Flea Effects

[all creatures]

Hey All!

Is it just me or do others feel itchy when talking about fleas?

Our elderly border collie's ear has recently dropped (?). On closer investigation I found an infection where the ear has become swollen and feels like it's filled with pus (yum). All squashy and liquidy... I was looking for a wound and noticed a flea on my hand and then more and more right on the upper edge of the ear in the tight fur and well hidden!

A dose to each of the dawgs with Capstar. Anybody know if the fleas have caused the infection? How it might have happened? What to do about it?

The dogs haven't been wildly scratching of late but we live on a block with rabbits and mice and keep chickens too! Cannot treat it all.

3 days to go before Bali holiday (2 weeks) and Gran' an' Gran' look after the furry kids. (We can tell they don't really want to cause Midge the Staffie keeps hurting Bonnie the Sheltie (theirs) with rough play but we've left it too late to book a kennel in Perth for the little red brick.

HELP! They're "Stick-fast-fleas"!!

Edited December 18, 2010 by all creatures

[cavNrott]

You will take her to the vet to have her her ear treated before you leave for your holiday, won't you.

[Crisovar]

It sounds like an Aural Haematoma, which basically means that your dog has been scratching at the ear or shaking its head a lot and the small blood vessels in the ear have basically burst and filled the ear with blood. It needs to be drained and sutured with a pressure pad to prevent it refilling, and the cause of the dogs discomfort treated. Time for the VET.

[Rottifan]

Once you have the ear problem sorted with something from the vet perhaps give your dogs a dose of Comfortis - had good results with that relatively new product, like Capstar but lasts a month! Tell gran to keep the other dog separated so no injuries are caused while you're away!