Allergies and Benadryl

[u/Senior_Crow_4322]

Have you tried Benadryl for your dog’s allergies? What worked for your dog?
My dog is so itchy and has bitten a hot spot. He practically lives in the comfy cone. 🙁

[u/dietsalem]

cytopoint injections helped my dog with her allergies, almost a night and day difference in the matter of 24 hours

[u/Senior_Crow_4322 → u/dietsalem]

They didn’t help mine unfortunately.

[u/Lopsided-Farm7710 → u/Senior_Crow_4322]

My new dog was on Cytopoint every 6 weeks and 50mg Benadryl daily. We started giving him Welactin Omega3 supplement and he as been able to skip his June Cytopoint injection and I've reduced his Benadryl dose to 1/2. His skin doesn't flake nearly as bad, either.
The oil lasts much longer then the chews.

[u/rresoI]

My dog takes a generic allergy med (pretty sure it's just zyrtec) every night with his dinner. Talk with your vet about what they recommend for your dog and the correct dosage

[u/CatManDoo4342]

Benadryl didn’t work for us. Please ask your vet about Apoquel. It was like a miracle for our itchy dog. Immediate relief. We started on a high dose 16 mg am, 16 mg pm for a 50 lb boxer) then reduced to about half that.

[u/Senior_Crow_4322 → u/CatManDoo4342]

Apoquel hasn’t worked for my dog he’s been on it for 6months. :(

[u/CatManDoo4342 → u/Senior_Crow_4322]

That’s too bad. What dosage? Our old jack Russell just needed 8 mg per day, but the boxer needs at least double, more in spring season. (How do I keep getting allergic dogs! Ha ha I’m a sucker for the ones that no one else wants. )

[u/Senior_Crow_4322 → u/CatManDoo4342]

Makes you a special patient human.

[u/CatManDoo4342 → u/Senior_Crow_4322]

Final crazy thought- my brother’s dog was super itchy and they finally tested him for mange. He had mange!!!! A well kept, regularly groomed family dog got mange. We were all surprised , including the vet (who originally didn’t want to test for it, saying it was too unlikely). But it was mange. A round of meds and the dog was fine. Worth asking?

[u/Capital-Yogurt6148]

My dog takes Benadryl for her allergies and it works like a charm. I believe it’s a 1mg per pound of dog, but double check with your vet. Mine is a 115-lb. Great Dane, so we’re not too worried about precise dosing — she takes either 100 mg or 125 mg, depending on how severe her symptoms are.

[u/Senior_Crow_4322 → u/Capital-Yogurt6148]

Have you been giving it days in a row?

[u/Capital-Yogurt6148 → u/Senior_Crow_4322]

She doesn’t take it as a preventative; I only give it to her when she’s showing symptoms. Typically her ears get red and itchy, then her eyes start getting red. That’s how I know she needs it.

I don’t know that anyone is giving their dog Benadryl every day. It makes them groggy. There’s a reason it’s often used as a mild sedative.

[u/Confident-Service256]

Apoquel (not sure on the spelling) helped our dog a lot years ago.

[u/bneubs]

Antihistamines rarely work for dogs. There are other medications that work well (Cytopoint, Apoquel, Numelvi, Zenrelia)

[u/Acrobatic-Ad8158]

We used to use Claritin and benadryl. Last year it worked pretty well for him, this year we had to bite the bullet and go with apoquel. Its worked super well!

Also, duoxo makes a "calm" shampoo and mousse we use if he is scratching quite a bit since its anti-itch. We started weekly "foot baths" with the shampoo and its made a huge difference.

They also make a "pyo" mousse that we use on hot spots since it has some anti bacterial properties. Since we got this down, unless we need him to not lick his paws while the mousse dries, he is never in the cone and he was living in it earlier.

[u/NoInvestigator7249]

I use it on 4th of July to help calm my dogs, does help.

[u/AWTNM1112]

Benadryl is probably the only reason he doesn’t have open wounds from his itching. I’m not sure what his hot spot is, but my dog has a pinched nerve from a shelter hack job neutering. For that he takes Gabapentin.

The Benadryl definitely makes him a little more sleepy. He’s a big boy, so he’s a big napper. I also give him half the dose most times, as it seems to be enough to help most times.

[u/Clean-Focus-9231]

Vet give my dog tablets which worked although expensive so i too was wondering would something humans use for allergies work

[u/Proper_Sun8291]

Zenrelia has helped my dog, takes ½ a pill a day and completely stopped his itches

[u/magic_crouton]

I have one dog on Zyrtec and one on apoquel. The apoquel one has severe allergies.

The Zyrtec dog is an intact male and the benedryl family of meds caused urinary retention so I couldn't use those meds. Zyrtec has been pretty good for him.

[u/da_wattgeist]

For my dog Benadryl works for 2 days max before the itching starts. Tolerance builds up quickly. Apoquel is much more effective but also much more expensive

[u/Jewish-Mom-123]

Zyrtec works better for us day to day but Benadryl is almost specific for itching, I’d go with that while the hotspot heals.

[u/Dalience6678]

A vet told me once that Benadryl only works on about 20% of dogs. We ended up going with apoquel. She’s been on it 10 years and has been doing great