Siberian Husky Skin Problem

[jackson888]

Following on from my previous thread

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...p;hl=jackson888

So the vet has diagnosed it as flea allergy and he recommended that we change my dog's flea treatment.

Currently he is on Sentinel Spectrum and we will be switching over to Frontline Plus which kills adult fleas. We need something for heartworm and roundworm. Apart from the yearly injection what other options are there in terms of tablets (Brand, Cost, effectiveness etc)

Also we are looking at changing his shampoo. Any recommendations for a good and affordable normal shampoo.

Any replies to my questions are greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[laffi]

How about Interceptor Spectrum to cover the heartworm and the major intestinal worms?

Or if you are not in a tick area you can just use Advocate for worms (heartworm and intestinal ones) and fleas.

You can also use heartguard monthly, but this will only cover the heartworm, so you will have to add something like Drontal to it.

... basically there is a lot of options out there and it's for you and your vet to decide what suits you best

I would strongly advise against the yearly injection against the heartworm.

[Miss B]

For Flea Allergy Dermatitis, I would actually use Advantage or Advocate over Frontline Plus.

The two products work in different ways - with Frontline Plus, the fleas must actually bite the dog in order to die. With Advantage/Advocate, the fleas will die on contact - they do not need to bite your pet in order to be affected.

As for intestinal worming and heartworm prevention, I would go with Interceptor Spectrum as it covers heartworm and all intestinal worms. I am not a big fan of the Proheart injection, personally. The other option is to use Drontal for intestinal worms, and Heartgard for heartworm - but I think you'll find that Interceptor works out to be the cheaper option.

Or as laffi mentioned above you could use Advocate for fleas, heartworm and intestinal worms however Advocate does not cover tapeworm so you'd need an additional product such as Virbac Tapewormer for dogs.

You would have to check prices and see which works out the most cost-effective: [Advantage + Interceptor Spectrum], or [Advocate + Virbac Tapewormer].

But that's just my opinion based on personal preference of the products available.

How long have you been using Sentinel Spectrum for? Novartis actually has a guarantee on their product:

SENTINEL SPECTRUM will control flea infestations in your home. If you have a persistent flea problem at the end of four months continuous correct use we, at Novartis, working through your vet will use our best endeavors to investigate and resolve the problem on your dog.

Providing you adhere strictly to the instructions given, Novartis will bear that expense for a further six months.

Have you tried contacting them yet? They are really helpful - we had a client who was using Sentinel and had a persistent flea problem. Novartis worked with the case vet and the client and provided them with a long-term flea control plan tailored to the individual dog

[saxons mum]

I use Advocate on Saxon

[Nekhbet]

Actually Miss B Frontline is MADE for dogs with fleabite allergy and prevents fleas biting the dog. You can use initial dose - 2 weeks - every 4 weeks

Advantage and advocate are the ones that allow fleas to occasionally bite and can wear off faster.

I would do frontline + heartguard + generic wormers to be the cheapest option.

ETA Advocate does not cover all intestinal worms either, you are better off with an allwormer - Vets have Milbemax as well

Edited August 23, 2008 by Nekhbet

[Just Midol]

I'd just use permoxin Our dogs get fleas with every treatment except permoxin.

[polarpeak]

Hi Jackson - are you sure your Sibe has fleas? It is unusual for them to get a lot of fleas - I have 10 and have never treated them for fleas - ever. Siberians can tend to get skin problems if they are lacking in zinc, many of the cheaper foods do not contain enough zinc to keep a Siberians coat healthy. From the pictures it looks more like a food based allergy to me but I could be wrong If he were my dog I would cleanse the area with an alcohol (Listerine works well) dry it and then cover with plain white zinc cream. If that doesn't work I would look at his diet - in particular beef and beef by-products. Try removing them for 3 weeks and see if there is an improvement. You could also try supplementing his zinc intake with Blackmores Zinc - I think it's called ZinVit or something similar. 1 a day until the condition clears and then gradually decrease to 1 a week or so.

Hope that helps

[Miss B]

Actually Miss B Frontline is MADE for dogs with fleabite allergy and prevents fleas biting the dog. You can use initial dose - 2 weeks - every 4 weeks

Advantage and advocate are the ones that allow fleas to occasionally bite and can wear off faster.

I didn't say that Advantage stops fleas from biting. I said it can kill fleas on contact without them needing to bite the dog. There is a big difference. You are right though, Frontline Plus can also kill the fleas before they bite (got my wires mixed up there) but takes longer than Advantage/Advocate. Frontline Plus does not prevent fleas from biting a dog. And Advantage/Advocate are both registered for treatment of Flea Allergy Dermatitis.

Simply squeeze the contents of the tube onto the skin on the back of your dog's neck. Advantage then spreads over your pet, remaining in the oily layer of the skin, where it is effective against fleas all month long. Best of all, fleas don't have to bite your dog to be affected, so with Advantage your pet suffers less of those painful flea bites.

We've actually had a lot of clients switch from Frontline Plus to Advantage/Advocate as they were finding the Frontline to be less and less effective on their dogs, particularly those suffering from FAD. Rarely is it the other way round. I personally have used both products and will recommend Advantage everytime, despite the fact that I get Frontline Plus supplied to me for free. I won't use it on my dogs, as I don't find it to be anywhere near as effective.

[jackson888]

Hi guys .. thank you all for your replies, they have been of great help.

PolarPeak, a couple of days ago we actually found one live adult flea and what looked like flea droppings near the affected areas. We frequent a dog park so it is possible that he might have caught it from there. But thank you for questioning the matter and looking at other possibilities, skin problems like these may be due to numerous things of course.

After commencing his medication, our sibe's skin is already improving and he is no longer trying to get at the patches. After reading all the replies and also other threads on this, we have decided to go with Advantage + Interceptor Spectrum to cover his worms. Hopefully after changing his treatment it will lessen the likelihood of this happening again !!

[Dackel]

Hi,

I give my dog the monthly treatment of ADVOCATE which does everything I buy it from here [email protected] and is muuuuch cheaper. Great service as well.

Cheers Petra

[Dackel]

does not cover Tapeworm.

I worm with droncit.