Leah82 Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 I was giving the dogs a brush yesterday morning before taking them to the Big Day Out for dogs and discovered fleas and lots of them Sarah seemed fine and quite happy to share her life with a few (or 20) parasites but Collie has come up in red blotchy skin, we didn't notice the extra scratching he's been doing as he generally enjoys a frequent scratch for no particular reason. So at this point we abandoned our day's plans to deal with the flea issue. I washed them with flea shampoo, re-applied their flea preventative (which I've been a bit lax with because they don't usually get exposed), we used some surface spray outside and this morning set off a couple of flea bombs in the house before going to work. I'm pretty sure we've covered all bases to get rid of them but in the mean time Collie is still pretty red and itchy. Does anyone have any suggests on how we can give him some relief while his skin recovers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotdashdot Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 So did you wash them and re apply flea preventative in the same 24 hours? If yes (as seems from your post) it won't be as effective as it could be. You should always wait 24 hours either side of bathing/swimming for the best protection - as the flea preventative (if it's frontline or advantix/advantage etc) goes into the oils of the skin. They also need to be completely 100% dry, and it's easiest to just wait a whole day to achieve this. Also - the flea eggs/larvae/population that isn't on the dog is the biggest issue. Flea bombs may help, but you'll need to be on top of the preventative to make sure they don't get a chance to come back. Depends on what product you're using though...eg Advantix is an adulticide only, Frontline Plus claims to kill all life stages as does Revolution and something like Sentinel that does your worming as well is a flea "birth control" as I say, rendering all adults infertile - stopping the life cycle. For relief you could try Aloveen conditioner, or a Calendula tea rinse (if you do a search, there should be more threads on that topic) good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leah82 Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 I did wait until they were fully dried before putting on the preventative, I wasn't aware you had to wait any longer than that. I will be keeping a close eye on both of them for awhile I think so will reapply if it's not working. Thanks for the tip about the shampoo and tea, I won't wash him again this soon but I guess I can apply the rinse to the sensitive areas without getting him wet all over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayla1 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Aloe vera may help too but I've only used it on small red patches not large areas, because it's a bit sticky (I get the gel straight from the plant). The calendula tea might be better if he's itchy all over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leah82 Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 blah, I just went home to open a few windows after we flea bombed our home, no evidence of further infestation which is good however a quick check of Sarah showed up a couple of fleas still alive and kicking. Need to get this sorted before the weekend as we are going camping for a few days which means a few hours in the car with the dogs and sleeping in the same tent for a few nights :p Any suggestions as to where we can go from here, is it ok to wash them with the flea shampoo again a day or so later? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotdashdot Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Maybe try some Capstar tablets? Will probably be more effective than a shampoo treatment as it's in the blood stream then for 24 hours, rather than on the skin for a few minutes. Up here, 6 tablets costs about $27 (each tab lasting 24 hours per dog) if you're more metro it may be cheaper (we're regional) Also, don't know if you've ever considered Comfortis as a flea treatment? I don't use it as I need the tick prevention more than flea, but it's a tablet (so can't be washed off) and from all the feedback I've heard, it kicks flea butt. Some people do report a reaction, but you get that with every treatment and it's a matter of supervising etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HazyWal Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Comfortis is brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebanne Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Comfortis is brilliant. but not tested as safe to use on breeding dogs, male or female. Just adding this info for others reading this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leah82 Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 awesome thanks, I did some searching for comfortis and found it for $83 for 6 tabs at city farmers. Might give my local pet store a call as well and see if they have it. Now to figure out how to get my hands on it, bit hard when the OH drops me at work most days as is usually too busy to have lunch at work let alone find time to drive to the pet store when they're open Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leah82 Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 I did a ring around, looks like city farmers are the best bet as no-one else seems to stock it. I even called my Vet will have to go after work tomorrow, luckily they close at 6. and in better news the 9.1 to 18kg packet covers both our dogs, One is just over 9kgs and the other is about 13kgs which usually means I have to buy two packets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiesha09 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 I would check with the vet that it is safe to use Comfortis after using the spot on and the flea shampoo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fainty_girl Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 My vet recommended using comfortis when advantix/frontline wasn't working on my dogs for fleas. They haven't had a flea since! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 I would give the Capstar a run. It's always worked for me with my rescue dogs. I put all dogs on Sentinel Spectrum. I've been using it for years and have never had a dog with fleas or worms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirra Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Slightly OT but I've always wondered ... does anyone know how long a flea bite remains itchy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leah82 Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 Slightly OT but I've always wondered ... does anyone know how long a flea bite remains itchy? I'll let you know how long Collie remains spotty for. Poor little guy isn't having a fun time of it lately, last night when everyone else was trying to get to sleep he was still scratching up a storm I sprayed some PAWS lavender and jojoba conditioning spray onto his itchy spots hoping it would relieve some of the itching, he eventually got to sleep and stayed curled up until about 7am this morning. Can't wait till after work so I can get him something to relieve his itchiness as well as some comfortis to knock out any remaining fleas hopefully he's all better by the weekend because he does love camping, although the weather in Beechworth doesn't look particularly inviting as yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leah82 Posted December 17, 2013 Author Share Posted December 17, 2013 I got some comfortis and pinetarsol. then this happened... :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirra Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 awww poor Collie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakway Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Comfortis is brilliant. but not tested as safe to use on breeding dogs, male or female. Just adding this info for others reading this thread. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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