Is Benadryl safe for my 80lb Golden Retriever's severe itching?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Yes. Benedryl can be safely used in conjunction with apoquel. But please give her vet a call to discuss her medications- they may want to increase her apoquel dose or switch to a different medication if it isn’t effective currently.

Try to get a Capstar or Comfortis tablet in your local pet shop. This will kill all the fleas that are on her. I doubt Benadryl is strong enough to alleviate the itching. You can also try to bathe her with an anti-itch shampoo. Another alternative is to take her to a pet ER or an out of hours vet near you for an exam and an injection that will make her stop itching. As for fleas, here is how to get rid of them: Unfortunately fleas only hop on the body of your pet when they want to feed, then they hop off again and stay in your pet's environment. So you need to treat all pets in the household as well as the environment (which contains the fleas, their eggs and larvae). Flea treatment:  1) Get some flea medication such as a Flea spray or a spot on from a pet shop or your veterinarian and apply monthly 2) get flea powder, put some in your vacuum cleaner bag and vacuum your house and furniture and also non-carpeted areas frequently to remove flea larvae and eggs which live off house dust., Dispose of the bag in the trash outside. Hot-wash all the pet's bedding, If you do this diligently for a few months you will get rid of the fleas. Flea products: Spot-ons and/or chews Advantage, Advantix Advantage Multi (Advocate in the UK) Frontline (ticks as well) Bravecto spot on (ticks as well) - for cats, in tablet form for dogs Simparica, Nexgard Revolution (stronghold in the UK) Tablets: comfortis (will only kill fleas once) Collar: Seresto (ticks as well) House spray: Indorex

Yes, you can do that as it has been almost 6 hours since her dose of chlorpheniramine. You don't want to dose them any closer together than that. If she is really 134 pounds she will need quite a large dose of Benadryl. The dose is 1-2 mg/# so essentially she needs at least 134mg. It comes in 25mg capsules. So, I suggest you give her 150mg or 6 capsules. People always balk at this but dogs take a much higher dose than humans due to the way they metabolize it so yes, I really did say 6 capsules. Hope this helps. Please post again if you have more questions. Take care!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This could certainly be allergies. In reality, Benadryl probably would not help much in this case. Medications to decrease the itch that could help him include prednisone or a medication called Apoquel. The possible secondary infection would have to be treated as well. 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!

Benadryl can be used to help with environmental allergens. However if the itching continues even with home care, or you see signs of redness/irritation that do no resolve, having a vet take a look is a good idea to rule out any skin infections or check for allergies that may need different medications/treatment.

Benadryl (diphenhydramine) is often given as a pre-treatment prior to giving treatment for heartworm disease to prevent a reaction, so there aren't any specific counterindications to using it in a dog with heartworm disease. However, if your dog is still itchy 24 hours after getting a vaccine, I would fear a worsening reaction, and I would recommend taking him in for a dose of a stronger medication - a steroid - which will definitively work and stop any reaction, as well as the itchiness. I find that Benadryl (used orally) is rarely very effective at stopping itchiness in dogs.

You could try benadryl but in such a severe case it is unlikely to be effective and will delay appropriate diagnosis and treatment. I would recommend a full physical exam and skin scraping to rule out mites and infections also