Bad reaction to dog- hives, swelling- GP said it is non respiratory

[Lima1]

Sorry the title is probably confusing. My nephew is 5.5 yrs old and has had reactions to dogs and horses. My dad ownes horses and can't be near him in the clothes he was near the horses in.

A couple of nights ago my BIL went out to tend to his greyhound pups. He changed his clothes but left on his socks he wore when out with the dogs. He put my nephew to bed and got it with him for a few mins to read a story. A couple of hours later his mam checked on him and his face had swollen up, she said it was distorted. He had huge welts all over his body ( my son has food allergies and gets hives occassionally but nothing like this). Some were the size of the palm of your hand.

She gave Zirtek and the swelling went down quickly, the hives took longer. She changed his bedclothes but the following night it happened again.

She brought him to her GP and he said it is a non respiratory allergic reaction , he treated with steroids and said she didn't need a referral to an allergy specialist.

I'm concerned about this advice, he was so bad that if I had been there I would have rang an ambulance but maybe I'm overreacting.

I know many of you have lots of experience in this area- does this sound right to you?
I asked did he have tingling if face, Tongue etc or difficulty breathing and he didn't. Does that mean it will always be non respiratory or could things change. Can the reactions get worse with each exposure?

Many thanks, she trusts him but I'm worried as he is only a gp not an allergy specialist.

My eldest dd has allergic reactions to furry animals especially cats and dogs. This sounds similar to what your nephew is experiencing. However, she also has a severe anaphylactic reaction to horses for which she has an Epipen. This has got steadily worse over the years and she can react through contact with clothes or people who have previously been in close contact with horses. She also has asthma, though this is not chronic but related to allergies. She was given an Epipen following her last reaction because as well as facial swelling her nasal passages swelled restricting her breathing and she had severe tightness in the chest.
My advice would be that your nephew's reactions may well progress so keep the antihistamines close at hand but that he might not necessarily be prescribed an Epipen if the breathing is not compromised. Our allergy specialist made a good point that testing is not really needed if you know what has caused it; the body is the best litmus test. If the body has reacted then take is as red that you are allergic and take steps to avoid those triggers! We pushed for testing on the basis of other reactions in which we didn't know the cause.
I hope this makes sense? Best of luck, keep a close eye on the little fella :)