# Mac's allergies are breaking my heart!



## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

So recently Mac had a swollen lymph node so we put him on antibiotics which didn't result in any reduction. So we forked out 350 pounds for a needle biopsy which came back stating high blood cell count which the vet thought was due to allergies. 

Sure enough we left on holiday and got a call from our dog walker that Mac had broken out in loads of hives. This has now been going on for a week. He has hives all over his body and very swollen ears. Give him piriton and it goes down then as soon as the meds wear off boom!!! his hive come back. This means that he is constantly either covered in hives or a zombie dog due to the drugs. 

There must be a better way to treat this. I want Mac to be able to go outside and not be a bubble dog in the spring summer. I am happy his swollen lymph node was due to allergies but now we have a long battle ahead to find the cause and best treatment for him. 

My sister suggested using Loratadine which is the generic version of Claritin. Her vet give this to her golden retriever and it isn't a sedative. So will ask the vet about it today. I hope we can come up with something and not steroids!!


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## Darcy1311 (May 27, 2012)

I am sorry to hear about Mac and his hives, Darcy also suffers from this in the early summer time,I think its ant bites that bring her out, she also gets bald patches with them. You mentioned the anti histamine making Mac drowsy and zombie like, but you can buy non drowsy Piriton over the counter, I but this for myself.


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## dmp (Jan 23, 2012)

Just a thought - can dogs have Dermotographia? That is - maybe things are hurting from the outside. 

When my skin is scratched It'll welt-up for about 20 mins. Its sorta neat because I can write stuff on my arms. Often I'll scratch "HELPME" in my forehead and walk around the office to see if folks notice. 

Is there a daily anithistamine that may help??


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Born - this is so like what Boris has suffered from - read the thread - some good suggestions

http://www.vizslaforums.com/index.php/topic,4708.0.html

My vet inferred that when you get hives all over the body it is more likely something they have ingested. So that is where I would start with Mac. Dairy in particular. I know Boris stole a lump of cheese from my shopping bag the morning he broke out in hives. We gave Boris Piriton for a week 1 x 3 times a day(nearly 20Kgs) and it really helped and he wasn't tired on it. However my vet did say to knock it down to 2 if he was sleepy.

The other thing we think it might be is pollen, in particular grass seed, which seems to effect a lot of Vs. Wash all his bedding and towels that you might use on him in Surcare - don't use fabric condition. Oh the other thing I learnt from a human allergy sufferer is not to dry them outside as the pollen just gets into the material again!!!

Boris is a lot better now, but he often has red droopy eyes and red inside his ears - but it doesn't seem to bother him so have decided that unless he is uncomfortable we are not going to keep him permanently on Piriton.

It wouldn't surprise me (as you are in the same area roughly as me, if it has to do with the pollen in grass seed and we now have braken spawns. Hopefully in another month everything will settle down.

Do let me know if you find anything that Mac is allergic to as it might apply to Boris - I am not desperate but it would be
nice to narrow it down.

Hope he gets better soon.


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## Vizsla Baby (Nov 4, 2011)

We had a problem a few weeks ago with hives due to allergies. We put Sadie on 50 mg Benadryl twice a day.

Fortunately whatever bothered her seems to have gone away - probably a grass seed or some weird pollen that was only out for a short time. 

Hopefully the allergies you are experiencing will go away soon as well once whatever he's reacting to calms down. Keep exposing Mac in small doses every few days and put him on Benadryl. 

We have been able to stop the Benadryl and so far, 10 days later, we've had no problems! Fingers crossed!


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

I thought I read before that loratidineis NOT ok for dogs. But I'm not the dr. However we do give our Dozer a daily dose of Zyrtec Half of a human (generic) OTC pill which is super cheap. He's so severe we still have to continue steroids but at a lower dose with the OTC.


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

I thought I would put in some photos of what Mac's out breaks look like. Because of the bad swelling of the ears and the lymph node she is suggesting we go for a physical biopsy and do allergy testing.

:'(


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

:'( poor Mac. Hope he recovers fast. 
Spider bites caused our neighbor's dog to break out in hives, vet said. Benadryl took care of that.


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## flynnandlunasmom (May 28, 2012)

Born36, our guy had this too. It tore me to pieces. He gets it in the spring. We tried Benadryl & oatmeal baths but the only thing that actually worked for him was a course of Prednisone. He had ear swelling too and his neck swelled so were worried that he would have trouble breathing. So, we had no choice but to go with the steroid, even with the negative side effects they can have on it. It was a short course each time and it helped. 

Our Vet was stumped. We tried food elimination diets and had him tested for a gazillion things but never did find the culprit. 

We *think* it may be grass when it seeds, or pollen, but haven't been able to prove it. 

For Flynn, it only lasted for a few weeks (and then came back the next year) so I hope it won't last too long for your boy. The first time it happened, he was 5. How old is your boy? 

I'm sure it will go away soon and I am so sorry you are having to go through this. I didn't have this forum when it happened to Flynn and I did everything I could to find someone else online who's V had the same thing. Keep us posted.


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## kristen (Oct 18, 2011)

Odin had a reaction similar to this from puppy shampoo. It took over 12 hours to show up, and a full 3 days on heavy doses of Benedryl to get it completely gone. (he has had other reactions, bug bites and unknown causes, but the shampoo was the worst one)

My vet told me to use Benedryl and only Benedryl. The Reactine and Claritin I had at home were not proven to be safe for dogs. 

His hives show up on his ears first (The inside of his ears get red and blotchy, then a few hours after his hives appear.) I am now always checking his ears and if I see anything developing I will preemptively give him a benedryl. Just like an allergic reaction in humans, its much easier if you catch it early, its so much harder to get it after its a full blown attack. 
Odin can get a bit sleepy with Benedryl, but it doesnt Zombie-ify him. It is not a steroid. Can you get Benedryl in the UK?


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

[quote author=flynnandlunasmom link=topic=4805.msg35459#msg35459 date=

Our Vet was stumped. We tried food elimination diets and had him tested for a gazillion things but never did find the culprit. 

We *think* it may be grass when it seeds, or pollen, but haven't been able to prove it. 

For Flynn, it only lasted for a few weeks (and then came back the next year) so I hope it won't last too long for your boy. The first time it happened, he was 5. How old is your boy? 

[/quote]

He is 13 months. Hope it stops soon. Now debating to do a physical biopsy or to wit a bit longer to see if it goes.


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

kristen said:


> Odin had a reaction similar to this from puppy shampoo. It took over 12 hours to show up, and a full 3 days on heavy doses of Benedryl to get it completely gone. (he has had other reactions, bug bites and unknown causes, but the shampoo was the worst one)
> 
> My vet told me to use Benedryl and only Benedryl. The Reactine and Claritin I had at home were not proven to be safe for dogs.
> 
> ...


Yes can get Benadryl but vet recommends piritin.


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Poor Mac he looks miserable. Did your vet give him a steriod injection to reduce the inflamation and calm it down? That worked well on Boris followed by a week of Piriton.

My vet said they only allergy test the worst cases as they can only test for about 100 things, but never mentioned the biopsy option. In all fairness Boris was never as bad as Mac. I do hope you get to the bottom of it, you must be very worried.


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## OrangeMonkeys (Jun 3, 2012)

We luckily have not been through this with Pip but it definitely does seem to be a Viz thing! I hope Mac gets better soon and you find out the cause to try and prevent a repeat occurrence. What I can say is that Jane your/our vet is really great we have lots of friends that use her and she normally comes up trumps and she definitely has a soft spot for V's - obviously as she had a queue of them today, luckily we were just getting our annual vaccinations!


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## Gummithebear (Aug 23, 2012)

Our Vizsla (15 months) broke out in hives all over her body starting at her rear end and then bubbling all over her body over the next 10 mins. This was during a run in Chertsey meads (long grass) Took her to vets. He said is was most likely an allergy (but didn't suggest what to). He advised 4mg of piriteze. The bumps were going down by the time he saw her and two hours later they had gone. Two days later we took her to Desborough Island (long grass) and the same thing happened. We think its an allergy to pollen in the long grass. Not very nice.


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Hi Gummithebear,

We had exactly the same happen to our puppy after running through the long grass near the polo pitches in Windsor Great park - covered in hives. The had gone down by the time we got home an hour later excepts for his ears were very swollen and ears red. The next morning we came down to find him covered in hives again. So we rushed him to the emergency vets - but they had gone down again by the time we got there. The emergency vet said it was quite common to get a secondary reaction!

Our own vet suggested he had probably eaten something he was allergic to. That morning he had stolen a packet of chedder cheese from my shopping bag, so I wonder if he is allergic to dairy. 

We have never had a repeat of the hives and he runs through long grasses regularly. However, he does get red eyes sometimes which could be related to something he is allergic to in our garden. Unfortunately we haven't a clue, just hope he will grow out of it. When they are really red I give him a piriton.

Where abouts do you live? Must be quite close to us if you walk near Chertsey? We live in Little Sandhurst.


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