Fleas or allergies
 

hi, just wondering what could be going on with ella... she was covered for the first time ever with lots of fleas.. prob 20 or so! we've never had this problem & she's on the k-9advantix every month. i've never even bathed with flea shampoo or used flea spray. the advantix always seemed to work until now! i also gave her the capstar pill i believe it's called. now she's digging at her skin & scratching behind her ears & her neck, but when i check her there is not a flea anywhere to be seen. could this be an allergy to the flea shampoo & spray? also this is a crazy question, but will dogs always have at least a flea or 2 on them? thanks for your help... this has been the best informative website ever! esp for a worry wart like me:)

get some comfortis at will kill all fleas in 30 min and last all month all it takes is one flea bite to make them scratch for two week the vet can give them a shot to make her feel better

The itching from the bite could last for 2-3 weeks. Just like a bug bite in a humane.

Absolutely agree with prior posts. We just went through our first bout with fleas and Remy is just getting over the scratching. Easily scratched for a month. Benadryl did help.

You may want to flea comb your pup 2x per day for a week or so, just to make sure there aren't one or two left behind. We got rid of the major infestation quickly, however I kept flea combing and a week later still found an errant one. Doing a visual check is not sufficient.

Good luck, its extremely frustrating and time consuming to get rid of those things....

thanks for all the info!! i still am seeing a flea or 2 here & there, but nothing like the first infestation! my poor baby! think i'm going to try the benadryl too!

They can have allergies to flea bites

I would tell you to call your vet. I gave Fiona capstar as well, and the vet gave me prednosone (steroid) to help her with the itching, it could be a mixture of the both. I have been battling with fleas as well, and we finally have it under control--poor fiona was really itching and messing up her skin! Good Luck! :cool:

so this is a dumb question, but will there always be a live flea or 2 on them no matter what?

ok, so i just found about 6 or 7 fleas on ella just now... what in the world is going on? i thought that capstar & advantix killed them! i'm not handling this well at all!!! how can i keep them off of her? she just had a flea bath saturday... will another hurt her so soon?

try dawn dishwashing soap it will work and much safer than those nasty chemicals in the flea shampoo, they are not the safe. You need to vacum alot, especially where they sleep or hang out, dog beds, under the bed, couch cushions. You need to wash the bedding and the fleas will jump out of a vacum bag, you can try a flea collar and put it in your vacum and it will kill them, collars are not safe for these guys. The flea comb you put some vaseline on the comb and then they will not jump off, they are little jumpers. People have used the borax on their carpet, let it sit and then vacum, it is a tedious process. fleas do not like eculytpsus spelling is wrong and they not like cedar as well

I did not find the topical stuff to be all that useful. Remy is on Sentinel for heart worms, which also helps with fleas. It breaks the flea lifecycle - when they bite him they die and will not mature to lay eggs. This seemed to make a difference because the ones I combed out of him seemed to be "slow movers" and half dead - they did not jump all over the place. However it does not help get rid of the live ones, and potential eggs you have in the house which is where they are breeding.

The post above is on point, you can also search the forums for good advice... the following is what I did - Wash the pup in Dawn dish detergent. If possible, fill a bath tub or sink with water and submerge her up to her neck. Rub a ring of Dawn around her neck before doing so which will prevent them from running onto her head to escape the water. This will help to drown them. After you get her rinsed well, flea comb her while wet to see if you missed any. Then, confine her to a bathroom, or other area that is without a doubt flea free.

You then need to clean the house. Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. As soon as you are done dispose of the vacuum bag - get it out of the house. I did use Borax on the carpet. Vacuum all couches, wash everything they touch (linens, blankets, etc.) in HOT water.

Is you pup in your car with you? Remy goes to work with me everyday. So I also ended up cleaning my car and its carpets. Used borax on them, and vacuumed thoroughly.

I eventually ended up steam cleaning my house (and office) because they kept reappearing. It was surprising how many were in my carpet. Once I steam cleaned, I re-vacuumed. That was how we eventually got rid of them.

I now flea comb him every day or every other day just to make sure we are flea free. It was BEYOND frustrating

thanks for all the advice! i'm def going to try the borax & dawn dishwashing! will it still be ok to put conditioner on her? what's so strange is that this summer wasn't near as bad as they are now! i thought cold weather was supposed to kill them off. everyone i've talked to in this area says they are having the same problem!