Can I give my cat Benadryl for itching while he's on Prednisone?

Steroids can be indicating is allergic dermatitis but have extreme side effects when used at high doses or long term. I would not recommend this as a long term course. Any steroid over time leads to a resistance where it just won't work anymore and can lead to liver problems and diabetes in cats. Prednisolone is better tolerated and seems to work better in generally in cats compared to dexamethasone. There is a medicine called Atopica or Apoquel that is made for allergic skin disease and does what the steroids do just without the side effects and resistance, so you may be better trying one of those instead. All are prescription medicines so you will have to call your vet to see if they can fill this since they already have a medical report on her. I would stay on the hypoallergenic diet as this can take 2-3 months for max affect and treats count as far as food allergy go, so make sure those are hypoallergenic or don't give any. I would consider a treatment for mange and fleas also. It is not common in cats but causes them to be itchy and it is hard to prove and super easy to just treat to be safe.

Hi, I think your cat flea allergy should settle after the steroids injection. However if your re just curious about doses for future references it would be 1 mg per pound, so for the liquid Benadryl 12.5 mg/5 ml, you probably need around 3 ml. Which does not look like a lot but it might be tricky to give to a cat ! Also you need to check the ingredients carefully to make sure nothing else is added that could be harmful to cats.

Unfortunately, coconut oil really doesn't help at all, and cats typically just lick it off away. Cats can develop flea allergies as a result of a severe infestation of fleas, and that could be causing Charlie's continuing skin problems. Make sure to give him his flea treatments monthly and disinfect the environment. Yes you can give Benadryl to cats with allergies, but I would only give it if your vet prescribed it. They will know if it's safe to give Charlie or not. You may want to have him seen by a vet though. Flea allergies can be treated with medications such as steroids, and you can speak to the vet to see if that's an option for him. If it is, the vet can prescribe them for him.

No, I don't recommend to start giving him the medication again. It may not be good anymore. Also, long term steroids are not ideal as they can cause problems in the body. There are other methods to address itching. Ideally, you would figure out the underlying cause. The four main causes of itchiness are allergies to fleas, allergies to something in the environment, food allergy or endocrine disease. Each one of these problems is detected and addressed differently and I recommend to discuss with your veterinarian which one to start hunting down first. Parasites are often ruled out with an oral medication like Comfortis. Food allergy is best ruled out with a diet trial using a hydrolyzed protein. Endocrine diseases are detected with blood work. Environmental allergies are a little more difficult to detect but a response to therapy or a blood test can give an indication. There is a drug called Atopica that is better for allergies. There is also the option of immunotherapy. Once you figure out and address the underlying cause, the itching should not come back. There are a couple things you can do at home and they can help but they may not address the underlying cause. You can try adding in an omega 3 fatty acid supplement for pets, this can help improve the skin health. You may also try changing his diet to something like Royal Canin or Nutro as they are aimed at skin health. Also protect the area from trauma by having Tucker wear an elizabethan collar at all times. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

These signs may be from the prednisolone which is a steroid. It would be better to call your vet to discuss decreasing the dose to reduce the symptoms. Benadryl does not always cause sedation and in some dogs can cause hyperexcitabilty. But, yes you can give all 3 together safely. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. I've not had much success using topical benadryl to relieve itching in dogs or cats. I recommend using malacetic conditioning spray. You can find this online quite easily. If that does not help, I would suggest having a vet take a look at saber as there are prescription options that will help more than the spray. If you are not using a flea preventative I would consider starting this as well. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is likely due to allergies. Benadryl is good as is prednisolone for example. However, these are only going to help with the itch temporarily. However, it is crucial to get rid of the allergic component and treat the allergy as if not, the itch will continue. Also, it is crucial to treat the likely secondary infection. There is no at home treatments as the other medication that can be used in cats for this is a prescription medication called prednisolone. One thing you can do at home besides dealing with the possible allergies is using an e-collar which you can get from your local pet store or online to prevent any further self-trauma. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!