RE: Urticaria in a whippet

bob lehner — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 14:56:11 GMT

Hi Rosemary,

Hope you're keeping well.

I always find these dog urticaria cases a bit of a mystery - the signs generally come and go very fast and often (usually?) no cause is identified.

I'd tend to agree with Martin - in the spring/summer months nettles would be high on my list of suspicions - particularly with a fine-coated dog like a whippet. (Although I suppose if the attacks genuinely happen indoors as well then that might not stack up).

My own mutt gets terribly itchy if she walks through nettles - she gets quite distressed - chewing and licking for an hour or more.

RE: Urticaria in a whippet

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 13:18:43 GMT

[quote user="Rosemary Cowper"]I must admit I don't usually have a lot of faith in the food serology [/quote]Quite wise too, I have no faith in them, all you've done is waste the client's money, a trial with an exclusion diet for 3-6 weeks is the only thing that will help if you're concerned with a food allergy. Money would have been better spent on patch testing for environmental allergens.

In any case, urticaria is generally an acute histamine release allergic reaction not cell mediated so food allergy and atopy are less likely so corticoids probably won't help and although the client is clearly a wally for going to a homoeopath she's right about avoiding them until you've made a diagnosis.

Most likely the dog is going into the garden and is chasing bees or wasps or coming in contact with nettles or the like. A serious review of the dog's habits and its environment would be in order first.