Tuesday, May 1, 2012

attn doggy mamas

Coop and I play outside a lot. Westie's are prone to allergies or skin irritation so it was no surprise to me when he started to get itchy bumps (aka bumpies in our household) in the Spring and Summer. Our vet likes to keep him on an antihistamine. They come as a 10mg at the vet and then I have to cut them in half since Coop can't have more than that in one day since he's a tiny tot. Click HERE to see a blast from the past Coopie post.

BUT after paying $30+ every month or so for his allergy meds, I started to google-doctor our pup. (yes, I am one of those people) After doing so I discussed another option with our vet. Turns out my findings were correct. I can buy a children's (5mg) Claritin over the counter to get the same reaction to Coop's allergies since that's all they're giving me at the vet! I don't have to cut them in half anymore either. So glad. I'm not always the best pill slicer and often wondered if he was getting a full 5mg when his 1/2 looked a little wonky.
Side note for other Westie owners: He'll be 4 in October. His allergies only started bothering him last year. That's when we started to notice bumpies.

I'm going to try a generic Claritin when this drug supply is gone. The only downside I've found with this cheaper option is taking them out of the package and putting them in his old prescription bottle:

2 comments:

Amber said...

Did you know you can buy claritin in a bottle? So much easier!

And, did you know that you can buy a pill cutter at the store that will allow you to cut them in half exactly (in case you ever need to do it again). Walgreens or CVS should have them. Good luck!

Erin said...

I didn't see it. The only other option I saw was in liquid form. I'll check again. Thanks for the info! Very helpful!!!