What can i give my dog for her allergies-benadryl offers no relief?

hi my vet has suggested giving my dog benadryl to help her with her severe allergies-she itches constantly-the test to see what she is allergic to is very costly-but they have ruled out other issues, and know that it is allergies-i cant stand to see her miserable, and itchy all the time- any ideas of what else i can try to help her

My vet told me that benadryl rarely works on dogs' itchyness unless combined with a steroid.

Please get something more effective from your vet for now. I would suggest experimenting with different foods to see if you can relieve her itching that way.

There is a Yahoo! Groups list called Allerdog, they might be able to help you.

Have you done the rotation diet to eliminate what your dog could be allergic to?
First, I assume you let your dog outside to do her business?
Some dogs are allergic to the pollen on the grass.

Next, what dog food are you giving your dog?
Look at the list of ingredients. Email me and I will suggest one to try instead.

Next, is your dog exposed to cigarette smoke? A lot of pets can not tolerate this. Avoid any fumes around your pet.

What are you shampooing your pet with? the pet stores have a gentle oatmeal shampoo with baking soda in it. If that doesn't work.... go to the department store and buy the Aveeno oatmeal shampoo

With the rotation diet you can find out their allergies by process of elimination and you may not have to buy an expensive rx brand either. Consider Nutro or Royal Canine dry kibbles; if you have access to a pet store.
If you have access to PetSmart: consider going there. You can buy a bag and use up to half the bag. It may take a month for you to see results for the allergy food to get out of her system. If the food does not help you can return it to the store for a full refund; pending you have a receipt and half the bag is still left.
Look at the ingredient listing and consider 'lamb' since this is a meat that is rarely found to contribute to allergies.
Let me know how it works out for you

Prednisone is a steroid with tons of side effects! Only to be used as a last resort. Benadryl is a much better option than any steroids.

I have a rescue who is allergic to grass and pollen. Yes we paid for the tests - Dermacton manages the condition really well and it is all natural.

I also recommend giving your dog a fish oil capsule a day for his skin. All the other advice about diet is great and you may well work out what your dog has an allergy too without test.

In the mean while Dermacton will stop the itching, chewing, scratching - bald patches that come along with allergies.



http://www.equinat-usa.com/pages/xDERMAC...

Try a food desgined for food allergies, Wellness is a good one :
http://www.nationalpetpharmacy.com/store...
Try Clorpheniramin Tablets, they come OTC in 4mg tablets, check your vet for dosages, mine gets two a day. Realize that it will take up to two weeks for this to get fully into effect.
If these don't work, talk about short-term steroid therapy just to get the inflammation under control, then switch back to just the simple solutions food and OTC allergy medication and see if that gets it under control. My pup occationally still has flare up even with the OTC and we will get a steroid pill to use for one week, and be fine again for quite some time.
The next step after that is long term steroid therapy, which can be costly and have determentaly effects on your dog, so get the skin scraping done before this step to see WHAT she is allergic to and if you can't control it by eliminating contact with such substances.
Remember even treat have to be mointered for corn, wheat, gluten, by-products, and soy. Choose healthy treat like carrots and apples.
Also do a protein rotation, a couple months of chicken kibble, then switch to lamb, then vension, to avoid protein sensitivities.

Have you tried changing her food? A lot of dogs are allergic to the grains found in most commercial dog foods, particularly corn. Try to find a food that's grain-free. Or home cook or raw feed.

How much Benadryl are you giving her? I just had a foster puppy that was experiencing allergies so I gave him 3 ccs of children's Benadryl 2-3 times a day. No change in his condition so I took him to the vet. He told me I wasn't administering enough Benadryl and said the rule of thumb is generally 1 milligram per 1 pound of dog.

Have you considered n'zymes? It's not a miracle cure, but it does seem to be fairly effective:

http://nzymes.com/

I am sure your vet also suggested a very expensive food, which isn't that great in the long run anyway and the amount of Benedryl she wants to give looks ridiculous doesn't it? Been there done that...

So...my big dog has allergies and the only way to determine fully what they are allergic too is take them to see a doggy allergist...I haven't gotten to this stage because I was able to find the right food to stop his itching...

Commonly, dogs are found to be allergic to wheat, corn and beef (as well as other things) but these are the major foods... so looking at the ingrediant list of your dog food is super important. I feed Bear Nutro Naturals Large Breed Lamb & Rice, but they also have small bites. This food contains no by products, corn fillers, wheat and so far (2 years) Bear has been doing great with it. Our other dog, Tanner, who is perfectly "normal" eats it w/out question as well. Petco has a deal that for every 10 bags you buy of premimum food, you get every 11th bag free - which is a good deal.

I have also heard of Duck & Potato or Herring & Potato being really good for allergic dogs, but Nutro has worked so well for me, scared to change it :)

It can be really expensive to find your dog with allergies just the right food.... so start off with small bags to see how it goes and GOOD LUCK!

Hi! :)
The testing is the best idea if Benedryl isn't working. They can give your dog a shot that works really well. Also some vets will do steriod pills, every other day for allergies. Have you tried switching foods and all that? Have they given your dog a soothing shampoo like Virbac too?

My guess is you feed her dry dog food that is full of corn and other grains that cause allergies in many dogs. I would look into switching her diet (to raw or even cooked meats) before spending all that money on expensive tests that will only upset your dog.

You may need to see vet again. Benadryl didn't do anything for my dog either. The next step was a mild anti-histamine they gave us and that still didn't help. They wound up putting him on Prednizone. Good luck!

Ask your vet about Prednisone. I had a shar pei who was prone to all sorts of skin problems and prednison helped him

Try Claratin. It works well for my dog.

Food, my Lab was a mess when she was rescued, tried all high quality kibble, the worst for allergies is beef or chicken, mine is beautiful and she gets Verus white fish , potato & omega, the foods are at a speciality store and even if your dog eats 4 cups (don't know size) mine is close to 100lbs & the bad says the same thing only feed 1/2 of what they usually eat just because it is a better quality, if your dog loses weight add a bit more till you get it right Anne get 1 cup in am & 1 cup pm, also heard from some greyhound people "Flint river " is good it's on Web & they make a food with trout, Venison & rabbit kibble is also excellent I mis just a spoonful of wet good quality and I use different flavors so they don't get bored and I mix cooked carrots & string beans I cook a bunch and just add thru the week also you have to watch the treats they get , maybe 1 milk bone but if there are allergies almost everything is a problem, I do get some treat at the speciality store all the food is my private companies and you won't find them in pet shop the people that own my store are GSD trainers & nutritionists they also told me to get a couple apples & slice & core them stick them in a container & give as treats (don't worry if they turn brown, there fine), also a marrow bone from the butcher, big enough that it can't be swallowed and DO NOT cook it, give for about 1 hr a day (outside) and if some marrow is left in it put it in the fridg & give it next day, keeps them busy great for teeth & health also a carrot(mine does not like the raw carrot but some do, and don't give too much right away it's trial & error, too much of this good stuff will give them the poops, but the Lab was on death roe because she was 8+ and owners said too much money for older dog & allergies she's close to 12 now and people want to know what breeder I used (Flint River will send samples) any of their food might work because there is no fillers at all in it, my store also give samples, maybe there are stores like that near you, good luck