Tasker is itching and I don't know why.......
I couldn't stand it anymore so yesterday I gave Ty a flea bath, the vet said as long as it had been at least a week since the frontline it was safe. I found six or seven DEAD fleas after the bath YUCK!!!!!!!!!! Toaday I gave Tasker a bath and did not find a single dead flea. He has chewed his flanks raw, I actually shaved them again to prevent him from pulling the hair out. He has also chewed the inside of his legs and groin area until they are red and sore. ANother area is the back of his legs where the tendon is. He is NOT chewing his feet or digging his ear. He is so scabby fron chewing I cannot tell if there is flea dirt . Night time has been miserable because he is chewing and slobbering by the bed all night. I am giving him 75 mg of benedry which does help enormously and he will sleep then but if I don't give it to him he awake all night. The Vet wants me to wash him DAILY with BETADINE, I think that is far too drying and will only contribute to the itching. I've considered food allergy but he's on the same food he's eaten for ages.... he gets no table food and only one kind of treat. Any thoughts????? |
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| I had a shepherd that was allergic to flea bites. Not to the fleas. When bitten it got inflammed, itchy and infected. She had to have antibiotics to then clear up the infrection. What helped, and was recommended by the vet, was some cold tea compresses. We kept our tea bags, squeezed tea onto a cloth and held it onto the scabby area. That helped releve the itching.
We also had to keep her very dry, and she loved to swim. Seemed that if she was not really dried through and through it can get moldy in the undercoat, and agrevate things even more. I also had another dog that had a reaction to a new plastic water dish we bought. Took us a month to figure it out, so we changed back to the stainless steel we had before and all went away. |
| Oh poor Tasker, sounds like an allergy to flea bites.
I don't know if this will help, but Aloe Vera Gel on the area, is not harsh & usually helps to settle the skin down & take away that itchy annoying feeling and inflammation. Tea bags are a good idea too as they soothe as well.  |
| Check with your Vet., but mine tells me to use benedryl. Dosage according to weight. My lab has seasonal allergies and I use it when she is really itchy and it helps. Sometimes it makes her a little sleepy. My Sheppy was itching. My vet saw no evidence of fleas or dry skin so we thought maybe a ltttle allergy thing going on so I gave him a dose of benedryl at least we slept at night!! No tags clanging all night!! I had to use it about three nights for him. It must be awfull to be so itchy. Even if it is a flea reaction the benedryl helps but check with your vet to make sure there is not a reason that your Tasker can't take it. I don't even call my vet anymore unless I see evidence of another problem I know the Mg per body weight. Good Luck Poor baby!! Hope the itching calms down |
| Poor Tasker! If you don't want to use Betadine, how about an oatmeal bath? That wouldn't be quite as drying and would be soothing to him. |
| We had a really miserable night last night, 75 mg of benedryl was little help. I did pick up some witch hazel, I'll see if it helps. The skin of his belly is bright red..... I'm going to give him a zyrtec tonight to see if it's allergy. He has been outside twice today for just a very brief few minutes, There are no fleas so there could not be any new bites, I just can't figure what it could be. |
| Poor Tasker...Me and Panda send our love and kisses...hope he feels better.... |
| Are you sure there is not anything outside that he might be rubbing up against that he might have a reaction too, say grasses or a plant?
Witch Hazel is wonderful, used it myself on a sheepie, be interested to know how you go with that? Another thing you can do is to get some pennyroyal essential oil, put it in a water spray bottle, just a few drops, fill with water and mist the areas like his bedding, carpets and even places outside. If there is any fleas that might be around it will drive them away. Better then spraying harmful insecticides around the place after a flea infestation. |
| This might sound stupid, but this sounds like something similar that used to happen to my old boy Sam, a golden retriever. We would put a warm tea bag (after we used it to make tea...lol...) on a red spot and just try to get him to stay still as long as possible. A few minutes to half an hour was usually enough, we did this twice a day and after a few days it seemed to clear up.
I have no idea if there is actually any medical benefit to this, but I don't think it could hurt? |
| You can try Willard Water, I haven't used it myself but some top dog authorities swear by it.
www.care2.com/channels/solutions/pets/180 |
| Poor Tasker,
You have my sympathies and my boys send sloppy kisses his way. Blue seems to have an allergy to flee bites and this is after 10 years where they never seemed to bother him before. Like people, we can develope allegies to things later in life which didn't bother us previously. Blue, is the first indicator in my house that I need to get more dosage of Frontline or another product. You mentioned the Benedryle didn't appear to work so I'm not sure what I would suggest as that does help Blue. My vet has also given me a spray of some sort (sorry don't remember the name) which relieved the itching. Keep us posted and hugs to Tasker. Marianne and the boys |
Tasker's Mom wrote: We had a really miserable night last night, 75 mg of benedryl was little help. I did pick up some witch hazel, I'll see if it helps. The skin of his belly is bright red..... I'm going to give him a zyrtec tonight to see if it's allergy. He has been outside twice today for just a very brief few minutes, There are no fleas so there could not be any new bites, I just can't figure what it could be.
I am so sorry that Tasker is still itching. Has your vet thought about some prednisone? (steroids) I have had to use them a couple of times for my Yellow Lab for some allergy symptoms. Steroids have some side effects but the poor thing (and you too) can only go on so long. I really hope you both get some relief. It's so hard to watch them itch and feel so miserable. I know with flea allergies it only takes one bite so even if the frontline kills them the reaction is still there I had a shepherd once that would react so bad she got "hot Spots" and her hair would fall out and the skin would get inflammed and ooze!!!! Only steroids would help. Good Luck |
We are headed to the Vet for steroids, but he can't see him til tomorrow evening  |
Poor guy, you've had your share of problems  Good luck! |
| Lucy's allergic to flea bites too. Like you, we had to shave spots to keep her from yanking hunks out. Aloe Vera and over the counter itch sprays (even Bactine) help until you can get to the vet. I know it's a long way away when he's itching now, but the steroids will help immensely. At first sign of itching with Lucy now, I take her in so she goes straight on the prednisone but doesn't need the strong cortisone shot. Everything's much better by later that evening.
I'm sure you know this already but be prepared for tons of water drinking and outside time. Those steroids make them parched! |
| Two trips to the Vet this week...... $200 poorer.... New antihistimine: Chlorpheniramine 4mg 2 tablets 2x's a day and am switching him back to lamb and rice dog food. For now I'm going back to Purina One (he was on that when he was younger), Lamb is the number one ingredient.
Vet thinks it's "environmental allergies" and possibly food wants me to have blood testing done and start allergy shots . I'm thinking I'll switch to Lamb & rice give him the pills, wait till it's good and cold and there is lots of snow. Stop the pills and see what happens......
Does anyone know HOW I can find out what brand of dog lamb and rice has the LEAST number of OTHER ingredients??????? |
| I have found that any food with WHEAT in it can cause problems. Skin, Tummy and yeast infections....... I am anti chemical..... I have talked to some people that say that Frontline stopped workig after using it for awhile???? Although someothers say it works fine for them??????? I won't use anything on the Babies that I am told to wear gloves to admimister..... This is just My Opinion and a choice I make.......I use Diatamasious Earth on the Babies.......Human Grade not the Commercial Grade..... I put it directly on them and use it on the yard and in the house too...... I use essential oils mixed with baby shampoo to bath them in the summer months.. Although Predisone does have some side effects it is necessary to use sometimes for a limited period of time.......A Sulphur Salve will also help the itching and heal hot spots.... Giving Fish Oil, Flaxseed Oil or Olive Oil mixed with their food will help with dry skin ....... I tend to be radical when it comes to nutrition.....Come to Think About It I Am Radical About Most Things When It Comes To The Babies...... Kaye |
| Thanks, I am giving flax seed oil now and hope to not have to give the frontline again. He won't be due til the start of December. By then the snow will be on the ground and the gosh darn fleas BETTER be dead!!! I may have to be a bit more radical...... I genrally take the middle of the raod approach..... caution tempered with SOME trust but maybe it's time to change that!! Tasker seems much better after two days of the new antihistimine, his skin is definately less red and last night we ALL slept all night without scratching scratching scratching!!!! He's laying here at my feet and looking at his belly, for th first time in quite some time it's not bright red and angry looking!!! |
| If you've used frontline often enough, do any of you think it's possible to create stronger, pesticide resistant bugs? |
| I haven't always been this radical.....I fed Science Diet for years {15}....Never questioned.Because My Vet sold it ...So it had to be the best Right? Really didn't have anymore problems then anyone else did...I thought.....Took My Vets word on everything.....Why not He Was The Vet and the Expert... Then I got real sick and started to look at what we were eating.....That lead me down the path of looking at what I was feeding My Babies......As I spent months researching and studying nutririon .......I completely changed my approach to feeding Us and My Babies........I realized just how ignorant I was about Nutrition............. I started to study and study and study............I changed my lifelong approach to vaccinations.....I changed what I fed the Babies..........With the exception of Heartguard I use NO CHEMICALS.... Now, I am radical in most peoples eyes.......I just want to have the Healtiest Babies I can Have......I know just enough to be Dangerous......But, I know what the ANSWER MIGHT BE BEFORE I ASK THE QUESTION.........Knowledge Is Freedom....Kaye |
Willowsprite wrote: If you've used frontline often enough, do any of you think it's possible to create stronger, pesticide resistant bugs?
I know that before THIS year I NEVER saw a single flea on a dog in my house and this year they have about driven me crazy!!! Tasker has had frontline since he was a pup. So what's the difference? I don't know.......................... frontline resistant flea..........could be!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| This year was a bad year for fleas, hot, dry, long warm season. Your climate in NY is almost the same as ours, I think we get a bit more snow but that's about it.
I hadn't seen a flea on mine in a long time, but when I did I went and spent the 70 dollars on a six pack of advantage and only had to apply it once. That was the end of it. I don't like to use any chemicals on my pets if I can help it so I don't use it year round or even just in the summer, only as needed. I remember a bad flea problem a few years ago, seemed to crop up out of nowhere. The advantage worked for the pets, but then we found fleas trying to bite us since we had made their first food choice unappetizing to them. I then bought Zodiac premise spray. One use of that and no more fleas for years. I wouldn't use the zodiac prducts on or near an animal that may be bred someday, since it has precor, a growth regulator that stops a flea egg from developing and stops them from reproducing as well as killing adult fleas. |
| In My Humble Opinion...I think that BUGS and strains of BACTERIA are evolving.......From the over use of Antibotics and Chemicals.......We hear about this daily on the News.....Of some new strain of something....I think the All THe Medical Community knows to do is throw a Drug or Chemical at the Problem......Which all attach The Immune System.......I think we are are over vaccinationg Our Babies.......Once they are immune after their seriers of puppy shots and one booster they are ummune for years...... Why keep vaccinationg them yearly when they don't need it?You can't make them more immune!!!!!!!!!!! I stopped vaccination 3 years ago........I now have a titer done to check immunity.......It is more expensive to have done but well worth it...The Rescue Babies that come in that we don't have proof of vacination ,I have to have vaccinated.......Rabies I do every 3 years.......Thats all.........Kaye |
| Luckily we haven't had them invade the house. I am obsessive about vacuuming daily and so far no fleas in the house. Haven't seen a flea in awhile and we've had some pretty hard frosts so am keeping my fingers crossed. Tasker doesn't need more chemicals ontop of everything else! |
| Had a VERY interesting post on another forum about vacinations and the lack of need for, was actually a lengthy article from Cornell Vet School, I'll see if I can't scrounge it up..... |
| I agree Kaye... that is the same vaccination protocol I plan on following for my dogs. |
| Speaking of bugs and winter.... there is a moth fluttering around my office today! Kind of weird since we have so much ice out there... and I don't keep the house particularily warm. LOL
I hope the cat catches it soon, Winston loves moths. His favorite snack.  |
| mmmmmmm yum! |
| Well, at least you guys werent the ones to bring the fleas home....I sat on someones NASTY sofa and brought fleas home....it took all of last summer to get rid of those horrible things....4 bombings, 8 cans of spray, and a professional rug and sofa cleaner.....and Brian didnt get bitten once!
Go figure.... |
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OHHHHHHHHHH DARCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! POOOOOOR THING Not sure I'd admit that too many places!!! |
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