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My dog's hives are spreading and he's losing fur. What's wrong?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | American Bully | Male | unneutered | 1 year and 2 months old | 70 lbs

My dog has hives that started on the sides of his body and spread to cover most of his body. There is also a patch of fur on the side of his face that is missing. He has had hives before but only on his butt and inner thigh. I changed basically everything I was using the last time, and it went away. This time it has gotten so bad in the last 3 to 4 days. We got him medicated shampoo, and allergy medicine. The next available appointment for the vet is in 3 weeks. Do you have any idea what it is?

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3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

Veterinarian

Published on October 15th, 2020

Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

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Other Answers

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    Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on June 24th, 2017

    This is probably due to a severe allergy, although it could also be fleas or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat Aleman with a high quality flea treatment (e.g. advantage), then get him to the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try discovering the cause of the allergy. Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair the skin lesions (steroids and antibiotics). simultaneously you should start Aleman on a prescription hypoallergenic diet for at least 2 months. Hopefully you will see some results after all this, if not you and your vet should consider putting him on a long term allergy treatment (Atopica or Apoquel).

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    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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    Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on June 18th, 2018

    This is probably due to a severe allergy, although it could also be fleas or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat Onyx with a high quality flea treatment (e.g. advocate or advantage), then get her to the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try discovering the cause of the allergy. Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair the skin lesions (steroids and antibiotics). simultaneously you should start her on a prescription hypoallergenic diet for at least 2 months. Hopefully you will see some results after all this, if not you and your vet should consider putting her on a long term allergy treatment (Atopica or Apoquel).

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    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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