Antihistamines for dogs

broganire

I'm pretty sure my dog is getting an allergic reaction to tick bites. We live in the country and even using frontline regularly he still gets 1 or 2 a summer and then starts itching like crazy. I've read online about giving him piriton or zertek as a solution. Has anybody else given their dogs human antihistamines before?

old_aussie

Yes, Ive given the dog human antihistamines before.

Dog had a reaction to a weed in the backyard and they worked well in relieving the itching.

The skin was less agrivated from the less scratching and the recovery was much quicker.

Giving the dog human antihistamines was the advice from the vet.

Spitfire_24

My collie suffers from skin allergies during the summer so the vet advised me to try her on antihistamines for awhile. We tried half a piriton tablet twice a day (the liquid is an unlicensed medicine so difficult and expensive to get in Ireland) which helped a little at the start but wasn't great so the vet switched her to half a ucerax tablet daily (prescription only). So, yes, dogs can take antihistamines but best advice would be see your vet so they can prescribe the correct one at the correct dosage calculated on your dogs weight. Hope that helps!

broganire

Thanks guys, the vet usually prescribes huge doses of steroids for my dog. But I'd like to try something antihistamines instead, he'll be getting his annual shots later in the week I'll ask the vet then.

aonb

Ive tried half a Piriton on 1 of my dogs on vets advice too - he had an itch/skin allergy - cant say it had any effect, but I know someone whose dog gets great relief from antihistamines... since you are visiting your vet anyway, talk to him then. As you are concerned about your vet always (?) prescribing steroids - is this for the tick allergy? - maybe you should have a discussion with him on the subject?

Not to drag the thread off-topic, but are vets prescribing steroids like GPs are prescribing anti-biotics - a cure-all for everything??

tk123

You can give Zirtek/Cetrine too. I find if I take pirotin it knocks me out so prefer to give Zirtek... Also I take Zirtek (well the generic I get online...that's made in Ireland but 1/10th of the price form the UK!!!! :mad:) everyday so I always have it 'in stock' unlike the pirotin where it'd go out of date before I'd use it all for the dogs.

Another thing you could try is a natural repellant? I've started giving a Luposan one from zooplus - i find their joint pellets brilliant so decided to try a tub of this . Now my dogs have **touchwood** never had fleas or ticks but I don't use spot-ons so figured I'd nothing to lose!! It's meant to improve their coat and cut down on odour too which would be a bonus... Lucy can be a bit whiffy at times!! It smells like stock/bouillon lol!

broganire

Aonb, In fairness to my current vet, I've brought my dog to a few vets and they've all prescribed large doses of steroids and its defiantly something I'm a bit worried about. But my thinking was if I saw my dog start itching that maybe an antihistamine for a few days might help relieve the reaction.

tk123, I'll look up Luposan one. I'm willing to try anything.

tk123

Does he have certain areas where he scratches - if so another thing to try is Cortopin cream which you'll get OTC at any chemist.

maggiepip

aonb wrote: »

Ive tried half a Piriton on 1 of my dogs on vets advice too - he had an itch/skin allergy - cant say it had any effect, but I know someone whose dog gets great relief from antihistamines... since you are visiting your vet anyway, talk to him then. As you are concerned about your vet always (?) prescribing steroids - is this for the tick allergy? - maybe you should have a discussion with him on the subject?

Not to drag the thread off-topic, but are vets prescribing steroids like GPs are prescribing anti-biotics - a cure-all for everything??

My experience is that vets rush into prescribing steroids for itchy skin too quick. The cause of the itching needs to be found. My dog was put on steroids years ago for itchy skin and when he came off them the itching just came back even worse. Steroids are really only treating the symptom and are very severe on a dogs system. Diet changes and using supplements basically cured my dog of itching. There is of course times when using steroids is unavoidable, but as much as possible I try to avoid them.

Spitfire_24

My dog was also started on steroids by our vet. He wanted me to keep her on them long term (over 6months of the year) which I wasn't particularly happy about. I started using kelp as a supplement in her food and I noticed a huge improvement. She's been on it about 10months now and this spring/summer is the first summer that she hasn't licked her paws bald! She is no longer on steroids and I only give her antihistamines if the pollen count is particularly high (we've had her allergy tested, shes allergic to certain grass pollens). Definitely think kelp is great for skin health. There's a few different brands available but I've been using a one produced by a small cork based company called Seahorse Atlantic.

broganire

Thanks everyone, I've started using antihistamines as of last night, hopefully it will ease the itching and prevent the need for steroids.
Spitfire_24, is the sprinkles that you use? I currently add salmon oil to his food, but I could easily change it to kelp. and fingers crossed it helps!

Spitfire_24

Yup, it's a kelp powder and you just shake a little over the food depending on your dogs weight. It's all on the packet hope that helps!