URGENT!!! Claritin or Zyrtec

fortindycouple

New member
Apr 28, 2012
96
4
Indianapolis, IN
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Jack
Our vet told us to give Jack 2 of either a day for his allergies. Any suggestions or experience with either of these. We're trying to figure out which one is best to use
 

BruceP

..........
Aug 12, 2010
0
505
Milwaukee, WI
Bulldog(s) Names
HRH Princess Gracie, aka: HRH; Princess Amelia Pond, aka: Amy
Sorry, we've never used either. Benedryl works for HRH
 

Dubbiedog

New member
Community Veteran
Apr 29, 2012
963
65
Beautiful Sarasota, Florida
Bulldog(s) Names
Dublin
Dublin has just awful allergies.. We had her on Benedryl and felt it wasn't working well after a while so the vet said to try Zyrtec. We had even less success with that so now we are back to Benedryl. She gets the max we can give her because the allergies can be so bad at times. No experience with Claritin
 

linwhite

New member
Sep 24, 2012
605
26
Tallahassee, FL
Bulldog(s) Names
Guido Zamboni - EB, Zoltan - Shortybull, Zeva - Frenchie
Benedryl here - 1 mg per pound of dog. That means a 50 pound dog gets 2 tablets, a 25 # dog gets 1. They are easy to break. Wrap in a glob of peanut butter and the dog will chow down. Target has the best price on generic Benedryl around here. It's way less expensive than the ones you mentioned too. You can dose them every 8 hours. If they get a bit too much all that will happen is they will sleep it off, so it's pretty safe.
 

cowsmom

..........
Apr 27, 2011
6,996
384
Virginia
Country
usa
Bulldog(s) Names
Sarah aka cow
ive not tried claritin but im going to but have used zyrtec. our vet said only one pill a day 1/2 am 1/2 pm. she does ok on it for a few days at a time but i mostly use benadryl. it did seem to help her allergies more and less drowsiness.
 

Meggs19

New member
Oct 14, 2011
290
16
Madison, WI
Bulldog(s) Names
Tonka
I have tried both! There was a period of time when Tonka kept scratching his corneas because his eyes were itching him so badly. So we tried every antihistamine out there pretty much haha. I know that our vet told us it really depends on he individual dog and the severity of the allergies when it comes to which type will work best. Benadryl did nothing for Tonka but works great for many dogs. I didn't notice a difference between the Claritan or the Zyrtec when Tonka was on them, he kept scratching while on both (he has pretty severe allergies-tested allergic to 15 different environmental items on the skin test). I never noticed any drowsiness with either type since Tonka is super high energy and was a puppy. We now have him on Hydroxyzine-2 per day. I think it's available by prescription only and it's the one that seemed to work best for Tonka of the ones we tried. We also have him on the allergy shots. It's only been 4 months so it's too soon to say if they are working yet.


I think you might need to pick one and try it and see if there's improvement after a month or so and if not, then maybe try the other. One of them might be that "right fit" for your bulldog.
 

Meggs19

New member
Oct 14, 2011
290
16
Madison, WI
Bulldog(s) Names
Tonka
Oops, forgot to mention that the reason some antihistamines work well for some dogs and not others and the reason to try different kinds/brands is because they belong to different "classes." They all have slightly different makeups. My vet tried one from every "class" of antihistamines to try to find the right fit for Tonka.
 

Maximus

New member
Community Veteran
Jun 6, 2010
506
13
Toms River, New Jersey
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Maximus
Benadryl didn't work for Maximus at all ---- so now he's on Zyrtec .... and the Vet said he can have 2 tabs in the AM and 2 tabs in the PM. I'll see how that works for him ...... no experience here with Claritin.
 

kazzy220

..........
Jul 31, 2010
8,556
441
Grafton, OHIO
Country
England
Bulldog(s) Names
Maggie (My Angel Baby 5/31/2012). Daddy (2 years). Linus (1year). Bella (4 years)
We haven't tried these with our bullies, but our black lab mix has seasonal allergies. In the past Benadryl has worked ok. This year has been the worst year for allergies so far. The benadryl completely stopped working and so we gave Zyrtek a try. It did take away about 80% of his itchies but wasn't perfect. Luckily, the temps here are dropping close to freezing every night now and there has been a considerable reduction in his licking and itching. Thank goodness!!!! :yes:
 

sheshistory

Moderator
Jul 11, 2010
3,395
291
Vermont
Country
United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Bentley, Linus, Truman
I have used both Zyrtec and Claritin for my itchy bullies and I would say Zyrtec worked better than Claritin - though I had limited luck with each.
 
OP
fortindycouple

fortindycouple

New member
Apr 28, 2012
96
4
Indianapolis, IN
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Jack
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #12
We decided to try the Claritin first...MISTAKE!!! He was literally bouncing off the walls for 5 straight hours!!!
 

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