Dog with hay fever. Advice please!

[Lizbiz89]

So I think my dog has hay fever. We've taken her to the vets as she kept scratching and ended with hives all over her. I was given antihistamines and we were giving her them when the weather was warm but I stopped when the weather cooled down. However she has started itching again. So my question is how often should I be giving her antihistamines? Do I just give her them daily now throughout all of the summer or is it to be used intermittently? Also is there any other tips for easing symptoms? Any advice you would be greatly appreciated.

Is it definitely hay fever or could it be shampoo irritation or washing powder if you washed her bed or even a food allergy? If it's hay fever you need to give the anti histamines consistently every day as that is how they work the same as for humans it won't work just taking them ad hoc.

Our dog used to take piriton twice daily. He is 22kg. I would check with your vet on doze though. It was our vet who suggested them for seasonal allergies. We used to give from April - September. This is the first year we haven't had too, no idea why!

There are lots of options out there for dogs with allergies.

Please phone your vet and discuss the management options and what works for you and your dog.

Thank you for your responses. Yes we've been to the vets and they said they believed it to be hay fever so we know she needs to have antihistamines but didn't know whether it should be a constant thing. I will keep her on the antihistamines until autumn then.

My WCS gets one piriton daily for many months because he gets watery sneezy nose and gloopy eyes from sticking his head in every forest bush going.

When it first kicked off we gave him a higher dosage with advice from the vets but now know to just keep it at bay when the sneezing starts in Spring to around October/November time. I think he also reacts to the fungal season hence why it's so late in the year.

Hi
My dog has hayfever (as certain as it's possible to be) and his symptoms were gooey eyes and sneezing mostly. We give his 15mg of cetirizine which is a tablet and a half hidden in his evening meal. It took about 10 days to fully work but the difference is quite remarkable. I also get hayfever so I'll stop him when I no longer need antihistamine. There are lots of different types. Piriton is a bit old-fashioned (but does work well for some so not discounting it) and the newer generations like cetirizine and loratadine are generally more effective.
As a PP said it could also be a floor cleaner, washing powder allergy so just to be on the safe side, we now only steam the floors and use non-bio.
Do give the antihistamines a chance - it does take a little while to work so stopping and starting isn't ideal. Good luck!