Benadryl for dog's itching?????

[Bob Weisner]

Hi:

Is it safe to give a dog Benadryl to stop it from itching? My German Shorthair Pointer has been on Hydroxizine(SP?) HCL 50 mg tablets twice a day for severe itching. Vet said something about Dermatitis. I changed the food to Science Diet, like the Vet reccommended & vaccumed and washed everything up. The Hydroxizine helped some, but the itching was still there, although it was less. He has been off the pills for about a week now and the itching started up again last night(Early this morning:( ) I tried the Gold Bond medicated powder just to see if it could help. It helped some, but not completely. He has been scratching and nipping on his lower belly and where he was neutered :eek: :eek:.

Any suggestions as to what might work? I was thinking of giving my dog some Benadryl , but am not sure it would work.


Thanks,

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Our Cocker seems to have allergies...and that's what our vet told us to give her. We stick it in a fingerfull of peanut butter. Only problem with that is that all the other dogs think they need peanut butter, too. Cockers are much daintier eaters than Saint Bernards....:o

KC

[Mark Pruitt]

We were told to use the "baby" version of Benadryl for our miniature schnauzer, which we do. FWIW.

[Jim DeLaney]

When my Schnauzer had a bad reaction to a Bordetella shot, my vet prescribed Benadryl tablets for the skin irritation & itching she was suffering. For a 20# dog, he prescribed 25 mg, twice daily. It worked quite well, but did make her pretty lethargic and drowsy fo a couple days.

[Vaughn McMillan]

At the recommendation of our vet, both of our dogs are on Benadryl (actually, the cheaper house brand from our local Sav-On pharmacy). He recommended dosage comparable to what humans would take, based on body weight. Our 85 pound dog gets two 25mg tabs a day (same amount I take), and the 50-pounder gets one.

And I second the peanut butter recommendation. ;)

- Vaughn

[Matt Meiser]

Cockers are much daintier eaters than Saint Bernards....:o

KC

So a finger full for the Cocker and the rest of a tub for the Saint Bernard? :D

[Jim King]

They are just little peoples with fur coats. We always use human medicines for our animals as there is very little if any Vet medicine availble here.

[Doug Shepard]

I have a neighbor with a Golden Retriever that has pretty severe allergies. He's very often on benadryl and occasionally on some pretty strong steroids too. I think the owner has used calamine lotion with decent results on problem areas too.

[Jim O'Dell]

Bob, Hydroxizine and the Benedryl are both antihistamines. The Hydroxizine is just stronger. Jim.

[Greg Narozniak]

While the meds will deal with the issue for now, you need to try and get to the root of the problem. Most likey it is and allergy that is food based. Science Diet is not really a good food aside from what your vet might tell you. You should try and move to a true Human grade ingredient based food. Innova, California Natural are excellent dry food. A lot of dogs are allergic to grains so you may need a Grain free based food.

My 18 month old GSD eats a dehydrated grain free RAW food and nearly every person that sees her cannot believe how her coat actually shines and healthy she truley is. Her food is made by www.HonestKitchen.com. She has no scratching or itching what so ever.

Another excellent source for info is go to leerburg.com and check out the forums. Just like here, tons off good info by the people that do it everyday.

If it is just a "Hot Spot" you could spray it with Bitter Apple spray to discourage the chewing on those spots.

Greg

[Curt Fuller]

Bob, I've had the Vet suggest both Benydryl and an over the counter called Chlortrimeton (sp). Both work for his itching (Hank is a Golden Retriever/Lab mix). But because things pass through dogs faster than humans the dose is usually a little larger.

Also, the Chlortrimetron makes for a groggy doggy and helps keep him calmed down during the next few days of fireworks.

[Larry Klaaren]

I had a PM conversation with Bob. It's important to remember that there are different reasons that dogs itch, and there are consequences of the itching and of the treatments. This must be taken into consideration when selecting therapies, or you can make bad things worse.

Sometimes the itch causes skin disease, sometimes skin disease causes the itch. It may be skin parasites, it may be allergies, it may be a reaction to a treatment or a food. In this case, the cause of the itch is very significant. It will take some time for the symptons to resolve because the primary problem takes time to be resolved. (I can't reveal what the cause is without Bob's permission.) If I were the vet based on what I do know, I'd increase the dose of antihistamine or use Benadryl, but I haven't seen the case.

Bob's vet seems to be on the right track. I would recommend not treating dogs or cats with medicines or at doses that humans would use without a consultation. As an example, tylenol is very toxic to cats at any dosage level. Certain breeds of dogs (collies and other hounds are notable) cannot tolerate medications that are beneficial in other breeds of dogs, especially antibiotics and wormers, let alone human drugs at human dosages. Every species metabolizes drugs in a different way.

Larry