# How much benadryl do I need to give my rats?



## BlackBirdSeesYou

Kurt and Eddie have been a bit sneezy lately. Nothing serious, but they've both had porphyrin staining around their noses. I'd rather not take them to the vet right now because it's not too bad and I'd like to use something a bit more mild to see if it helps. I've got the children's kind. I've never weighed Kurt, but last time, I weighed Eddie, he was about 520 grams, so I'd say they're both around 500 grams. How many mL's would I give each rat? And would I give it twice a day and for how long? Yes, I've looked at the Rat Guide and I really don't understand it all that much and don't want to mess up the doses, so please no RatGuide. Thanks guys.


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## TexasRatties

I found this link on it but I would get some more advice before giving it to them as it could be a risk to your rats.

http://ratguide.com/meds/respiratory_drugs/diphenhydramine_hcl.php


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## BlackBirdSeesYou

Haha. You obviously didn't read the last sentence, but thanks anyway. I suck at math, so you think somebody could help me out with figuring out how much I should give them?


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## TexasRatties

Hahahah nope I didn't read the last sentence (bonks head) Hopefully someone can be of more assistance


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## CJMoore

Mathematically it would be 1 mg every 12 hours, but you could go as high as 5 mg every 12 hours. Please don't give this based on my calculation though, I know nothing about medicating rats, I simply did the math.


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## dr.zapp

What is the concentration of the Benadryl? The volume you give will be based on that. The amount should be between 0.5-2.3 mg 2 times a day, based on the recommended dosage from the ratguide link above. Since they are ~ 500 g, They are large adults and so I would give them 1-2 mg, (2 mg/kg) based on how lethargic it makes them. You want to decrease symptoms, but don't knock them out. Start at 1 mg and adjust as needed. A simple calculation once you know the concentration of the Benadryl (in mg/ml) is the amount you want, divided by the concentration you have, equals the volume to give. Example- most liquid benadryl is 2.5 mg/ml and you want to give 1 mg, so (1 mg)/(2.5 mg/ml) = 0.4 ml (the mg units cancel out).


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## BlackBirdSeesYou

The bottle says it's 12.5 mg/ 5 mL. . Would I just divide 1 mg by 5 mL? I'm so sorry. I swear I'm not all this dumb. I just really suck at math.


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## CJMoore

(1 mg)/(12.5mg/5mL)=0.4mL

Your bottle is actually the same dosage Dr. Zapp gave in the above example because (2.5 mg/ml) is the same as (12.5 mg/5 mL) which is why the answer came out the same.


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## BlackBirdSeesYou

Oh, dur. I figured that at first but couldn't figure out why they'd write it differently on the bottle. Thanks guys. So I'd give 0.4-0.8 mL twice a day. For how long do you think I should give it to them?


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