Chip is allergic to his flea/tick meds

[Ashley V]

Gave him First Shield last night after I was bitten by a tick. All seemed well until about midday today when I noticed him scratching a lot more in that area. His skin was red and I could tell he wasn't comfortable, so I broke down and gave him a bath with a doggie oatmeal shampoo, hoping it was gentle enough not to irritate him even more. Shortly after the bath, he almost seemed to get more itchy and he wasn't just scratching his back. He was biting his paws and scratching his back a lot more. He's okay other than just being itchy and a little extra sleepy. I tried to call the vet, but they closed at 8. I gave him a little benadryl for now to maybe give him some relief but if that doesn't help, I'm calling the vet first thing in the morning to get their advice. I don't know what else I could do for him. I gave Smokey the exact same stuff and he's okay, it's just Chippy.

[ArmaniMan]

Is First Shield the Banfield created flea and tick med? I wouldn't touch that stuff with a ten foot pole- there are a lot of reports of bad reactions, even death linked to it.

[Ashley V]

Well it's the same stuff as Vectra, which was have used on Chip and Smokey before with no problems, but that was a couple years ago when we had a bad flea problem. Smokey is fine and is having no problems. Chip's back is just really itchy. I'm calling the vet first thing in the morning to see what they say since they are closed now.

[Ellie May]

Guessing you talked to the vet already. It's most likely a reaction to the permethrin. It happens often enough that Ellie's vet has stopped carrying products that contain it for now. It can make an animal feel like something is crawling on them (like parathesia). You'll just have to avoid it from now on.

Whenever this kind of thing happens, they should be bathed in dish soap with lukewarm water (hot water increases absorption) and the vet should be notified.

[Ashley V]

I did take him to the vet and he gave him an antihistamine/steroid medicine to take for the week and we're following up on Friday. Chippy seems better today, but unfortunately we had an emergency at home with our A/C leaking freon, so right now both of the dogs are with our groomer/boarder and we're staying with family due to toxic fumes. Our groomer knows what's going on and she's real good about paying attention to them.