Dog Lumps on Body

by Anonymous Reader

My dog is a male, 8 month old, Brindle Boxer. While laying in his crate 2 days ago, like he does all the time, he suddenly broke out in terrible lumps all over his body. We had last checked on him about 30 minutes before, and he had not been out of his crate prior to that in about an hour. The lumps look almost identical to the picture you have of "hives" on this website. We gave him benadryl but after 45 minutes of it not working, we took him to a vet.

They said he probably got stung by a bee and gave him a shot and pills to take every day for a week. The bumps went down, but 2 hours later at home, they came back. We gave him some more benadryl, and after a little while they went down.

But now, he is throwing up alot and we can't figure out why. He is very sluggish and dehydrated. I'm concerned this is more than a simple bee sting, but I'm not sure what to do.

Help my dog!!

Editor Comment - Dog Lumps on Body

Dog Hives or Urticaria specifically refers to plaque-like eruptions on the skin, which develop suddenly and may resolve spontaneously without any treatment or management. But, in cases where the condition or dog skin lumps as in this case reappears even after treatment, this surely means that the affected pet is still exposed to the possible allergen.

In dogs, the condition you describe may be caused by various allergenic factors, which may be inhaled or ingested. There are various causative factors such as an insect sting, medication, exposure to chemicals like carbolic acid, turpentine, carbon disulfide and crude oil may trigger an auto immune response within the body.

Non – immunologic factors too can cause urticaria in sensitive dogs, these may include pressure, heat, sunlight, psychological stress, exercise etc. Some dogs are genetically hypersensitive and may exhibit repeated symptoms of urticaria from a young age.

So, your dogs skin lumps suggest that your dog is relatively hypersensitive and needs careful handling of the condition. Remember, researchers believe that administering anti-histamines to such dogs is questionable as a long term therapy since therapeutics like those contained in Benadryl or other anti-allergic shots may also act as causative agents.

For such cases, it is always recommended that a detailed examination along with laboratory screening should be done. This includes having detailed allergy tests performed, the removal of possible dietary allergens and the treatment of such dogs only with with corticosteroids.

Anti-histamines should never be administered over the long term, as they are ineffective and can only worsen the condition. It's better to discuss this with your veterinarian and initiate a long-term management program with with adrenocorticoids or mild histamines like hydroxyzine.

For support, try to keep your pet calm and free of any psychological stress, and monitor your dog for any external or internal parasitic infestation since dog skin hives or similar allergic response is quickly triggered by some type of parasite.

For now, we also suggest replacing all of your dog's bedding and the crate, along with shifting the bedding/housing arrangements to a more secure and relatively darker and cooler place.

In terms of diet, do not feed your dog possible allergens such as dairy products, barley and foods with a high energy content (high levels of carbs). Try simpler diets, containing lesser artificial ingredients.

We also recommend the use of some natural remedies, which can help to reduce stress and control any possible parasitic infestations in your dog. Good choices are Pet Calm for stress and Skin and Coat Tonic to improve skin condition. Along with these remedies,for added support you can use some skin and immune system natural supplements such as Nutri-Vet Allergy Eze, to combat any possible secondary dog skin problems.

Best of luck identifying the removing the underlying cause for the dog skin lumps.