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My dog has flea allergy itching. Will Benadryl work & how to treat fleas?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Border Collie | Female | unspayed | 1 year and 6 months old | 35 lbs

My dog has a flea allergy. She was originally prescribed prednisone. Right now she doesn’t have a vet because we relocated and my local vet isn’t taking new patients. I’m just curious if I can give her Benadryl at night for it until we exterminate the fleas. She is a border collie/ Australian Shepherd weighting approx 35 pounds. She’s got medium length hair, do you think it would help if I shaved her? She’s ripping her hair out.

4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Andrea M. Brodie, DVM

Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on November 24th, 2018

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
Vote Icon1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

  • Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

    Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

    Published on January 6th, 2019

    Poor Nova! This looks like a pretty severe skin problem. Skin mites (mange) are one possibility, but this could also be caused by allergies, fleas, or a bacterial or fungal skin infection.

    Treatment will depend on what the underlying problem is, so I would recommend taking her to the vet for an exam as soon as you are able to. He/she can do some simple skin tests to help diagnose the problem and prescribe appropriate medication to treat it depending on what is found.

    In the meantime, you could try bathing her in an aloe and oatmeal dog shampoo to help soothe her skin and temporarily relieve some of the itching. This will not treat the underlying problem, but may help to make her a bit more comfortable until you're able to see the vet.

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    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

  • Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on October 21st, 2017

    Poor Nova! You've done the right thing by treating your whole house, yard, and her. I would have her seen by a vet. She will need medications such as anti-histamines or possibly steroids to treat this reaction. The vet will decide which medication is best and safest to use on her. Until you can get her into a vet, I recommend giving her an oatmeal bath as that may give her temporary relief from her itching. I hope this helps!

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    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

  • Answered By Vanessa Yeager DVM MPH

    Veterinarian

    Published on August 7th, 2018

    Hi and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

    You can give her a flea bath, bathe her with dawn dish soap, or use a product called Capstar to take care of the adult fleas and provide some immediate relief. I would then use a flea preventative product such as Advantage II or Advantix once monthly which will help take care of the entire life cycle of the flea including larvae and eggs and will help prevent a re-infestation.

    I hope this helps!

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    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. This still may be a skin allergy but Benadryl sometimes does not work. I would recommend using a shampoo such as Douxo PS Chlorhexidine combination shampoo and bathe twice weekly until resolve. I would also recommend using products such as welactin omega 3 fish oil, essential 6 spot on by dermoscent and malacetic conditioning spray. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. All of these product recommendations can be found online. If the problem becomes worse, I would recommend having your veterinarian examine Sofie.
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