Medicine Section

ANTIHISTAMINES

Acepromazine (PromAce)

• Although acepromazine has several actions that might be useful, it is mostly used as a tranquilizer.

Chlorpheniramine Maleate (Chlor-Trimeton)

• Chlorpheniramine maleate has several important effects and uses. Most obviously, it's an antihistamine and it's used for acute inflammatory and allergic conditions such as snake bites, vaccination reactions, blood transfusion reactions, bee stings and insect bites, and to manage itchy skin.

Clemastine fumarate (Tavist)

• Clemastine fumarate is one of the more effective antihistamines albeit relatively expensive. Its efficacy makes it a common first choice for itchy skin. It has found to be helpful in 30% of itchy dogs and 50% of itchy cats. Other studies have found higher percentages. Clemastine fumarate is probably the most reliably effective antihistamine for itchy dogs of all of the antihistamines available.

Cyproheptadine (Periactin)

• Cyproheptadine is an antihistamine that in many ways is similar to other antihistamines with which we are more familiar. Cyproheptadine also has some other properties of interest. It also antagonizes serotonin, a neurotransmitter, in the brain. This leads to an increase in appetite and often is the reason this medication is used.

Diphenhydramine (Benadryl)

• Diphenhydramine has several important effects and thus several uses. Most obviously, diphenhydramine is an antihistamine and it's used for acute inflammatory and allergic conditions such as snake bites, vaccination reactions, blood transfusion reactions, bee stings and insect bites.

Famotidine (Pepcid AC)

• More commonly known by its brand name Pepcid AC, this drug can be helpful in the treatment of Helicobacter infection, inflammatory bowel disease, canine parvovirus, ingestion of a toxin that could be ulcerating (overdose of aspirin, for example), any disease involving protracted vomiting, or chronically in combination with medications that irritate stomachs.

Hydroxyzine (Atarax)

• This drug is an antihistamine used to deal in various ways with itchy skin. Hydroxyzine is frequently included in antihistamine trials for allergic skin disease.

Loratadine (Claritin)

• Loratadine represents a new generation of antihistamine that does not cross the blood-brain barrier and does not cause drowsiness. It also is much longer lasting than some of the classic antihistamines in use. The size of this tablet and its twice a day dosing schedule make it a convenient antihistamine for feline use.

Meclizine Hydrochloride (Bonine, Antivert, Meclizine Hydrochloride)

• An excellent product for people that can also be used for car-sick pets, meclizine hydrochloride is generally used for nausea relief due to motion sickness. It is also used to control the nausea resulting from vestibular disease, a syndrome characterized by vertigo and loss of balance.