Dog allergies?

[Scooter]

I searched but didn't see much on environmental allergies.

We took our dog to the mountains this weekend, and by the time we got back her eyes were all runny. I figured it was a reaction to the pollen in the trees up there. This is now the 4th day that she's been like this. One eye is worse than the other, but they're both goopy and a little red. She's been rubbing her head a little with her paws, too, like her sinuses are bothering her.

I called the vet and they said it may be allergies but she may have an ulcer. To me, it would be a huge coincidence to have an ulcer that suddenly produced symptoms the same day she was exposed to new pollens. Especially in both eyes. We're going to give her 2 more days to see if the allergies clear up before we take her in to check for an ulcer.

Has anyone experienced this before? What was the problem? What helped? I was thinking of trying Benedryl to see if it had any effect. :confused:

[maxandmolly]

My vet told me Benadryl was fine to give my 40something pound Beagle mix. You would probably want to start with a half dose, though. They're not the easiest pills to split, but it can be done.

[vancouvergirl]

poor puppy! you could keep acupunture in the back of your mind in case you reach the point where nothing seems to be working. i took my shepard to the acupunturist for hip problems and it helped so much and so quickly, it was amazing. good luck.

[Scooter]

Thanks for the replies!

Max&Molly, did you just use regular OTC Benedryl pills? I was wondering if they made it in liquid form for kids or something, but maybe a pill would be easier? I guess I'll have to call the vet again to double check the dosage. Your dog's only a little smaller than ours, because she's just about 50lbs even, so maybe a 1/2 pill will be a good starting point.

Vancouvergirl, It looks like our puppy (well, 15mos) will be developing arthritis in her hips later, according to her x-rays. So I'll have to keep the accupuncture in mind for that, too! ;) Gald to hear you had success with it.

[ee_chick]

Mine have allergies, and when they flare up I give them Benadryl. Ask your vet for the specific dosing.

[maxandmolly]

What I found that worked best with her (she now lives with her grandma & grandpa, but I have Max & Molly benadryl for their allergies as well) was/is regular, generic, grocery store brand benadryl. I would stay away from the liquid-too much room for error, and you may not know how much she did or didn't get, but a pill, either it went down or it didn't. The pills are fairly small, cut in half even smaller. And does you dog like cheese (Maggie & Rusty LOVE it)? If she likes cheese, and isn't used to avoiding pills, she should gobble up a little square of cheese with the pill shoved in the middle without even noticing it.

[jesvet]

Dosing is about 1 mg per pound.

[maxandmolly]

A normal adult dose (per the bottle in my cabinet) is 50mg.
I gave half pills to the cats, though. Or tried, at least. It didn't go too well. We ended up with pink tinged foam in several places around the apartment. I felt like a horrendous mommy.

[Chile]

We give our male Benadryl when his allergies act up (which is about 2-3 days after mine act up). I just hide them on a spoon with peanut butter and he gobbles it right up. It really helps with his sneezing, snarfing and licking his paws. They also have shots but those weren't helpful for him at all.

[Scooter]

Thanks to everyone for the advice!

I called my vet to double check the dosage, and they said to start with a 25mg tab (50lb dog) and see how that works out before giving her more.

It worked wonders, her eyes stopped leaking goop for the rest of the day! And today they've been more watery than than sticky gunk, so maybe her system's clearing itself out better. I'm going to give her another dose this evening. The only problem is the side effect--she got super sleepy. She was passed out on the couch for hours last night, so I don't want to give it to her all the time. But I was so happy to see her feeling better. :D

She kept spitting it out when I hid it on the cheese, so I think I'll try the peanut butter today & see if itworks any better.

[Jenessa]

Wow! This is certainly an interesting topic. My dog has allergies too, but I never knew that I could give him Benadryl. My dog is at least 20 lbs so does that mean that I would have to give him 1/4 of a pill? Can you picture me trying to split the pill into 1/4? lol.

[Scooter]

I was able to buy 25mg tablets at the drugstore. I gave her a 1/2 today to see if that helped enough or if she really needs the full 25mg dosage. They weren't difficult to cut in half either--they just split easily without breaking all apart like some do. (I don't have a pill cutter so I just used a knife.)


Oh--and the peanut butter worked like a charm, much easier than hiding it in the cheese. ;)

[Smurfy]

Hi, I'm new here.
Glad to hear your dog is improving!

[whitlockan]

My dogs eye started out runny then over a course of a few days turned goopy. So eventually we took him to the vet and it turned out that he had Pink Eye, so they treated it and would you know I had to take him back to the vet yesterday morning because when I woke up his eye was goopy and crusted shut. The vet said the infection is gone and most likely our dog is suffering from allergies. So he gave us eye drops that we administer twice daily as well as an antihistamine that we administer twice daily as well. I'm hoping this clears things up because his eye is just nasty and its making for a very unhappy dog.