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Children's Benadryl for cat allergies?

The Menagerie
#1

One of my cats has always had problems with allergies. This year they are worse than usual (gooey eyes and she is chewing hot spots on her legs and belly). I have had her tested to see what she is allergic to. She has food allergies (I changed her food and it helped somewhat) and some seasonal allergies to trees, grasses, pollen, etc.

My vet said that I could try giving her some liquid children’s Benadryl. Has anyone tried this and did it help? If you tried it, what flavor liquid did you use? I have looked at Benadryl in the store and they have bubble gum, grape, and I think cherry. Not good flavors for a cat! :lol:

#2

Yes ~ worked for one of my cats with vaccination reaction
and for one of my cats with spring allergies.

Had to use cherry … awful choice for cats :eek: but no worse than grape or bubblegum :lol:

Syringe into corner of mouth … better if you have someone to hold your cat.

GOOD LUCK !

I just purchased another bottle for this year … yes :disgust: cherry !

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#3

For my cat for years I gave him Chlorpheniramine, one 4 mg tab crushed and mixed in his food once a day. I’d buy it on Amazon.

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#4

Diphenhydramine can be sedating. Have you tried the Chlorpheniramine first?

What dose are you giving of benadryl?

tablets do not have much taste and you can try cutting and crushing a tablet ( standard adult tablet is 25mg) and mixing it with soft food .

Many dosing syrups are poorly received by cats, they are somewhat acidic and cats dont have a great appreciation for sweet. If I were to use it I would try mixing it in soft food.

#5

Either zyrtec or Claritin. My cat was on a half tablet of Claritin for years. I don’t remember the dose of zyrtec.

benadryl is sedating and extremely bitter.

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#6

I’ve not used Benadryl for anything but a bee sting or other reaction that risks anaphylaxis.

For seasonal allergies in my dogs and cat I used a half, or 5mg, Zyrtec for animals approximately 20-30#

#7

I would worry about sweetener in syrups, xylitol is deadly.

#8
  • Adding … I only administer meds, including but not limited to Children’s Benadryl

[B]According to my vet’s directions ”¢ for a specific pet and according to said pet’s current and accurate weight (using a digital baby scale at home to recheck weight)

CHILDREN’S BENADRYL not Adult !!!

  • the Children’s Benadryl is alcohol and xylitol FREE !

Ӣ in response to the xylitol comment above Ӣ [/B]

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#9

I have a cat with allergies, I did the google search option and found several sites that said Zyrtec was safe for cats. I have used about a 1/4 tablet (they are very small pills to begin with), crushed and mixed with baby food. It seemed to help.

#10

Thanks for all the suggestions! I haven’t tried the Benadryl yet. I wanted to see if others have had good results with it and I know it can make people drowsy so I was concerned that it might make my cat drowsy too. I’ll look into the pills that were suggested. I think it would work better to mix a pill into her food than trying to give her liquid with a syringe.

#11

My vet recommended zrytec for mine. I find it easier to do pills than liquid. He hated the liquid.

#12

I give my cat 5 mg of crushed Cetirizine (Zyrtec) in her wet food every night. She was getting hot spots and little, crusty bumps on her skin all over but the Cetirizine has fixed that. I also figured out that she is allergic chicken. It was hard to find cat food without chicken. I currently give her Fancy Feast Tender Beef.

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#13

Update - I am giving my cat 5 mg of Zyrtec per day. Today is day 3. Her symptoms aren’t gone, but they are better and she is more active. I’ll be curious to see if the symptoms improve more over time.

Jump314 - I sympathize about the food allergies. My cat is allergic to corn, milk, fish, and turkey. It’s hard to find foods that don’t have at least one of those things!

#14

My cat Meow had IBS and I need to find novel proteins for him, on top of needing low carb for his diabetes.
Have you looked at Daves? I fed him the canned Daves Pork with success.

#15

I haven’t looked at Daves…I don’t think I have heard of this brand before. I’ll Google it now. Thanks!

#16

Benadryl is not very effective in dogs and cats for seasonal allergies, we rarely use it in these cases. I would recommend a vet visit to discuss options and to check for infection (bacterial or fungal) or other underlying health issues.

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#17

I came across the same problem but Benadryl wasn’t a good idea, it’s not effective.

#18

I’m the original poster. I’m still giving my allergy cat 1/2 a tablet of Zyrtec as needed. It definitely helps. Her eyes are less gooey, she scratches and sniffles less, etc.

2 Likes
#19

Definitely you can use it but pick up liquid Children’s Benadryl, or the store brand version (the ingredient is diphenhydramine). It comes cherry flavored, which is great for people but your cat will probably hate it. No matter, it’s a simple thing really. You want to start out with just a few drops. Not a half dose, just a few drops. Read more on https://www.catfoodpoint.com/benadryl-for-cats/ . Hope this helps

#20

Not sure if you have ever tried bovine colostrum for allergies? I have heard it can really help with it and it can usually be picked up at your local feed store. I do give this to my pup (though not for allergies) every day for other benefits.

This is the product I have now, but I was told by a friend that most co-ops sell it for a more affordable price:

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