Benadryl

What brand, what type of liquid, what strength?

My vet just prescribed some Benadryl for my cat recovering from a cold. He still has some sinus issues - and needs to get that dried up.

Since I've never had to use this type of medication, I know little about it - so when the vet told me to get some Benadryl, and told me the dose to give, I didn't know I needed to ask which strength I need to get - guess there's an Adult strength, and a Child's strength.

He did warn me that it may be difficult to give to him because it was sweet (?).

He's at lunch now, so thought I'd pose the question while I wait for him to return.

Is there anything else I need to ask about Benadryl before I try to administer to my cat?

You need to go to the store and look at the mg/pill vs the dose you were told. you will most likely have to cut the pill in half. You may find a child strength that is the proper dose, but I think the child one is liquid.

ETA - yeah, my cat hated the taste. She has chlorpheneramine. (sp) instead and normally will take that in a pill pocket.

Originally Posted by AbbysMom

ETA - yeah, my cat hated the taste. She has chlorpheneramine. (sp) instead and normally will take that in a pill pocket.

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Thats what Tino takes but I have to have it compounded into a dermal and rub it on his ear.

But when Snowbie has allergies, he takes his with a pill pocket, easily.

When you look at pill pockets, they have them in different flavors, so you might be able to find a flavor that he will love. Good Luck.

Originally Posted by Pami

Thats what Tino takes but I have to have it compounded into a dermal and rub it on his ear.

But when Snowbie has allergies, he takes his with a pill pocket, easily.

When you look at pill pockets, they have them in different flavors, so you might be able to find a flavor that he will love. Good Luck.

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Compounded - very interesting - I am already a Compound Pharmacy customer - this is something I'll check in to.

The vet told me the dose amount was liquid form - he talked about getting a 3 cc syringe for a 1 cc dose 2 x's a day, sorry I didn't mention that earlier, ugh. I'm waiting to hear back from him to know if the liquid is in the adult or child's strength - if I actually get to talk to him, I'll try to remember to talk to him about getting it compounded.

Originally Posted by cloud_shade

http://www.petplace.com/drug-library...ryl/page1.aspx

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scary! we should never read the precautions - that's why I never take drugs!... that is, -- with some minor exceptions.

I have used the child dye free with good results in a dog...

Cloud shade gave a good article and my vet has suggested not using this for a cat

Forget it with my guys. The Children's formula made Ghost foam at the mouth and run around like a maniac!! It tastes very bitter to them. He took it in a pill pocket ONCE!

My vet told me 12.5 mg. If you look at the children's liquid it takes 5 ccs to contain 12.5 mg. I couldn't even get one cc into Ghost w/o the above-mentioned reaction.

I know someone else who uses the Chlor-tabs.. but you would have to ask your vet about it.

My poor Fred also foamed at the mouth and ran around the house screaming when given Benadryl. He was ok, but it was terrifying.
I have heard of people having good results with it, but personally, I would never use it again.

YIKES!
what to do
what to do ????

My vet just called.
He said that the strength is 12.5 per 1 teaspoon, and that I should give 1 cc every 12 hours.

So, AddieBee - the strength may be 12.5 if taken in the dose of 1 teaspoon, but 1 cc is less than 1/4 tsp ... so he wouldn't be getting the full 12.5 dose, right?

??

(I measured 1 teaspoon of water and got a little over 5 cc's)

I need to dry him up with something, now I'm really wondering what to do - before I head off to the pharmacy ... hmmm

Originally Posted by GloriaJH

YIKES!
what to do
what to do ????

My vet just called.
He said that the strength is 12.5 per 1 teaspoon, and that I should give 1 cc every 12 hours.

So, AddieBee - the strength may be 12.5 if taken in the dose of 1 teaspoon, but 1 cc is less than 1/4 tsp ... so he wouldn't be getting the full 12.5 dose, right?

??

(I measured 1 teaspoon of water and got a little over 5 cc's)

I need to dry him up with something, now I'm really wondering what to do - before I head off to the pharmacy ... hmmm

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My vet recommends half the dosage of Addie Bee's. It's possible your vet is putting him on a very low dosage.

I would agree with Abbycats - do the dose that your vet reco'd. If you have a syringe, 1/4 tsp should not be too difficult, but be prepared that that WILL NOT like the taste.

My vet suggested Ben. b/c Ghost seemed to be having allergy issues with his eyes. I was flushing/irrigating them with preservative free artificial tears following a course of antibiotic ointment. So the Ben. was not an absolute necessity.

And yes - 5cc's is a tsp.

Under the direction of my vet, for allergy relief, I give my cats 1/4 to 1/2 tablet of the generic form of Claritin (loratadine) once a day. It dissolves easily in water, so I add a couple of teaspoons to their wet food, let the pill dissolve, then mix it all together. No bitter taste, no foaming at the mouth, and great results.

thanks to the helpful postings - I wasn't in panic mode when he began foaming and drooling - I did manage to get a little over 1/2 cc into him - well whatever actually stayed, who knows? ...

started cleaning him, and the floors, and the walls (yes, everything in the area got slung with drool) ... he was still foaming, bubbling, drooling when I called the vet

the person answering the phone started to tell me the Dr. was with another patient getting ready to go into surgery when I interrupted her and started telling her what was happening - I could tell she quickly changed gears - said that she would get a note to him and call me right back

she called, Dr. said foaming, etc was due to the fowl taste of the benadryl, not to be concerned, and that he would call me as soon as he got out of surgery

he just called - told me that some cats do this out of a response to the taste, that it wasn't anything to be concerned about, he would be okay - but, was sorry that I had all that mess to clean up

FYI - Gray has been diagnosed with FIV, I'm keeping him away from the other cats - and, now all this extra work of disinfecting isn't really what I wanted to do with my day

Anyway - since Dr. doesn't feel that we'd do well with pills, or capsules, he's calling the compound pharmacy to see what they can have made up for me to give Gray.

Will NEVER use BENADRYL on another cat -
I wasn't going to use it after reading the links, and experience of others here - but, Gray was just about over the hump of the cold and I thought that if this stuff worked - even a little might help clear up his nose so he could smell food and eat. He's hungry - but what I'm giving him just isn't stinky enough.

I've gotta go - hope what I've typed makes sense - other cats are calling, ugh!

At the compounding pharmacy they can make it into liquid, but you will have the same issue because he can still taste it, so make sure its not liquid.... dermal would be the best route..... Tino can still taste it that way because as soon as I put it on his ear, his starts chomping at the mouth for about 30 secs but then he stops.

Originally Posted by Pami

At the compounding pharmacy they can make it into liquid, but you will have the same issue because he can still taste it, so make sure its not liquid.... dermal would be the best route..... Tino can still taste it that way because as soon as I put it on his ear, his starts chomping at the mouth for about 30 secs but then he stops.

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My Dr. said that he was going to talk to the Pharmacist about a chicken flavor.

I did ask the Doctor about dermal - he was concerned about irritation at the application site causing yet another problem.

Frankly - I'm not all that sure that I will use whatever I get - the situation will have to be very, very necessary before I go though this again. The clean up and disinfecting process is just too much to deal with right now.

Thanks for telling me how it works with you, when the Vet calls I'll have more information so I can ask better questions.

It has never caused any issue with Tino at all. They compound it, knowing that it will be on the skin. What I did was I found a compounding pharmacy who would do what I needed and then got my Dr to call them and they will explain it to him.

Originally Posted by Pami

It has never caused any issue with Tino at all. They compound it, knowing that it will be on the skin. What I did was I found a compounding pharmacy who would do what I needed and then got my Dr to call them and they will explain it to him.

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I was unable to get to the phone when my Dr. called. He left me a voice mail message that he had already arranged for a chicken flavored brew to be made.

I will go with the flow on this one - then, if it doesn't work I know there's another option for us. I'm sure this pharmacist would be able to make up something for Gray's skin if I find I need it - as it turns out, this pharmacist is also my compound pharmacist.

Thanks, Pami.

I hope it works for him.... and he has some relief soon. Let us know