My dog ate 50 Claritin pills. Is this an emergency? What to do?

While a pill or two may not cause any harm other than increased drowsiness, if your dog got into a large or unknown amount it is best to seek veterinary care immediately or contact your local Animal Poison Control (if you are in the US you can call 888-426-4435 however there is a fee to use this service). They can provide treatment or let you know if the dose ingested is harmful. You may see signs like extreme drowsiness, or paradoxical reactions such as an increase in activity such as drooling, vomiting, etc. If you are seeing these signs, seek care immediately.

Oh no, Toffee! First of all, determine if Toffee ingested Claritin (loratadine alone) or Claritin-D (loratadine with pseudoephedrine). If she consumed Claritin-D, she should go to the vet immediately so that vomiting can be induced and so that she can be monitored, as this can cause significant heart rate elevations and neurologic signs. Also closely read the packaging material to assure that xylitol is not present in this particular tablet. It is used in some tablet forms of loratadine and is a bigger concern than the loratadine itself, as it is highly toxic to dogs (liver damage, low blood sugar, etc.). If you are unsure if xylitol is present, I recommend calling the company on the packaging or the ASPCA animal poison control center (888-426-4435). If xylitol is present, she will need to go the vet immediately to have vomiting induced and supportive therapy started. After ruling out ingestion of a pseudoephedrine-containg product and the absence of xylitol, there are likely no major concerns about ingesting 1 tablet of loratadine. There is a chance that Toffee may exhibit slightly excitable behavior, but if she seems overly agitated, you may need to take her to the vet for supportive medications. I hope that all goes well!

Hello, Thanks for the good photograph. Children's claritin, or Loratidine 5mg tablets are often prescribed to dogs and mild overdoses are generally not serious. Moderate to severe overdoses have resulted in pets requiring hospitalization and supportive care (like IV fluids) but none have had long term serious effects or died from it. Kingsley's prescribed dose would be one tablet per day. It looks like that is all he consumed from this photo. If he consumed more than that, please monitor him closely over the next 24 hours and take him to a veterinarian if he begins to display any changes in behavior, lethargy, or vomiting. The ASPCA Poison control line may be able to give more specific information if he ingested a large amount. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck to you and Kingsley.

You didn't state what mg each Claritin was; however in a worse case scenario they were 10mg each, so Scooby consumed 100mg of Claritin, this is 1.8mg/kg dosage. And there is a wide range of safety with this medication. At 0.25mg/kg can cause clinical signs such as tachycardia, vomiting and lethargy. And doses as high as 72mg/kg were even tolerated without serious effects or death. Since Scooby only consumed 1.8mg/kg he should be fine. The effects of the drug can begin 30 minutes after ingestion and can last up to 2 days. Just continue monitor him for the next 12-24 hrs until the drug is completely excreted out of his body. If you notice any concerning symptoms then a vet visit is recommended to have him evaluated. However, he should be fine based on this dosage, because he is a large dog and can tolerate a lot more of this medication that smaller dogs can. Best wishes with Scooby and I hope everything works out well for him. Take care.

Oh no! So this dose is over twice the recommended dose for a dog her weight. Unfortunately, the lethal dose for oral diphenhydramine (Benadryl) in dogs has not been studied, but it's believed the minimum needed could be as few as four tablets according to a study published in 2014 in the Canadian Veterinary Journal. It would be best for you to take your dog into the vet now to have vomiting induced. While it is only two tablets, because the lethal dose hasn't been determined, it's better to be safe than sorry. I would find a vet on call to see her now, or take her into an ER vet.

I'm so sorry that Moet is having this problem. We most commonly see some GI upset (vomiting or diarrhea) and/or sedation with overdoses of Loratidine, but we also have a form of Loratidine that also has a decongestant in it (pseudoephedrine) which is VERY toxic to dogs. If the pills contained anything other than loraditine, please try to get Moet veterinary care immediately. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Desloratidine is an antihistamine or allergy medication. It is typically safe for dogs, especially at such a low dose. However, other contents of the pill may be harmful and can cause sedation or other aide effects. I hope this helps and am happy to answer any questions you have!