Is Piriton safe to use?

I have a GSD, she is 7years old and has dreadful itchy coo. I Stronghold her monthly, so not fleas. The vet prescribed Prednicare - steriods and three weeks later the poor thing is still nibbling her legs and frantically scratching her body. It's awful to watch and I feel helpless. So anyone any experience with piriton? I'd be very grateful for any help.

When Henry recently strated chewing his feet he had blood tests which revealed he is allergic to grasses and Hazel. He now has a serum made up which he started on last week. During the waiting period I had him on Piriton but they had no effect, the prednisilone that my vet prescribed really helped him, as a short term measure. He is now on Atopica, again for a short time until the serum kicks in, but that upsets his tummy when he is on it for more than a few days at a time so not ideal.

I would suggest you re-visit you vet and have some bloods done, once you know what is making her so itchy you can work against it...I know how you feel, I hated it when he was tearing at his feet and crying

Best of luck.

You can use Piriton (not piriteze) however you will only be treating the symptoms.

FBO + Vitamin E may be useful plus Vitamin C as it is a natural antihistamine.

Ensure that you have eliminated common causes of itching eg the major one is dust mites which means you must treat the house etc plus car with Indorex regularly.

Do not use biological washing powders or conditioners on laundry used by her, nor carpet fresheners.

If, still no joy you may need to look at food.

Hi Scorpio,
Thank you for that, I will indeed revisit vet and ask for a blood test. I hope Henry gets better soon too.
Callie

Vet told us when Duncan was so itchy we could use piriton but it doesn't work very well for dogs and tbh it really just put him to sleep.

Hi Smokeybear,
Thank you for your reply. I do Indorex house and bedding about twice a year according to the instructions. However, I do, but have always, used biological washing powder - so maybe thats it - although this has only come on again recently, its not an ongoing situation. And I'll certainly think about getting extra vitamins if that helps relieve the itching. Many thanks.

Piriton is very good and if it makes them sleepy, its only at first - they get used to it. It is much more preferable to using the likes of steroids

In an adult large dog - ie our smallest Boxer weighs in at 23 kilos the maximum dose is 2 x 3 times a day but really you would need to check the doseage with your vet

When the snow and ice were prevelant our Boxer was itch free, now the grass is uncovered again, she is itchy hence we go back to Piriton. In cooler months we can get by with a much smaller dose, either 1 in morning and bedtime or 2 in morning [depending on itch] and 1 at night

Bear in mind that even if you do frind out what is wrong with your dog, you may not be able to totally eradicate the irritant from her lifestyle.

As a matter of interest what do you feed?

Hi Callie
I went through this with one of my dogs a few years ago. His front legs became infected because he was nibbling them so much and it also affected his face. He was referred to the vet hospital at Bristol University and the only thing they could find that he was allergic to was harvest mites and then they only found three on him, whereas they are normally found in clusters. The treatment was to spray him with Frontline every fortnight during the Autumn and until the symptoms stopped. Fortunately, he has grown out of it now.

I had a dog like this - sometimes difficult to establish the root cause.

I'm sure the vet took you through this but the first thing to do is to establish roughly when the itching started and what changed around that time.

If that dosen't reveal anything then we started changing things one by one. These can be

- food
- flooring types, I removed carpets and went to wood
- where you walk (the frontline advice above seems very good)
- central heating (dries everything, including skin)
- grooming frequency (i now generally only use a brush and furminator, occassionaly spray on brush out shampoo and a bath less often)

There can be other causes, would be good for others to step in here

Have you introduced any new food (change of food or even new treats)?

Have you changed brands of any of the cleaners you use that she may come in contact with?

When reactions happen suddenly (ie the dog is older and not reacted before), there is usually, but not always, something new that is causing it.