Benadryl for alergic reactions in puppies??? Help!

I'm not sure about giving such a young pup Benadryl, but I do know that I had to give it to my 5-month old 9lb. pup last week and the dosage for her was one quarter of a 25 mg. tablet. I'm sure someone else will be along to help.  Good luck!

[size=2]
Benadryl (tablets or liquid w/no alcohol or artifical sweetner) - Dosage:
1-2mg/lb of body weight 2-4 times/day [/size]

The dosage for Benedryll is 1-2 mg/lb of dog. I'd give her a teaspoon of children's (which should be 12.5 mg).

Thank you all so much, do you think a bee sting calls for benadryl? I just want to make sure before I give it to her. Thanks.

I wouldn't give her the full dosage, but the children's dosage, since she is so young - as suggested in an earlier post - the 12.5 mg dosage or even a tad less.   I would hesitate to give it to her at all due to her age, but it can be more serious when around the nose area.  I know you said under her eye - but being a small pup, that would be near her nose, unless it was on the outside of her face.

I am guessing that you see swelling since you know that she got stung there?  By the way, you must live in the south to have bees already.

Anyway, a sting near or on the nose can cause swelling on the inside of the nose and throat area, making it difficult to breathe. 

You could always call an emergency vet, if you have one in your area, if you are not sure.

But, I do know for sure that adult dogs would get the benedryl, especially if stung near the nose due to swelling.    My only hesitation is her age, but the risk of swelling and difficulty breathing just might outweigh it in this case.  Now, I don't know that it is bad to give meds to a pup this young, I've just never heard it come up before.

I would also stay up awile and keep an eye on her as well as setting my alarm clock for the middle of the night to do another check on her.

Is it just one eye?  So you know for sure that it is a bee sting and not the huge amount of pollen that we have lately?  I know I live in zone 7, and maybe have only seen one bee this early.
 
edited:   ok, you are in Texas.  Ummm, it has been 45 minutes since your first post, so how is she doing now?  Any signs of breathing difficulties?  That would be my biggest worry.

Yes Im in Round Rock Texas, I have seen a few bees in the back yard because of the flowers but not enough of them to be concerened until now that Anne got stung.  I did give her just a little less than reccommended of the childrens benadryl and it does look a little bit better. It was on the outside of her lower right eye, it was only that 1 eye and no other lumps anywhere on her. Her eye never fully closed because of the swelling here is a picture, it is only her 1 eye and not the other one, it was just the way the flash went off.

Actually go ahead and give her at least the 1 mg/lb dose -- anaphylactic shock can be dangerous and you want the body to deal with it fully.  I'd also give it every 6 hours or as close to it as possible for at least 24 - 36 hours.  It is ok for puppies -- safer than the bee sting.
 
You don't want the body to trigger its own strong reaction -- they give Benedryl in much higher doses than that if a pup reacts badly to a vaccine. 

Watch her eye. I once met a poor bloodhound who had been bit on the eye by a brown recluse spider and went blind. Bloodhounds are prone to spider bites because they are always sticking their snoots everywhere and being totally oblivious! I hope it's just a bee sting, but if it doesn't get better within a day or two please get her checked at the vet.

She's sooooooooooo sweet!

Thank you sooo much, I will give it to her again in 6 hours if it still looks the same, to me it already looks a little better and she is acting normally and playing.  I am keeping an eye on it though, Im a worry wart anyway so this is driving me nuts, but I do think she will be alright by tomarrow (hopefully).  

Don't just go by looks -- give the body some help here.  Give the Benedryl for 36 hours and let the body truly overcome the allergic reaction.  Even if it looks ok (and it probably will be)

Ok, Little Anne has recoverd. I did give her the Benadryl every 6 hours and as of right now she looks soooo much better, the swelling is completely gone away and I have checked her eye and she can see out of it fine and is eating/drinking and playing normally.  I went out in the back yard and chacked everywhere to try to see if there were any dangerous places back there for her but I didn't see any bees or wasps at that moment or any other places that she might run across trouble. She is an inside dog but I let her out to go potty and to get some fresh air if the weathers nice, so now Im worried about leting her out at all now. 

Callie knows her stuff, so I'm glad she came on her to say it is safe for puppies that young.  I just wasn't sure.
 
Well, bees are going to be around for awhile, so it's kinda an un-avoidable thing.  I'm sorry it happened.
 
Just an odd note:  do make sure to keep an eye out for yellowjacket nests in the ground and get rid of those when you come across them.  I really don't see "bee's nests", but do see yellowjacet nests in the ground.
 
Something happened last year - to Jeano, I think.  Anyway, she posted something really odd and that posting helped me out a couple of weeks later.  It was something I would never have known about if it hadn't been posted.
 
Apparently her dog - and then mine - had actually swallowed a yellowjacket while outside.  Now, I didn't see this happen, but brought them back in after being outside for a little while.  When my boy came back in, he was frantically licking the floor.  I had read that a dog that had swallowed a bee/yellowjacket will start licking the ground, floor, carpet, whatever they can in order to try and alleviate the pain.  (I did see the yellowjackets flying around in that area after this happened).
 
Because of that post, I knew what was going on.  The bee can sting the throat when going down - so I immediately popped in the higher dosage of Benydryl - and I keep both liquid for emergencies and the capsules at home.  So, the liquid will work faster and you can give the capsules on the next round of meds.  IT turned out fine, but it was really good to know what sign to look for.
 
I don't tell you this to keep you from letting your dog outside.  In fact, mine were outside the next day.  So, I still let mine out to play.  It is good to know what signs to look for.  And I have had to chunk out of date benedryl - both capsule and liquid - and purchase new ones, but it is well worth it to keep both on hand.  It can make an enourmous difference in an emergency.
 
But, do let her out to play.  You are a good doggie mom and will watch her for signs of problems.  I haven't been at this terribly long, so I understand your fear.  You are a good mom, things happen, try and relax and let her back outside.    For what it's worth, my guys weren't stung again and I didn't find the yellowjackets nest to destroy - although I did see them flying around for a couple more days.   They did not get stung again - so don't worry too much.  Glad she's doing well today!   []

Thank you so much. When I went out to check the yard thismorning I did look for wasp nests, ant piles, and bees but didn't see anything.  We don't have much in our backyard and we always keep the grass low, I have 2 young children that go out to play back there too so Im always checking it to make sure its safe.  Im thinking it was probably one of those red wasps because I have been seeing them lately and they go land in the grass and are slower than other wasps to fly off so mabe she saw it in the grass and sniffed it and it climbed on her nose and she tried to get it off with her paw and it stung her? I don't know, but she is much better today. Iv had dogs my whole life (my first word was DOG, lol) and Iv never had anything like that happen before so I hope this was just a one and only time thing.   Thank you for the advise and warning about the dog eating a wasp thats really scary! Im so glad I had the benadryl here, and that Im a part of a forum where there are so many experianced dog people to help me out in an emergency.  Thank you all!!!

Yes, that was me, Sofia got stung in the throat by a yellowjacket because she snapped it up and swallowed it. It was my vet that told me what had happened, because I had no way of knowing!

The thing about yellow jackets is that they nest in the ground and you can't see the nest! It's soooOOOOooooo easy to step on it and not know it, and suddenly you are being SWARMED by angry yellow jackets! It's extremely scary, and dangerous, too!

I always keep benedryl around. If a human visitor got stung who was allergic, it's also the first line of defense (on the way to the ER).

Always watch any animal or human who has been stung. Anaphylactic shock can set it, even if it hasn't happened before. It's a cumulative thing, so the more you get stung, the more likely anaphylactic shock can occur.

Last year was absolutely AWFUL for hornets and yellow jackets. I had more than one friend have to be rushed to the hospital because they got stung, once, twice, and finally, six times in a week and that fifth or six time within a space of a week is too much: anaphylactic shock sets in. That's where you swell up and can't breath. VERY life-threatening.

Okay, now I'm all creeped out about wasps! Aaaack!