Tiny bumps under my coat

[Hotep]

Hello everyone,

My name is Hotep and I am a 2 1/2 year old Basenji. Over the past four months, I have been getting these bumps under my coat that are very annoying and cause me to itch. I have gone to the vet, but they can't tell me what the cause is. They have prescribed Hydoxyzine and it takes the bumps and itching away, but every two days they reappear. I can’t’ live on these pills and was wondering has anyone else had this same problem?
ps.
I have had my thyroid checked, urinalysis and blood work, but no one has been able to help me

[mauigirl]

What has changed in the last 4 months? Bumps under coat sounds like another thread on the forum recently, but that was determined to be caused by an insect bite and this sounds like something daily/consistent/lifestyle/environment related….I feel like a lot of times people on the forum ask about food first in this kind of situation but I don't know if that's at all related here or if food allergies manifest like that. But it is a common issue with basenjis. What are you feeding? Just in case...

Edit: found the other thread

http://basenjiforums.com/showthread.php?t=4487

does that look familiar?

Edit#2: Check out Snorky's post on that thread. Is your girl intact? The only thing is being 2.5 she would have been in season before so why is it only happening now…

[tanza]

Sounds to me like food allergies… does it contain corn and/or wheat? Those are the two biggest causes of allergies in dogs...

Since this has been going on for 4 months, I would not think insect bites...

Have you talked to the breeder? And also you might want to ask your Vet for a referral to a specialist (Dermatologist) or seach the web for one in your area.

[snorky998]

Just another thought if it is not a food related allergy.

Have you had your carpets cleaned recently, or do you use powder or spray type fresheners? I had a bulldog that was allergic to all that type of stuff. (Lawn sprays as well)

[Kris_Christine]

Hotep,

Our Butter has had these off and on for the past month – some kind of allergy or allergies. We've nailed down one source -- brewer's yeast and fungi (tons of mushrooms in our fields this year after an unusually wet summer).

What we've learned so far is that sometimes there is cross-reactivity between environmental triggers and foods. Below are two links which might help you in narrowing down the source of the problem if the bumps are allergy-related:

http://www.squidoo.com/food-allergies-cross-reactivity

http://www.achooallergy.com/mold-faqs.asp

[Sharla]

I would also check and see where he is laying during the day, i.e a pile of leaves. I had a simillar problem with my dobie and discovered it was the peper tree leaves that fell in the kids dog run. Just a thought

[Kris_Christine]

We've finally had some success with Butter's allergies – wiping his face, belly, legs, pads & between his toes after he goes for a walk in the field. It's been a long haul and he'd been reacting to fungi and plants in the aster family (ragweed, etc...). Because he'd eat grass, sniff it, and walk through it, he'd have terrible reactions and the "little" bumps under his coat started turning into bigger bumps.

All set for now. If an elimination diet hasn't helped with the bumps, it could be an allergy to something in the environment -- try wiping Hotep down after she's been out and see if it helps.