My dog is sick, vet is closed, don’t know where else to ask. Itchy and hairless patches.

[RubelliteRose]

The topical Benadryl or the pill?
If you mean the pill should I follow the instructions on the bottle for kids under 12, or do something else. He’s at least 60lbs

Benadryl pill. The dosage is 1 mg per 1 pound of body weight. It is best if you can weigh your dog before dosing. Weighing yourself holding your dog and then subtracting your wieght will be close enough. Most benadryl pills are 25 mg (double chceck yours to make sure). If your dog weighs 60 pounds, you can give him 2 and slightly under 1/2 pills.
I would start with every 12 hours, but if he is still very itchy, you can increase that to every 8 hours.
Also make sure it is just Benadryl (Diphenhydramine HCl is the genaric ingredient name) and doesn't contain extra ingredients like a decongestant.

 

[cassie]

Any updates? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[tizabel_]

Any updates? Inquiring minds want to know.

It’s good news, we skipped the Benadryl because he wasn’t itching quite as much after applying the antibiotic. We took him to the vet a couple days ago and they seemed really nonchalant about it, they gave him a steroid shot and said that his skin would be better within a week. He’s still itching but I have noticed that it’s less red.
Their theory was that it was the wet collar being left on him for a long time afterwords in combination with the grossness from the cow poop and swamp.
But it’s looking better and we’re just going to hope that he stops itching soon. Thank you everyone for your responses!

 

[Sydney65]

For future reference, bc it'll probably come back, I got these at walmart. Not sure you need both, but our guy was a mess when we adopted. It works great, but hot spots come back.