[NAGDU] Allergies

[Lisie Foster]

Hi Sandra,

I've never given Benadryl to any of my working dogs, but have given it to pets over the years. In my experience, it seems to vary quite a bit as to whether it makes a dog drowsy or not.

My Golden, Chelsea, who I grew up with and who was part of my family until we lost her while I was in college, became very sleepy if given any dose of Benadryl. 

Oh, I take that back about my "working" dogs! My Labbie-girl, Avi ( pronounced Ā-V-Ē, a nickname for her full name, Aviator ), my second hearing dog-daughter, became slightly drowsy when given Benadryl. But, she only took it a few times, during the two years  she decided that chasing, catching, and swallowing bees and Yellowjackets was fun, even if they stung her.

Then, there's my family's 15-year-old Miniature Poodle, who takes Benadryl fairly regularly for environmental allergies, who has never once become drowsy from it at all.

I think maybe it depends on the individual dog? I'm not sure! 

Finn, my hearing/guide dog-son, had allergies last year in the fall for a few weeks. He was itchy, scratching, and ended up on antibiotics for his eyes (both were reddish, but they didn't seem to itch). He was on antibiotic ointment for his eyes for two weeks, which took care of those. And, it turned out that he was not actually allergic to anything outside, but was either allergic or very sensitive to the nylon vest he was wearing!

Avi used to get yeast ear infections occasionally; Chelsea, our Golden, got them frequently, as did one of my other childhood dogs. Our vets told us to use a half vinegar/half water mixture, shake it, and that actually cleared up their ear infections quickly. But, I have no idea if that sort of ear infection is allergy-related, so that's probably not much help. 

I hope Pilot will have some good info for you. I'm sure they will! Good luck and I hope Eva's allergies go away as soon as whatever she's allergic to this time of year stops growing or blooming!


Lisie and Finn
lisiefoster at yahoo.com
Sent from my iPhone

> 
>> On May 18, 2016, at 2:03 PM, S L Johnson via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Hello:
>> 
>> My golden retriever, Eva, has seasonal allergies.  My vet has suggested 50 
>> milligrams of Benadryl twice a day.  She has never treated a guide dog so 
>> does not know if the Benadryl will make Eva drowsy or not.  I plan to call 
>> Pilot and ask their opinion but I thought I would ask all of you if you have 
>> given your dogs Benadryl and if it made them drowsy and effected their work. 
>> I know many of you will start talking about lots of natural stuff but 
>> everything we have tried has not worked.  Changing her food did not help 
>> either.  So here we are trying to find a medication that will help Eva’s 
>> allergies.  She has the yeast infections in both ears again and is rubbing 
>> her eyes and scratching .
>> 
>> Sandra and Eva