Pet First Aid: Allergy Attack!by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger 21 Sep 2007 02:55 PM As I'm sitting here at the computer, merrily tapping away, Lally is cramming her left hind foot into her mouth. She does this from time to time; I figure she's got an itch on her paw pad or between her toes and the best way to take care of it is with her teeth. Over the last few days, she's been really attacking her feet. She's been chewing and licking them relentlessly, which makes me thing she's having some allergy trouble. Lally has had problems with allergies in the past -- she's sensitive to plastic, and can't eat from a plastic bowl. If she does eat from a plastic bowl, her muzzle breaks out in little red bumps. The foot itching is another sign of allergies. Dogs often experience allergy symptoms where the fur is the thinnest -- on the feet and legs, on the ears, and on the face. When Moose is suffering from allergies, he chews and licks bald spots onto his forelegs. Where Lally's been chomping, the skin is very red and irritated. I can imagine it's very uncomfortable! So I'm going to do for her what the vet has me do for Moose -- give her a dose of Benadryl (or a generic equivalent) with her food. Benadryl is safe for dogs; you can give 25mg of medicine for every 25 pounds of dog. Lally weighs around 55 pounds, so I could give her two pills. What I'll do is start out giving her just a half of a pill (or 12.5mg) and see how she does. Moose only gets one 25mg pill at dinner time -- it's enough to deal with the itchies and not make him too sleepy. And he weighs close to 100 pounds! If after a few days, I don't see any improvement in Lally's itchy feet, I'll give the vet a call. A stronger allergy medicine might be needed if the Benadryl doesn't help. The real trick will be getting my fussy little girl to actually eat her food with the pill in it. Getting Moose to eat is no problem; Lally is much pickier. Learn more about Aimee Amodio  Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover... Relevantpets tags User Comments No comments on this article yet. Be the first to comment! Community Tags allergies, itching, pet first aid, seasonal allergies Discuss this article
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