Don't scratch!

Has your pet ever experienced an allergic reaction and you couldn't figure out what they were allergic to?

I had a scare a few months ago with CeCe. She developed hives all over her body - even her face, snout and area around her eyes swelled up. Hives are pretty weird. They go away, then when you think they're gone, they crop up again in full force.

I immediately brought her to our vet, who advised me to give her human Benadryl. But the hives persisted and I continued to worry.

I tried to think of what I had given/exposed her to as of late and couldn't think of anything. That is, until I did my own research and realized the cause: I had switched her ceramic water bowl (which had broke) to plastic.

Plastic! I couldn't believe something as simple as plastic could have caused that awful reaction. Apparently out of all the things pets can be allergic to, contact allergies are the least common.

Here's an article from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which goes over the types of pet allergies and ways to treat it. This is also the article that helped me realize the plastic bowl was the "culprit."

As always, if your pet breaks out, consult your veterinarian first before any Internet source.