Summary
Dog hives, or urticaria, are itchy, red bumps indicating an allergic reaction to insect bites, medications, shampoos, sunlight, or genetics. Mild cases often resolve, but severe reactions can cause swelling and breathing difficulties (anaphylaxis), requiring immediate vet care. Veterinarians may use antihistamines, corticosteroids, or rarely, epinephrine. For mild hives, home remedies like oatmeal paste, chamomile or green tea compresses, and vet-approved CBD oil may provide relief. Monitor your dog closely and consult a veterinarian for persistent or worsening hives, especially if breathing is affected. Prompt treatment prevents complications.
All You Need to Know About Hives
Hives are a type of allergic infection that causes redness of the skin and severe itchiness. This allergic infection is also known as Urticaria; the problems created by these infections don’t remain long because they resolve on their own.
The symptoms caused by these hives include swelling of the skin, severe itchiness, welts, and many others, which can develop anywhere in the dog’s body, like the face, throat, lips, and ears of the body.
If the Urticaria is caused by insect bites, especially bee stings, dogs’ faces and lips might swell dramatically.
If swelling spreads to the neck, respiration might become difficult, culminating in anaphylaxis. Urticaria is usually self-limiting and poses no serious health risk to your dog.
How Do Dogs Get Hives?
As per the research done by cynologists on dogs getting affected by hives, the results showed that getting affected by Urticaria is uncommon in dogs. Around 30 percent of the total population of dogs is affected by these hives.
The most frequent factors responsible for the causing of hives in dogs are :
Insect Bites
When a dog gets bitten by insects like fleas, bed bugs, and ants, the protein in the saliva secreted by the salivary gland reacts with the cells present in the epidermal layer of the skin. It makes the layer toxic, which leads to the cause of hives in dogs.
Shampoo
Shampoos can often cause hives in dogs. This is because when shampoos are used excessively in dogs for bathing, the chemicals and proteins in the shampoo react with the immune system’s cells, resulting in a severe skin infection called hives.
Medications
Certain medications provided to your dog Can be the most probable reason behind the cause of hives in your dog.
Most medicines like penicillin, ibuprofen, and aspirin, if given in excessive amounts, can lead to some toxicity which can be responsible for minor allergic reactions named hives.
Sunlight
The sun’s ultraviolet radiation can also cause hives in dogs sometimes. The exposure of UV rays to the skin can harm the cells of the epidermal layer of the skin, which leads to the cause of redness and rashes in the skin, termed hives.
Genetic Abnormalities
As we all know, most of the offspring produced by living organisms possess genetic characteristics. For example, suppose an organism’s parents used to have skin infections. In that case, the probability of the offspring being affected by this infection is very high.
The owner can take preventive measures for these above-discussed factors to prevent their dog from getting affected by hives.
Why Do the Hives of Dogs Need to be Treated Rapidly?
As discussed above, hives in dogs can’t be severe, but they can cause more skin complications to your pet in extreme cases. When it was mainly due to bites of insects, severe skin complications might also include swelling in that infected region.
In some rare cases, the swelling of the infected region can also reach the throat, referred to as anaphylaxis, which can interrupt the respiratory passages of dogs and lead to breathing issues.
This is why the anaphylactic allergic reaction in dogs needs to be treated as soon as possible to prevent the hive from getting life-threatening.
How to Get Rid of Dog Hives?
Suppose a dog owner notices that hive, which usually resolves on their remains for a longer time on the skin and transforms into anaphylaxis.
In that case, the dog owner is advised to take the canine friend rapidly to a veterinarian to prevent the situation from getting further complicated.
Research shows no new medication has been developed to treat dog hives. The most common medication used by veterinarians to treat the complications of hives in dogs is discussed below.
Antihistamines
Antihistamines are one of the most preferred medications of most dog owners as they give successful results with just a couple of uses.
The feeding of antihistamines is used to relieve the allergic reaction symptoms by suppressing the histamine, which is a type of chemical substance produced by the immune system to trigger allergic reactions.
Corticosteroids
While the allergens are causing the allergic reaction in dogs to invade the immune system, they react strongly to the allergen by causing inflammation of the infected site.
The corticosteroids reduce the immune system’s overreaction to the allergens responsible for the infection and, hence, reduce the inflammation of the infected site.
Epinephrine
Among vets’ medications for treating hives in dogs, epinephrine is the most rarely used medication.
It is used to treat hives in dogs by binding with specific receptors on the immune cells in the immune system.
It helps suppress the further release of the histamines responsible for allergic reactions in dogs.
The proper use of the medicines prescribed by the veterinarian as per the provided schedule is the best way a dog owner can treat the further complications of Urticaria in dogs and get rid of hives in dogs.
What are the Steps to Get Rid of Dog Hives at Home?
As we all know, hives are not a serious infection in dogs. So if the condition has not gotten complicated, the dog owner can also go for treatment of the dog’s hives at home, which can work wonders for dogs. The substances that a dog owner can use to get rid of dog hives are discussed below:
Use of Oats
As per research, the use of oats over the skin has a lot of benefits. It can reduce severe itchiness to a greater extent and soothes the effects of allergens on the skin.
To use oats to reduce the effects of hives, the owner has to take a bowl and add a cup of oatmeal, then add the required amount of water to make a thick base.
After making the paste:
- Apply it over the affected area of the dog’s skin.
- Cover it with a towel.
- Leave it for around ten to fifteen minutes.
- Wash it away.
Regularly using this mixture thrice a day for a couple of days will be very beneficial for making your dog hives resistant.
Use of Teas
Teas are the most commonly used substance to relieve the skin of an infected dog with an allergy. When chamomile or green tea leaves are applied to the affected area of the skin, they are used to reduce the itchiness and irritation of the skin.
The antihistamine properties of green teas are mainly responsible for treating the hives on the skin. To use green tea to treat hives, take two to three green tea leaves in a grinder, add a few drops of water to make a smooth paste, and then apply it over the affected skin area.
It will help cool down the heat released by the area due to the toxicity of the allergens.
Use of Cannabidiol
You may be aware of the name CBD oil. Instead of calming anxious dogs, it also includes many other benefits, such as treating allergies in dogs.
CBD oil is one of the most effective remedies that most dog owners use when it comes to treating the hives of their dogs. The medical authorities of veterinary science have also approved using CBD oil to treat infections.
The cannabinoids produced in the dog’s body have an anti-inflammatory effect called endocannabinoids, which reduces inflammation and skin itchiness.
After applying these remedies, all the above-discussed steps are based on cynologists’ experiments on dogs’ behavior. So if a dog owner is looking for tips to treat the hives of dogs at home, then he can entirely rely upon the above-discussed steps.
So, here we are with all the information regarding removing dog hives. All the information discussed in the article will help you clear all your doubts regarding how to get rid of dog hives; thanks for reading the article till the end.
