OTC help for allergies

Hello,  I have a shih tzu who suffers from allergies.  I am usually able to control his allergies with a special diet and pest control.  He has seen his vet for hot spots due to flea bites on a few occassions and received short term medications.  This past week my boy started itching in vaious spots on his body.  During a bath, I found two fleas on him and removed the fleas and treated him with his between the shoulders medication.  I also applied cream on his red spots (they were not bad spots but still irritated) from his itching.  He is still having some problems with the itching.  He is clipped short and has a white coat so I am positive that I have removed all the pests.  I bathe him in oatmeal puppy shampoo to try and calm him and continue to apply ointment to any problem areas I find.  This has helped him greatly but he still continues to scratch.  I was wondering if there is some type of OTC allergy medication I can give him to help him get past this outbreak.  He normally weighs in at 14 pounds.  

TIA for any help you can provide us.
Michelle

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

Flea allergy dermatitis should really be a thing of the past  if you are using a reliable topical anti-flea and tick medication.  Obviously, what you are using is weak and ineffective, or you are not placing it on frequently enough.  If Frontline and Revolution are ineffective in controlling the fleas,  than try K-9 Advantix,or Vectra, or other newer product, (prescription is better, since they are newest and the flea's have not yet developed resistance).  No over the counter antihistamine or other medication works as well as steroids or Atopica does for flea allergy dermatitis, but a 12.5mg dose of Benadryl three times per day may cause you dog to be too drowsy to scratch.

Flea allergy dermatitis can be well controlled with desensitization therapy (allergy shots to flea), but this is obviously not over the counter.  The herbal remedy, Nettles tincture is available at some health food stores and online,  and is sometimes effective for itching.  You would use 1/4 adult human dose.

[Gellia]

Hi,

My dog has always suffered from terrible allergies.  She breaks out in massive hives and will scratch herself raw.  

We have had her off and on cortisone, but I always try benadryl first.  She is a 70 pound shepherd and my vet has had me give her as many as two at a time.  They do make her sleepy, so I try to reserve them for the evening hours so she sleeps better.

I'm not sure what the dosage would be for a 14pound dog, but a call to your vet for dosage and his/her thoughts would be warranted.

Hope this helps!
Best to you and your pooch,
Gellia

[Misfits4Me]

The dose for Benedryl is 1mg. per lb. every 8hrs. It does help with seasonal allergies. I would start with every 12 hrs.  Good luck...I hate allergy season......Karla