For a start we must remember that the skin of a dog is one of the largest parts of its body. Short coated dog breeds you will see skin hives or allergic reactions quite quickly. If you owned a Golden retriever then you would not see them as there is so much coat covering the skin. Dogs run through plants, get insects attached and we do not always see what's happened.
What you need to remember is this! If I got hold of you and threw you into a patch of stinging nettles not only would I not be popular, but you would suddenly have hives all over your body from the stinging nettle. Now when your dog runs through grasses and goes through stinging nettles you'll then see hives on the body. I think the population is starting to loose common sense as Im seeing on social media loads of people who seem to think that their dog shouldn't get hives. Why shouldn't it? Just because you have paid money for a living being, doesn't mean it won't be subject to reactions. An animal is a living breathing mammal, just like us. We are all able to have hives. It doesn't just stop at Stinging nettles. Their are a multitude of poisons plants in the UK. If we ran them over our skin, we could get burns rashes hives, open sores. Why should a dog be any different? Its not a breed thing, its not a breeding issue. These are reactions to which any dog, human would also get if coming into contact with stings or poison. Then we have insects oh those lovely insects. Did you know if you went to Scotland in May to September the midges would in fact feast on your skin too. Dogs get little red bites all over their soft underbelly as it can be seen the easiest there. You may not notice as much where the fur is. We also have some insects which inject a rather nasty sting which can end up with your dog having quite a nasty reaction. We also have snakes. The only venomous snake in the UK is the adder. I have a paper on snakes in the hidden pages and what you need to do. What can you do as a pet owner if your dog repeatedly has hives. You can buy a vest which protects the chest to help minimise sting risk. You can also walk your dog in a different area whilst the plants are growing. Stinging nettles are at their worst when they are just growing. We call them fire nettles. They hurt. The dog may want to bite the skin as its really stinging for ages afterwards. You can use antihistamines. These can be brought from the local chemist once you know which one is okay to use. Piraton is usually prescribed by UK vets. Not pirateze. Ring your vet or get a phone conversation with them to see what type they suggest for your dog. Do not just treat a dog yourself as the will have the right advise for you. What can you use to calm skin.? We can go holistic and use creams which are natural and calm skin. We can boil some water, add a few drops salt in. Then bathe the area to cool the skin and help remove anything in the fur we can't see. Their are natural skin balms you can buy. Dont be tempted to wash with shampoo as this can make it worse. The skin is irritated enough to start with. Their is a natural antioxidant which is known to help allergic dogs. It is called Quercetin. Your may well ask a holistic vet for advise on usage. It is called naturals natural antihistamine. For more about allergies I have written a paper for the hidden pages. It will soon be updated. Hope this helps but just remember, try not to worry about hives. Its not just your dog, its any dog, just like if we put our hands into stinging nettles. We also have in animals food allergies. These are harder to sort out. If you suspect your dog has a food allergy then if your feeding the raw diet it is one of the easiest diets to eliminate food groups. But that is another subject entirely. Today we just talk about reactions to plants that are now growing in the spring time. Good luck xx
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AuthorMrs Rachel Savage Archives
October 2024
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