type the link itself into another web browser window, but since it was "..."ed, I don't have the full address... could you possibly put those addresses in [ img ] [ /img ] codes? (without spaces though...)

I'm glad that your little Shmooshy Face is all better, and hopefully stays that way! I can't wait to see the little goober tomorrow!

-Mal

Angel13 · #7 10-03-2003, 05:37 PM

Poor thing! I know what you and Max went through....my Tyson did the same thing when he was a pup.
Glad he's doing better!

Bar B · #8 10-03-2003, 06:15 PM

Melissa,

My Zeplin (a Boxer also) gets these when he is bitten by flies. Both the regular house fly and horse flies. Benadryl usually does the trick but I had to give him a 2 day dosage. I also wash him down with a damp cloth or even the water hose cause that seems to help. The hives in the pics are wayyyyy worse than what Zeplin had though. His was rather tiny and covered him. Your photos look more like whelps so it could have been multiple bee stings (bites). Check your yard, outside dog house (if you have these), under your deck, anywhere a nest could be hiding. Also watch for yellow jackets cause I saw some lurking around here yesterday....

Mallory · #9 10-03-2003, 06:20 PM

here ya go melis:

**kittygurl823** · #10 10-05-2003, 02:35 PM

Awww poor guy!

I hope he is feeling better soon! Hopefully, they won't come back. Chin rubz for me!:bfly:

Deja · #11 10-05-2003, 03:26 PM

holy schmoly- poor baby

Glad he's doing ok now!

Bar B is totally correct - check for yellow jacket (wasp) nests... this time of year food is scarce and they are more apt to be aggressive.
Those do look like huge welts - could very well have been wasps!

Whatever it was, I'm sure you were so worried about him and I'm so glad he's feeling better. Give him a belly scratch for me

jmb9101 · #12 10-06-2003, 02:14 PM

Well we have had no hives since thursday nite now. Yippee! I am still hoping they dont come back though. Thanks Mal for posting the pics like that, I dont know how to do that very good.
Bar B and Deja, I dont know what caused the hives, maybe just an allergic reaction to something...Im not sure, I checked around the backyard for wasp hives and stuff, but there isnt anything there. I dont really think it was wasps, because both days he woke up with them in the morning. Like maybe he got into something before bed. I dont know if bees and such are out at night...I could be wrong, but it has been really cold and rainy, and the past week or so, we have been having frosts, so wouldnt the wasps and bees go into hibernation by now? I still could be wrong. But whatever he did get into is gone for now at least. I gave him a bath on thrusday nite, so maybe whatever he came into contact with was still on his fur and got washed off. Im not sure, but Im just glad its gone. If he has them again, we are going to look into allergy testing.

Oh yeah, and he got tons of hugs and kisses and belly scratches!!

Mallory · #13 10-06-2003, 02:47 PM

Yep! He sure did Melis! He kept barkin at me though Saturday! That little stink.

I'm glad he's doing better.

Bar B · #14 10-06-2003, 05:47 PM

Glad to hear things are better, Melissa. Just keep check on the bug situation. We have had cold weather at nights also but I feed around 7:00 pm and still see a few yellow jackets. One good thing is that it is not life threatening but keep the Benadryl close by. Like i said (with Zeplin) it helped as well as a bath.

jmb9101 · #15 10-07-2003, 11:11 AM

Yep, I will, and if he goes into it all again, like he had this past time, for days at a time, we are going to get him allergy tested to find out what might be the culprit. We have benedryl everywhere too, my purse, a pair in Josh's wallet, some in the glove box in our Jeep, and some at home, oh and of course Grandma has some too! We have been taking him everywhere with us since they went away, just to keep an eye on him. So far so good though.