4200 (*smile* can I call you that for 'short'??) -- be careful. If you change TOO much at once you'll never narrow down what the true problem is. We always want fast change and allergies can be such a HUGE category that every single thing *you* change AND every thing that changes outside .... each one of those things can make a difference but if something new blooms outside and increases the allergies, actually something you *are* doing may be helping but you can't tell.
The "allergy" and skin diets that you see advertised -- most of those aren't really allergy diets. As Glenda says a LOT of them actually are pretty crummy food (and Hill's Science Diet one is a prime example of those) that contain a *lot* of known allergens -- BUT, they simply have broken down the molecules to such a degree that they are absorbed differently by the body. The problem is, seriously, that unless you use the canned food, SD kibble uses BHA, BHT and ethoxyquin as preservatives.
Those three are known carcinogens (and Science Diet will admit that if pressed) -- and giving those to the dog day in and day out sets the dog up for cancer AND be aware that allergies are, ultimately, an immune problem already.
I can *not* believe these vets have been treating this dog for allergies and have jumped to pred BEFORE even trying antihistamine.
Dogs can take many different types of antihistamine ... but each one is dosed differently and I think it was Jessie's Mom above who gave you the link to the chart. But let me explain antihistamines a bit to you.
UNLIKE US -- remember dog's have a whole second organ of smell -- the Jacobsen's Organ (it's under/behind the nose and above the roof of the mouth). That organ is what a dog uses when he lifts his head and sniffs -- it's literally folded mucus membrane that is incredibly thin but there are hundreds of feet of it all folded up to increase the 'surface area' of it and everything the dog sniffs in flows over and is trapped in that organ.
Typically it takes several days for what the dog breathes in (or even what settles on the skin and is absorbed) to actually come out on the skin. So you can't just try anthistamine for a little while. You have to give it religiously, day in and day out for close to a month to even begin to see if it is working.
So I'm encouraging you to give it a fair trial BEFORE you swtich foods. Food-switching carries it's own problems because every time you switch the food the body has to get used to a whole different array of allergens and potential allergens. So switching food can actually make the whole problem FAR worse because the body just plain starts to respond to ANY **new** thing (food or otherwise) as an enemy and it just makes more allergies.
Giving the dog antihistamine will likely make it sleepy but that's pretty much a short term problem. They get used to it over time. That sleepy side efffect diminshes. And if you use one like Benedryl that actually helps the skin it can at least help control the itch that makes the dog tear its skin and that lessens the infection that can result.
See the thing that makes the skin 'itch' (and that's both the paws and the inside of the ear) are the histamines that collect near the skin surface. It actually makes the skin tingle -- not unlike if you've been sitting on your foot too long. Sometimes even if antihistamines don't 'fix' the problem, they can help it enough to keep the dog from digging at it so profusely.
However, I"m going to tell you not to use the 'max' dose of ANY antihistamine. Do that long term and you're going to hurt the kidneys PLUS it leaves you no where to go when a new allergen is added that can be life threatening (like a bee or wasp sting!!!).
So with the Benedryl -- use the 1 mg/lb dose, but DO give it every 6 hours if you can. Diphenhydramine (which is the drug in Benedryl) only lasts in the body 6 hours. But be aware, this is where different anthistamines ARE **way** different.
The drug in Claritin and Tavist are 12 hour drugs -- NOT 6. So you don't give those as often. And they are dosed completely different. Dogs sometimes take more of antihistamine than people do because of the difference in their metabolism -- but again, different anthistamines are different. If *I* took 1 mg per pound of Benedryl I'd be comatose for 6 weeks.
Just as an easy guideline for you -- the over the counter capsules/caplets of Benedryl are 25 mg. If you have a 75 pound dog it DOES need **three* capsules as a minimum dose.
However, if you have a small dog you may need to get caplets rather than capsules so you can break them. My little 10 pound peke gets half a benedryl caplet.
If you *want* to use the childen's "elixer" or liquid benedryl, the over the counter one is 12.5 mg per teaspoon. So a teaspoon equals half a capsule/caplet.
Because I've bought a few tons of the stuff for various dogs, I can tell you. Wal-mart's generic is a good one but it is a capsule (no breaking that one). But their price on the name brand Benedryl is decent if you have to buy the caplets.
However, Target's generic IS a caplet, and it's actually a good quality one.
K-marts generic sucks -- very poor quality in my experience and not worth using. If you are wanting your own store's brand just be cautious -- it may or may not work well.
One more thot -- you do NOT want a dog to 'chew' Benedryl, nor do you want to put it in wet food because that cap dissolves FAST. Benedryl absorbs fast in the mouth, and you'll get a dog that will go nuts on you -- if you've ever been unfortunate enough to have a Benedryl cap dissolve in your mouth, it will give you the shakes instantly. It's meant to dissolve in the stomach. I had a lady try to 'break' a capsule not long ago and she complained that her dog acted weird when she put it in his mouth. No wonder!!! The caplet is fine -- you just don't want it to linger in the dog's mouth so put the broken capLET in something like butter, braunschweiger or cheese so the dog doesn't chew it accidentally.
Altho this is already long, the other thing I wanted to mention to you -- before you go any further, I would tell you to get the dog's thyroid checked. And honestly, I wouldn't do it with just a local lab either -- that's probably not going to do anything at all.
Get the thyroid panel sent to Michigan State or have it sent directly to Dr. Jean Dodds -- she has developed specific protocols for different breeds. Her contention is that it's silly to have ONE "chart" for all breeds -- that a jack russell and a rottweiller are going to have different metabolism and a cocker and a great dane aren't alike either! So why are all those breeds judged by the same criteria for thyroid levels.
I have a dog with super allergies too and we chased allergy problems with horrible results for almost 2 years after we adopted him. I was SO frustrated. He'd had THREE thyroid panels at the vet and all said that altho his thyroid wasn't high, it was 'ok'. Finally I had the vet send it to Michigan State and it comes back LOW for his breed. We began supplementing the thyroid and SUDDENLY everything we were doing began to work!!!
Getting the thyroid balanced isn't going to "fix" the allergy problem -- but it will allow the body to be able to respond to the things you are doing. If the thyroid is out of whack then everything you are doing is like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in it -- make sense??
Good luck.