Sneezing, excessive scratching, and watery eyes are all signs that your beloved dog is dealing with allergies. While allergies are a fairly common condition in dogs, no one likes to see their best friend suffer. Several different medications offer allergy relief, but the best one for your dog depends on the cause of their allergies.
Many dogs experience seasonal allergies in the spring and summer with the surge in airborne irritants like grass, tree, and weed pollen. Other common allergens include environmental pollutants, chemical products like shampoos and perfumes, dust mites, mold, and mildew.
Managing seasonal allergies in dogs is very similar to managing them in people, and there are several techniques involved in managing allergies.
Mild to moderate cases of canine allergies can often be treated with the help of over-the-counter (OTC) medications. However, just because over-the-counter medications are easily accessible does not mean you can start giving them to your dog right away. Ask your vet about dog-friendly OTC options to learn more about proper dosing and potential interactions.
Home remedies can make for handy, cost-effective ways to treat your dog’s allergies. Common household foods like oats, apple cider vinegar, and plain, sugar-free yogurt can provide quick relief for uncomfortable itching and inflammation. Other DIY solutions include:
When home remedies aren’t enough, the doctor may need to administer a prescription medication to soothe your dog’s symptoms. These commonly take the form of oral treatments, topical treatments, and allergy shots. The exact treatment plan depends on the cause of your dog’s allergies, but these are the most common meds prescribed by vets:
👉 Tell your vet what home remedies and OTC medications you’ve given your dog to avoid adverse interactions with prescription allergy meds.
Flea allergy dermatitis (also known as FAD) is a leading cause of dog allergies. When a flea bites a dog, they inject a small amount of saliva into their skin. This can trigger an intense itching sensation in sensitive dogs, especially dogs with a history of other allergies.
Treatment for FAD requires dog owners to keep a clean home that’s flea-free and a visit to the vet for quick flea control.
It’s a common misconception that medications for FAD will eliminate the flea infestation and permanently cure your dog. The only real way to keep flea allergies at bay is to persistently stop them from reproducing.
These prescription meds can help with flea control — just remember that complete elimination commonly takes between one and three months.
Steroids can provide short-term relief from the symptoms of FAD, but owners need to adopt long-term flea prevention strategies to keep their dogs happy and itch-free.
For additional relief, you can use topical OTC solutions like wipes and shampoos in conjunction with a prescription allergy medication. You can try medicated wipes to soothe uncomfortable itching and nourish dry skin or a gentle anti-itch shampoo to combat itchiness, hotspots, infections, and other unwanted dog allergy symptoms.
Food allergies are less common in dogs than environmental allergies and FAD, but they’re not entirely unheard of. Your dog may have a food allergy if they experience symptoms all year long, or if their skin starts itching after eating a new food.
If you suspect your dog might be suffering from a food allergy, talk to your vet about creating a food elimination trial (Trusted Source) for them. Food elimination trials consist of slowly transitioning your dog to a hypoallergenic diet and then only feeding them hypoallergenic food for a period of 8 to 10 weeks.
These trials help diagnose food allergies by giving the dog’s body enough time to clear out old allergens. If their itching goes away while they’re on the new diet, your dog likely has a food allergy.
In these cases, you’ll either want to keep your dog on the hypoallergenic diet, or slowly start to reintroduce old foods into their diet while keeping an eye out for symptoms.
👉 Follow your vet’s food recommendations to a tee when giving your dog a food trial. This includes no treats or table scraps!
Antihistamines can be a good option for treating the itching, redness, and swelling associated with seasonal and environmental allergies. Still, there are a few factors to be mindful of when giving them to your dog.
No matter what’s causing your dog’s allergies, there are bound to be multiple different treatment options available to them. Prescription and OTC medications offer the most effective relief, but DIY solutions can still prove helpful in a pinch.
Watch out for potential triggers in the environment, and work with your vet to form a treatment plan that gets your pup back to 100% without harmful side effects.
Every dog is different, and their systems may react differently to certain allergy meds. Vets have recently noted more adverse reactions among dogs who take Benadryl, resulting in Zyrtec becoming the more popular “first-line” choice for dog allergies. Zyrtec is also less potent than Benadryl and has a convenient dosing schedule ranging from half to one full tablet a day, depending on your dog’s weight.
Yes. Most allergy medications come with their own set of side effects but keep in mind that each dog is different and may experience unique side effects to allergy medications. Common reactions include dry mouth, lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, increased heart and respiratory rates, hypersalivation, and decreased globulin levels.
The best allergy medication for your canine is the one your veterinarian recommends for their specific allergies. Many veterinarians will recommend an antihistamine to treat their symptoms.
Yes, Zyrtec and Claritin can be given to dogs once a day; Benadryl is given twice a day. It’s always a good idea to check with your vet about the appropriate dosage for your dog’s size and age.
What your veterinarian prescribes for dog allergies depends on their severity. For mild itching, vets may prescribe antihistamines. For severe allergies, vets may do allergy testing so they can do immunotherapy (Trusted Source) to boost your dog’s immune system.
“This way, reactions to allergens are much less intense. Immunotherapy is the closest that anyone can get to a “cure” for allergies,” says Dr. Erica Irish. “Intense itching can be helped with Apoquel, Cytopoint, or steroid medications. In other cases, immunosuppressant medications like Atopica may be necessary.”
