american bulldog with allergies

I have a 80lb american bulldog that has severe seasonal allergies. Our vet told us to give her benadryl for the itching and watery eyes. Well, for the life of me i cannot remember the dosage. It is sunday and our vet is closed. She is very miserable and i just gave her 1 this morning. Could someone please help me! Thank you so much!

[Heather5]

I have a dog with pollen allergies too. She's 65 pounds, and I give her one tablet three times a day (approved by her vet). I think you can give her up to two at the time, but not sure...so maybe just stick to one at a time for now until you can call your vet tomorrow.

By the way, she gets her pills in a little piece of hot dog and looooves it!

[ddeiman]

I work for a vet dermatologist and a dog that size can take benadryl 50mg three times a day. The over the counter benadryl or diphenhydramine is usually 25 mg but check the label. So you'd be giving 2 3 x's a day. What symptoms are showing?  Try a tepid bath to get any pollens off of her. There are other antihistimines to try if benadryl doesn't help but you can't give them together. Chlorpheniramine 4mg twice a day or clemastine 2.68mg twice a day. Make sure when buying over the counter DO NOT get any that have a decogestant in it, dogs cannot metabolize that. Any ?'s please post me a note on my profile. Good luck!

[heartfluttersflyawayplz]

i have a question am getting a 8 week old shihztu what can you bath them in, that wont hurt their skin, my last baby was a shihztu and had really bad skin problems , i want to avoid all of that if i can , like food to feed even treats i just cant go through that again . thanks. Barbara

[mercyone]

I think it is one mg per pound of dog - and yes three times a day works. Good luck. Seasonal allergies are difficult - also keep your dog paws away from grass, or wash your dog's feet off with a wash cloth after he goes out in the grass - that helps. I had a dog with allergies and I gave her antihistamine tablets and also kept her away from grass - as her allergies would get worse when she palyed outside.

Mercy

[Spwebbunc]

I have a 5 and half yrs old Female American Bulldog. I have been battling skin and allergies issues since she was 1.  I have tried the benadryl, prednisone, other antibiotics and she has been on the injections for almost 2 years now. Nothing seems to tame the issues down. She can have foot issues, skin rashes, face/nose brake outs, hives that can be in small area's or extremely large and all over her body. Spring and fall are the worst. Her test came back that she is pretty much allergic to everything in some way but insects and humans. She has been on so many different meds and nothing seems to help. She loves to go on walks and play ball in the back yard but it seems like every time she comes back in she starts to scratch. Even if we wash her off. She can break out in to rather large hives all over her body and it just looks terrible. She also came down with spindel cell croma this past Christmas. So far the watch and wait has been good. It hasn't shown signs of returning. We didn't do the radiation treatment due to her reaction to the removal of the tumor, she had a skin reaction on her paw around the site and under her paw. I could wright a book on all the reactions she has had. She is the most sweetest bulldog and takes all of this mess well, though I think it drives me crazy for what I have to put her through. I am at my ropes end in what to do. If any one has any thoughts, on a better medication, herbal remedies etc I am open to it. Her name is Piper and is really a gentle giant and big part of my family. Thanks in advance for any and all help.
Stacey

[Red931]

Hello Stacey,

  I have English Bullies and they have the skin problems also. I have done everything that you have done but I don't give them Prednisone anymore. It is too hard on the liver.

This is what I do and it keeps the situation under control very well.

They get Benedryl but only when they start to scratch around their face to often. If they do that too long they get infections.

They get weekly Epsom Salt baths. This really helps the problems with the paws but you have to make sure they don't drink the water because it has a laxitive effect.

They also get a regular bath every two weeks with a shampoo called Malaseb. You can get it from your Vet or Petmeds.com. I have found that this shampoo works the best for my bullies.

I hope this helps.

Good luck.

[Red931]

I neglected to mention that I use the Dye-Free Benadryl 25 mg. one in the morning and another at night.

[Ghilly]

Something to keep in mind, when giving your dogs ANY meds, be they dog meds or human meds, based on suggestions from people here, is to take everything under consideration, and then discuss it with your vet before administering those meds.  Suggesting to someone that, for example, giving their pet benadryl for allergies will help is just a helpful suggestion.  Actually giving them dosages and schedules based on that dog's specific weight is getting into the touchy area of actually prescribing the medication.  In the event that the animal has an adverse reaction to the medication, you might be putting yourself into the dicey situation of practicing veterinary medicine without a license.  If a poster has specific questions about dosages, they should contact either their own vet or they can visit MedHelp's "Ask A Vet" forum where Dr. Cheng will be able to help them.  Just sayin'...

Ghilly

[Red931]

I agree with you 100%. My bullies weigh 50lbs. and I always give them the low end of anything (such as Benadryl) to be safe unless the Vet prescribes different. Even when the Vet does prescribe a medication, if I am not familiar with it I check it out before they get it.

Everyone should check with their Vet before giving any medication to their dog as their Vet knows more about their conditions then we do.

Speaking of allergies...let me go as Bella is attempting to treat her feet as if they are her lunch. I have to catch her when I can.

[Spwebbunc]

Thanks for the advise I will try the Epsom Salt baths and see what that does. Yeah I took her off the Prednisone she got all of the side effects and the worst was her having to go number 1 a lot and she started going while she was asleep. I had her tested and the vet told me she was fine it was the Prednisone and a side effect also with her age and her being fixed that she can't always feel it when she is that full and in a deep sleep. So we are off of that. I hate having to give her so many meds. I will try the Epsom slat bath and see how that works and keep you posted.
thanks again and your bullies are too cute. Piper is also white and red. I am new to this site so I will have to upload some photos and share.

thank you!

[Red931]

The Epsom Salt Baths work well for my little terrors. If you can get her to stay in for 20 minutes that is optimal. The least would be 10 minutes. Please remember to rinse her feet when done and dry because if she licks them (Like Bella Does) she may have to make a trip to the bathroom.

The one that doesn't really need them as much will sit in there all day and the other one I have to treat like a barricaded suspect to get her in the tub. lol  Once she is inside she complies though.

We are all looking foward to your pictures

[bigpeepee]

lamb and rice!!!! lamb rice!!! it makes for many many stinky deadly farts, but helps much. my wife and i have now, an almost 6 month old American Bulldog pup. his farts stunk like mad, but we changed his food to regular puppy food. that cured that, but then it was scratching all of the time. he was scratching to no end. drawing blood and nasty scabs, wounds in his arm pits and at the root of his whiskers. we got him back on lamb and rice formula, and give him a benedryl before bed time. he seems to be doing much better, but his farts are worse than a chemical warhead. lol. i guess we will just have to deal with that "hang-over fart" smell, being it is much better than him hurting himself. if anyone has question about the benedryl dosage, our vet told us simply. 1 mg per pound and  to give that dosage once per 12 hours max. most times benedryl comes in pills dosed at 25mg each. make sure to read the bottle and consult your pricey vet first, before giving your dog any meds. anyone with any helpful health tips about American Bulldogs please share your acquired knowledge with us. Thanks.

[TJP26]

hello every one i have an american bulldog mix with an austrelan cattel dog  his name is bounty i just saved him from the s.p.c.a iv had him for two weeks now and he is itching like crazy on the back of his neck and on the back of his tail he has itched so bad he has cased sores that scab and then he scratches and then where bloody he also has bumpy spots on his belly witch those dont seam to bother him the vet said benadryl 1to2 tablets every 8 to 12 hrs a day well this is not working iv tried dial witch one first aid book said to do for bacteria witch didnt work i got oatmeal shampoo but i am scared to use it i am going to try ep salt witch was told to stacy i have changed his diet to lame and rice and i make him chicken and rice some times as a treat im going crazy and i hate seeing him like this and money is scares right now and i cant get him into the vet i called and they refused to help me over the phone !!! please help any one!! we also live kinda in the woods and he likes to rub on stuff i try to keep him  away but he wins some times he strong !! i saw him try to eat his feet once !

[ablover]

Our AB has serious food allergies... We dealt with skin rashes and massive breakouts all over her body. We found that she is extremely allergic to ALL poultry! Chicken, Turkey, Duck...
She is also allergic to grains. Try changing the diet to a Grain Free non poultry diet. Hope this helps :)

[Sastastic]

I just adopted a 7 year old Male American Bulldog. He has horrible horrible gas and allergies. His paws are raw and he itches and scratches constantly. After a month of trying to figure out remedies and speaking with countless people, I have finally switched him to a grain free-chicken free dry dog food and it seems to have helped with all his gas. It's called Nature's Domain and you can only buy it at Costco. It is $27 for a 35lbs bag and they have Turkey and Sweet Potato or Salmon and Sweet Potato. I am hoping it will help with his allergies too. I have given him a flea treatment and will use benedryl to see if we can get the itching under control. He is my 80lb baby. I highly recommend going to http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com when you research new dog foods and get involved with the comments on the brands you are considering. Everyone has been super helpful and I have learned a lot.

[Coco_the_bulldog]

We have a beautiful white American Bulldog female that has awful environmental allergies. She itches almost every chance she gets (although, we don’t allow her to and stop her when we see it) and bites at her paws and elbows.  We had her on pricey Blu Buffalo Wilderness... with no prevail :(  We switched her to a raw food diet of strictly chicken/beef/liver and/or other organs and the insane paw/elbow biting has come almost to a stop. We have her on Probiotics, which works wonders for her stinky gas. Unfortunately, her endless itching is still present, so our vet has prescribed Prednison. Hopefully, these steroids will eliminate this frustrating itchiness because I honestly don’t know how much more I can take.  She has a big beautiful back yard to play in but she can’t be left unattended or she’ll scratch herself to death!  

[DukesMom218]

The prednisone will clear up everything..or at least it did fo rmy dog.  He's a 94 lb, very stout and robust 5 yr old who has horrible allergies.  The downside is the relief is usually temporary and the medication makes him drink excessively and pee a lot.  BUT..at least he gets some temporary relief.   You have to follow a ramp up and ramp down type approach to using predisone but it does help..it's just hard on their liver.  Good luck..I hope this helps your dog.

[Mbb1218]

Mine is exactly the same! I recently put her on natural balance limited ingredient legume and duck. She also gets probiotics and digestive enzymes and allergy aid pills, which I dk if they will he but its worth a try. I bath her in Malaseb which is awesome. I just ordered dermacton, you can look reviews. People swear by it so I'm trying it. I wipe her feet with baby wipes every night bc chlorohexadine started to give her a reaction now. Also I'm going to add fish oil pills daily bc they are supposed to be good also. I hope this helps !

[Hanypanky]

Hi I have two AB's mother and son, my boy has had sever skin allergies for 2 years now, we paid 2.5 grand in vet bills trying all sorts of pricy antibiotics,He's had skin scraps and we now know he is alergice to house dust mite, flees, pollen, basically everything,  then we were eligable for PSDA vets they recommended Weekly baths with antifungal shampoo or oatmeal and teatree shampoos, wash paws daily with epsom salts and dry, put collar on to stop excessive licking and chewing, you can buy blow up collars of ebay if like my boy the large plastic vet collars restricts him in doorways etc.  I wash his face, under his chin, ears and dry them after he eats and drinks to stop him licking etc, but its also about breaking the habbit of consently licking.  I found the help from the not profitable Vets at PDSA are the best for advice.  We have just had another flare up probably due to heating going on, but im confident that with some hardwork on my part and patience we will be back on track and undercontrol soon.