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myLot reputation of 89/100. justpeachie (213) 4 years ago

I had to take my poor little MoMo to the vet last week. He has a horrible itching problem. His little body was covered in open, oozing sores. He would just claw and bite at himself till he drove us all mad. It never let up. I bathed him, doctored the sores, and applied flea spray, used hot spot medication.... over and over again. I finally had to take him in to the vet. I knew it had to be something more than just fleas, the other dogs didn't have this problem. And I wasn't overly bothered by fleas as I usually am when they are bad (they eat on me just like the dogs or worse!). I wasn't quite prepared for the diagnosis... HE"S ALLERGIC TO FLEAS! How awful for a poor little dog. How can this be? He had to have a steroid shot and was put on antibiotics. I have to put Triple Antibiotic ointment on his sores and of course I got the FrontLine flea drops. He takes his pill every day in a spoon full of ice cream (he loves ice cream).
The vet said he didn't see any fleas on him at the time so it's not a case of uncontroled fleas. But whatever fleas may be there are enough to cause this horrible reaction.
Have you ever had this problem? How do you control fleas in your home with out it costing a fortune? I live in Texas and the fleas are always bad in the summer time.
My other dogs don't really have much of a problem.
Please share your stories or solutions.

 

dogs
terilee79720 (1458) response was accepted on 8/18/2008.
denotes best response, click it to go to the best response.
tags:  fleas, dogs, allergies, cats, dog allergies
 
1. myLot reputation of 48/100. bitchelf (112)   4 years ago

Poor little MoMo. He must be tormented!! :(

I have heard that surrounding your pets areas with pine branches can keep away fleas, but of course I do not know if this is true. I hope that you find a solution soon!


myLot reputation of 89/100. justpeachie (213)  4 years ago

That sounds nice, I love the smell of pine. But that's not really feasible for me because his "area" is the entire house. He's my baby and even sleeps with me or my daughter. Thanks for commenting.

 
 
2. myLot reputation of 96/100. fluffnflowers (1360)   ranked 1,373 out of 7,858 in dogs   4 years ago

Poor little guy! I have a cat that's allergic to fleas, and she started having a lot of problems even though she never had fleas actually on her. She mostly has respiratory issues so it took us about a year to figure out the cause. I'm glad you found out what the problem was and that it wasn't something worse! I hope he's feeling better soon.

I put Frontline on my dog, my cat, and my guinea pigs, even though the cat and the guinea pigs don't go outside. As soon as I started the Frontline on the cat, her respiratory problems started to fade away. I guess the occasional flea would bite her and that would cause her to be sick for awhile.


myLot reputation of 89/100. justpeachie (213)  4 years ago

Thanks, fluffnflowers. I am using the Frontline now on all three of the inside dogs. It has made a difference. And the steroid shot has helped a lot with the scratching and itching. The antibiotics are working on the open sores, they have all dried up and the scabs are begining to fall off, plus, the hair is actually starting to grow back. I'm glad you mention the breathing problems because MoMo was having some problems with wheezing but I had not connected that with the skin problems. I will know to watch for that in the future.

 
 
3. myLot reputation of 99/100. terilee79720 (1458)   ranked 258 out of 7,858 in dogs   4 years ago

Texas - my Texas....me too.
and yes....peachie, my dog is allergic to fleas too.!
The same thing. The vet told us if there is one flea in the yard and it gets on our dog, and bites him, that he will have the allergic reaction.
We've tried everything since then and only found relief with medicated shampoo and lots of rinsing - be sure that he is squeaky clean.........rinse rinse rinse.
AND - vets are now saying that Frontline is causing some of the reaction. It's just way too strong for some of the little dogs who are allergic. My neighbor used it for her chihuahua and it almost killed the poor thing. She was sick for days.

Advantix doesn't bother them as much as Frontline. (for some reason).
My little Wolfie has little sores all over his body from scratching and itching so much. This year isn't as bad as years before.

I put flea killer over the entire yard twice a year. I make sure the house is free from anything and I make sure I use the Advantix - I also bath my dog at least once a week. I use Neosproin on his sores and try my best to keep him from licking and scratching.

It's a never ending battle. I've noticed the cooler I keep him the better he is. If he gets too hot, it makes him itch. So I rinse him off in cold water a lot.
Poor babies........Oh I almost forgot.....my vet said to break a benedryle in half and give it to him at night. It's an antihistomine and helps them, which it does.
At least it helps my Wolfie........

Allergic to fleas - I never heard of such a thing - until it happened to my dog.


myLot reputation of 89/100. justpeachie (213)  4 years ago

Hello, again, terilee... It's always nice to hear from a fellow Texan.
I've always been cautious not to bath my little ones too often because I've heard it dries the skin out too much and can actually cause more itching. So I've tried to keep it down to only a couple of times a month...but I will try it every week and see if that helps or hinders.
I've only just begun the Frontline treatment and have not noticed any problems yet. MoMo is a chihuahua and my daughter's dog is a pom-chihuahua mix (we call her a pome-wawa)and we have one of their babies left at home and all have been treated with the Fronline.
I'll try the tip with the benedryl, had not even thought of that.
Thanks for all your good advice.


myLot reputation of 99/100. terilee79720 (1458)   ranked 258 out of 7,858 in dogs  4 years ago

I hope the babies get better. It kills me to know my little puppy is miserable. I try to do what I can to help - sometimes wonder if I'm doing enough. Bless their little hearts.....


myLot reputation of 89/100. justpeachie (213)  4 years ago

Well, terilee, after a trip to the vet a few days ago I am now going to start giving MoMo Benedryl. (vet approved) I was a little late with the next dose of Frontline and in that few days he had enough exposure to fleas to start the problem all over again. I also got a Capstar pill to make sure to kill any fleas that might be on him. Those things are great. They instantly kill any live fleas and it lasts for six hours...enough time for the frontline to start working.

 
 
4. myLot reputation of 86/100. kenzie45230 (3015)   ranked 1,308 out of 7,858 in dogs   4 years ago

Poor thing. I lived in FL and TX and we always had a time with fleas. We treated the yard with something we got from the vet. Pretty expensive stuff, but I don't remember what it was. Then we treated the house - around the perimeter. We kept the animals at the vets while we treated. Then, we used some flea meds with d-Limonene. That didn't seem to bother our cats and dogs as much as the stronger chemicals.


myLot reputation of 89/100. justpeachie (213)  4 years ago

Thanks, kenzie...more good advice. We haven't treated the yard yet. That's next. The house is a problem because of my breathing problems. We've tried some different products but they were too harsh for me to breath them. Maybe I need to find some kind of natural flea repellent. But right now we don't really seem to have too bad of a problem in the house because I don't see any fleas or feel them. They usually eat me up as bad as the dogs but not this year... so far.

 
 
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