Cat with allergies

[KarenS]

Our poor cat is suffering from horrible allergies. She's always been sneezy and kind of mildly congested, but this fall pollen season is really getting to her for some reason. And lately we've been trying to keep the windows open more, which doesn't help. She's been excessively wheezy, sneezy, and congested the last few days.

I remember in college I had a cat who had similar allergies and my vet recommended giving her benadryl, which (IIRC) worked really well. But it's been long enough that I don't remember the dose. Anyone have any idea what the correct dose of benadryl is for an 8 lb cat?

I will, of course, call the vet on Monday and get her advice, but this really doesn't qualify as an emergency, so I won't get an answer over the weekend and Domino really is miserable right now.

Thanks!

Karen

[WestieMomma]

I found this info on www.petplace.com

In cats, diphenhydramine is dosed at 0.25 to 0.5 mg per pound (0.5 to 1 mg/kg) PO every 12 hours but it has a bitter taste. It is also dosed at 0.5 to 1 mg per pound (1 to 2 mg/kg) IM every 12 hours

How Diphenhydramine Is Supplied


Diphenhydramine is available in 12.5 mg, 25 mg and 50 mg tablets.

It is also available as a 12.5 mg/ml suspension.

Injectable diphenhydramine is available in 10 mg/ml and 50 mg/ml concentrations.

[KarenS]

Oh excellent! Thank you. I can start with the smallest dose - 2mg or so, or about 1/4 of a pill.

Karen

[Delaney21]

One of my cats has spring time allergies, so I know what you are going through. I always feel so bad for him, but I didn't know I could give him Benadryl. I will definitely have to keep that in mind for next year.

[KarenS]

Yeah .. normally I'm not a big advocate of self-prescription (is it still self if you're prescribing for your pet? :)) but since I've given it to a cat before, I'm ok with it. I just remember my other cat used to (grossness warning) sneeze and blow huge chunks of snot everywhere ... and the benadryl really helped him. So I'm hoping that it'll help Domino too! :)

Kraen

[southerner]

My poor kitty has been sneezing a lot worse this spring than ever before and has had watery eyes. I want to try to help him feel better.

Dumb question :o I'm willing to give him Benadryl, so do I buy the regular people kind? Non drowsy? Anyone know what dosage I shuld give him? Should I start small to see if that helps, then increase it?

I'm going to have one hell of a time getting him to take the pill, but that's another thread.

[southerner]

Another dumb question :o

Do cat allergies work like people allergies in that the higher amount of pollen in the air, the worse their allergies are? I don't remember his ever being this bad before :(

[Katy]

I think they do. I know when my allergies are bad, so are the cat's allergies. He gets water eyes and a bit sneezy, but not enough for me to worry about. Our dog on the other hand also has allergies and him I give the Benadryl and the Chlor-something depending on the allergen.

I'm sure the vets will weigh in and offer up some dosage suggestions (Griff gets half a "normal" pill - but he's 30 pounds)

[jesvet]

Another dumb question :o

Do cat allergies work like people allergies in that the higher amount of pollen in the air, the worse their allergies are? I don't remember his ever being this bad before :(

Not dumb. Environmental allergies are pretty similar in that yes, they do worsen when the pollen load is bad.

Benadryl dose is about 12.5 mg per cat, every 8-12 hours. This translates into 1/2 of a human tab, or 1 tsp (5 ml) of liquid children's benadryl. Just make sure it is diphenhydramine only, no extra sudafed or anything.

[kam]

And if you're looking for the packaging - it's just the plain old pink pill. We give Ally half a pill once in a while when her allergies are bad.

[southerner]

Thanks for the replies, y'all! Now, I need to just get over my unwarranted paranoia of giving him human meds :o

I'll just keep telling myself how much better he's going to feel as we go through our ordeal to get him to take it :rolleyes:

[jesvet]

Southerner- if the liquid isn't easy to give, and you have trouble with the pills, you can look for a pill gun (http://www.healthypets.com/pillgun.html) or pill pockets (http://www.pillpockets.com/index_fs.htm).

[akacharlotte]

We use a pill gun which can be difficult. FH holds the cat and then I give him the pill. He squirms etc and it usually takes 2 or 3 tries to get it down his throat.

We were fine all winter and now that spring is here and we have the windows open again our cat is sneezing. Unfortunately, he often sneezes blood due to the force of his sneezes and having dry nasal passages. The vet gave us some pills which help but at his next appointment I'm going to see if she can give him a shot. My parent's vet did this for their cat and it would be so much less traumatizing than giving him a pill. He really hates it and I feel awful having to restrain him while we give him his medicine.

[May27JnJ]

I'm glad this thread was bumped up! I didn't even think that my dogs snot filled nose is probably allergies. Duh! I'm a bad momma! :o