dermatology-allergy

Question
My dog, Teddy is a 70 lb. chow/german shepherd mix.  He is 8 years old.  He has a severe problem with itching.  He cannot use any of the prescibed flea medications, and the only medication which helps his itching is predisone, which he cannot stay on for long periods of time.  Can he take benidryl, which we take for allergies?  I know dogs can take most medicines we humans take.  Please help, he is in misery.

Answer
Benadryl is not good to stop itching in an allergic dog. If you are using Prednisone, you can use it for short periods of time and then stop for a while.  I use Dexamethasone for allergies because it has a more prolonged activity and it stops itching with a much lower dose than prednisone.  It also has less side effects than prednisone. There is a new drug called ATOPICA that may help your dog if he cannot tolerate steroids. It is pretty expensive to use in a big dog, however. Ask your vet.