What antihistamine can I give my dog?

Original Question: I was interested in knowing what over-the-counter antihistamines you would recommend for dog allergies. I have an 8 year old Shih Tzu (Sadie) who's been scratching and rubbing the side of her face on carpet/corner walls over the past 2-3 years. She also can get quite smelly around her stomach area. My vet said the same thing that allergy testing is not conclusive (plus very pricey). Right now Sadie is on Atopica. The only thing is it makes her go #1 more often and I don't want to give it to her if nobody is going to be home (to take her out). But when I do give it to her, her itching gets worse for the next 12 hours before the medicine kicks in. On top of that, I can't give it to her until at least an hour after she eats since the pill sometimes makes her throw up. My vet thinks it could be her food causing the allergy problem but the only problem is Sadie is on a special "reduce protein" diet (Royal Canin brand). Her urinary protein levels were bit above normal so thus the special food. She gets urinalysis test every so often so I'm nervous about trying another food. I hate seeing her scratching like this (it's year round). So I'm hoping the antihistamines you'd recommend will work. Thank you. - Shelley

Mar 1, 2018

Hi Shelley,

Thank you for your question.

Allergies are really difficult to work through like your experiencing right now. You need to have a good working relationship with your vet and be ready for a lot of trial and error. Be sure to read the instructions thoroughly on the use of antihistamines for dogs on our website and how to determine if they are working for their allergies or not.