Is Benedryl safe?

[Cleo]

Hi ... our 2+ year old Chow/Finnish Spitz is way overdue for a vet visit and vaccines. Reason being is the last time she was there she almost took the vet's head off when he went to examine her underbelly. Even with a muzzle he was fearful. If I'm not mistaken the office gave my sister a prescription to fill for a tranquilizer but she is reluctant to give JoBear any type of drugs so the office told her to give 2 benedryl's two hours before the appointment. Her last weigh-in was at 60 pounds. Overall she is a very loving and affectionate dog to everyone here at the house; she even behaves well at the groomer's but the vet will not see her without any type of sedation.

Thanks.

[Marty]

Yes, it is safe....I have used it when one of my dogs has the itchies.

Just a suggestion....Biscotti acts up at the Vet's also (with good reason...she has had back surgery and numerous ear cleanings) and my Vet asked how she was at home, too...she is a total love muffin. I finally got tired, and slightly embarrassed by her behavior, so I tried a different Vet....just to see if changing the atmosphere might help (no reflection on my Vet). So far, so good. She does not seem to have that initial panic which seemed to affect her visit.

[Tambrey]

You also might see if there is a vet who will make a home visit...here in "farm country" our vet will come to the house to give our dogs vaccines, rather than us having to make it an all day multiple trip event to get them in (4 dogs) for checkups and vaccines...he charges a bit more for the trip, but well worth the money spent in time saved and frustration levels kept at a minimum for yourself and the animals!!

[Cleo]

Thanks. For whatever reason my sister called the vet's office before the appt. today and mentioned she'd be giving JoBear benedryl. They said it wouldn't be enough and my BIL went to pick up the tranquilizers. She got 25 mgs. of something that starts with an A (sorry I don't have it with me). It certainly took the edge off as she appeared drunk. She was fine in the car (vet is 2 minutes away); fine in the waiting room; and then let loose in the examination room. Even with a muzzle on her the vet wasn't able to draw blood to check for heartworm. I wasn't there but apparently she was lunging at everyone. She did get her necessary shots and he said her constant scratching (which was one of our concerns) was due to allergies. Didn't elaborate on it. The vet said she'd have to be knocked out completely for him to draw her blood.

I've been to this vet before with two of my cats. I discontinued taking my cats there because when examining my Keeks' mess of a mouth, said we could wait on a cleaning until it got "really bad". A second opinion and a cleaning diagnosed her with stomatitis and she ended up needing 6 teeth pulled. He has no bedside manner and is a little odd. I suspect the dog senses this and agree that we might have better luck with another vet. While we're all in the same house here and share responsibilities of her, she's licensed and belongs to my sister and brother in law so I have limited say on it.

Thanks all.

[JMM]

Probably Acepromazine.

I think trying another vet or a home vet is worth it.

Some dogs do need sedation to do anything to them. It certainly isn't the first option or what we'd like to do, but we want everyone working with the dog to be safe and we don't want the dog to struggle and hurt itself. Hopefully a different environment will work for JoBear. Maybe schedule a visit with a home vet for one of your animals and mention trying to get JoBear's stuff done at the same time...