I didn't want this info. to be buried in other posts, so thought I'd make a new one.

Benadryl is a VERY safe and effective antihistamine that we should all have in our cabinets in case we need it. It is used for allergic reactions and also chronic allergies. It comes in a tablet or liquid. Just make sure that you are using PLAIN diphenhydramine (generic benadryl) and not the combination formulas that have other ingredients.

The standard dosage for dogs is 1mg (milligram) per pound every 8 hours. If you buy the regular tablets, they come in 25mg strength, so obviously that would be hard to divide up for a 5 pound dog. But if that's all you had on hand, you would give a little less than 1/4 of a tablet to a 5 pound dog that was having a reaction.

The children's liquid benadryl is half strength. So it is 12.5mg per teaspoon. So a 5 pound dog would get 5mg, which is a little less than half of a teaspoon. If you have a syringe, it will be marked in milliliters (mm's). 5ml equals ONE teaspoon. So you want to give 2.4ml. (That is approximately half a teaspoon.)

To be completely accurate, try to dose liquids using syringes, as they are much more accurate than the average teaspoon in your silverware drawer. Or you can measure your teaspoon with a syringe and make sure that 5ml = 1 teaspoon.

I also want to point out that benadryl is very safe and has a pretty wide margin of error. So if you don't dose your dog "exactly" 1mg per pound, they are not going to have any ill effects. Some vets will even go up to 2mg per pound on a dog that is having a bad reaction. So don't stress if you don't get the dosage measured exactly to the tenth of a millimeter.

Hope this helps.

Brodysmom

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"Having heard all of this, you may choose to look the other way.....
but you can never say again that you did not know." William Wilberforce 1759-1833

Thank you for posting this information. I will definitely print and save this for an emergency for my Bella, who has food and other allergies.

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Bella is chocolate blue tri-color. Lina is blonde.

wait this is confusing me, i am really bad at math....so how much would i be feeding dexter if he's 8lbs? thanks!

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"I told him that if a lady who doesn't cook can make such yummy Jerky for Dexter then we can do it too" - Lynx8456

http://www.facebook.com/dextersheep

I have been trying my best to get this figured out, I'm bad at math, too. Thank you so much, Brody'sMom, for posting it. Now, would someone please make this a sticky so it is readily available in time of sudden need??? Please???

Thanks!!!

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"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths" Proverbs 3:5

Ok, if it's 1mg per pound and he's 8 pounds, then he gets 8 mg. So that would be slightly less than half of a 25mg tablet or 1.5 teaspoons of the liquid Children's benadryl. Remember, it doesn't have to be exact. This medication has some play in the dosage.

In an emergency situation where you noticed him having a reaction (like to a bee sting, etc), the 1/2 of a tablet would probably be easier to get down him, than the liquid.

Brodysmom

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"Having heard all of this, you may choose to look the other way.....
but you can never say again that you did not know." William Wilberforce 1759-1833

thank you for the reply!!! we'll be sure to thank u if this ever happens which im hoping it never does i would think the liquid would be easier than the tablet though no? he hates tablets...i know he knows when it's meds too...syringes were actually easier when he had an infection and we used panacur

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"I told him that if a lady who doesn't cook can make such yummy Jerky for Dexter then we can do it too" - Lynx8456

http://www.facebook.com/dextersheep

In that case, if he's better about taking liquids, then have some liquid benadryl on hand! Every dog is different so do what works for you!

Brodysmom

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"Having heard all of this, you may choose to look the other way.....
but you can never say again that you did not know." William Wilberforce 1759-1833

Thanks for this, I was wondering about dosage amounts too. I've written that down. We are packing Benadryl and a baby syringe (we used that to supplement formula when we first got him) in Bailey's bag. We will be outside a lot on our trip, I just want to be prepared. He doesn't have any allergies that I am aware of... but I am trying to plan for everything! I am a hypochondriac mommy... LOL

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