The vet thinks that one of our dogs has seasonal allergies. She chews on her legs until she has sores and no hair left. She only does this in the spring - summer months. He says we can come in and get her a shot of cortizone to help. He also said we could try benedryl (over the counter adult formula) at 100 mil. per dose 4 times a day. He said the benedryl might not work

Could I get your thoughts on this?

I have seen and dealt with alot of dogs and allergies - unfortunately they are common- If you believe the dog has seasonal allergies then you have a leg up because you can start the control before it happens- Benadryl can work but it may make the dog very sleepy and the dose your vet gave was very high unless you have a 200 lb dog- Usually I would say 1 lb 1 mg so a 100 lb dog could 100mg of Benadryl 2x a day. If the Bendaryl does not work there are other antihistamines that may do the trick and I would talk to your vet about them- You should be able to purchase the Benadryl or any meds from your vet- it would be extremely expensive for you to buy human Benadryl do give to a dog. They are the same meds but lower doses and very expensive-

If meds do not work then you can find a dematologist who can do an allergy test and put the dog on allergy shots- they are also expensive but well worth it cause they "cure" the dog of the allergies.

On top of all of this make sure the dog is free from fleas and has enough fats in her diet for a good coat. I hear that BARF diet works wonders for allergies but you can also try a very high quality dryfood.

Good luck to you-

My vet gave me a list and the dosages for several human antihistamines and allergy meds that can be used on dogs. Most of them you can get at WalMart or a big chain drugstore and at this time of year they come on sale alot, also it's cheaper to get the generic or store-brand version. My vet suggested this as the cheapest route. I am trying to find the list (my house ate it!) and will post it here or E-Mail it to you. Another vet vacuumed a couple hundred out of my pockets for steroids, anti-inflamatories,etc plus the hassle of fish and rice diet etc for a "allergy problem" and I then found out it was mange and cleared it up with a couple of bucks worth of ivomec! But that is another story....

I've noticed that my female get sort of an acne on her chin in the spring. She also sneezes a lot when the pollen starts to come out. My vet suggested giving her Reactine. I give her half a tablet 2X day. The nice thing about it is that its non-drowsy. It seems to work for her. I would talk about it with your vet before trying it though.

Good Luck

This thread is where you BARFer's should have a field day.

Well we're pretty sure it's not the food, so BARFers don't get too excited. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> This only seems to bother her in the warmer months and we don't change her diet from summer to winter. She doesn't sneeze just licking & chewing her legs & feet. It seems to be more of a skin allergy coming from walking in the weeds, it only effects her legs & feet.

I might have written my vet's recommendations on dosage down wrong. (I'll recheck that with him, thanks GSDSAR)

tiggy(2) it would be great if you find the list, you can e-mail it to me at vinnie_norberg@yahoo.com or PM it to me here. Thanks!!

Thanks for the imput everyone. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'd like to see recommendations for nasal allergies also. I've got one that also has summer sinus/nasal problems.

I work with a lady whose Westie has very bad contact allergies. Grass, aspen & oak leaves, dust, and a few others I can't remember. They tried pills but it got to be too difficult. The dog has a very thin coat and his legs are all pink and scabby looking during the summer. Before they got it somewhat under control with shots his legs and feet were acually bleeding and he lost much of his hair. He will have to have the shots for the rest of his life, his allergies are that bad.

The owner also owns this dogs full brother (younger by 2 years) and he has no problems at all and enough hair for both of them.