Question by 2talll: it wasn’t fleas like we thought….it’s allergies!?
For those people that tried helping me with my problem “My cocker spaniel has fleas or something, Frontline Plus isn’t helping,” just so you know my girlfriend brought Bo to the vet on Tuesday and it’s not fleas. He has a really bad food allergy that has caused a staph infection and an ear infection. Poor Bo!!!!

No more treats, no more table scraps, no more mixing in a little people food with his food at dinner. He’s on a strict diet of only his food (it’s also his treats now as well) plain chicken, plain rice, apples and carrots for at least a year! We purposely ate our Tuesday night because we couldn’t bare to se his puppy dog eyes watching us eat, knowing he usually got the last couple bites or at least got to lick the plate. He was going crazy last night as we were eating rotiserie chicken, mashed potatos and gravy- it almost made both us of cry.

Never thought something like this would hurt us soooo much….he really is like our child. It’s like my girlfriend told me when I called to see what the results were, “it’s like father, like son.” (I have horrible allergies and sinus problems and now so does Bo.

Best answer:

Answer by Catnip
Oh! Poor Bo! I did not see your original question, but I know what you mean about your pet (or baby, as I think of my cat) begging for the food you are eating. Maybe you can keep some of what he can eat handy, so at least you have something to offer him at dinner time.

By the way, I had a dog that lived to be almost 16 years old – and he ate nothing but “people food” all his life. And the vet always said he was healthy, and as long as he was eating, and not overweight or sick, it was fine.

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Question by Raven: Does any one have an idea on how to help 2 dogs that are allergic to fleas get over the itching non stop?
I went to a friends house 2 days go and I didn’t know their house was infested with Fleas. Well both of my dogs have frontline on but it doesn’t matter when the house is infested. They both have red dots on their skin and itching like no tomorrow. Can you give me an home remedy to help the itching. They haven’t really stopped itching since we got home. I have several bites on me just from sitting in my friends chair. She told me she only saw one flea on her dog. After I got there which at that point didn’t bother me because of my dogs being on frontline. Guess I was wrong.

Thanks I am kind of feeling really bad because of my dogs having an allergy to fleas. Thanks for the help. Still no fleas on them though glad to say
Cookie – I know a lot of people that used K9 Advantix and Biospot. Their dogs had fleas on them the hole month. As soon as they switched to Frontline the fleas stopped in 2 weeks. They thanked me for letting them know about frontline. I won’t ever go to K9 Advantix and Biospot. My vet told me to stay with frontline because the others don’t work. Thanks though but I think you need to talk to more than just one person. I have talked to over 20 people with problems from the flea meds you recommend. No one that I have talked to have had problems with frontline. There has been 100’s of people that are on frontline that I have talked to. Works at a store that sells frontline and K9 Advantix.

Best answer:

Answer by Nekkid Truth!
1 mg of benedryll per pound of body weight

if that doesnt help, your dogs may need something from the vet. Flea bite allergies can be a vicious cycle– the skin gets irritated and itchy, the dog scratches it, and causes more irritation, which causes more itchiness.

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Question by Rachel B.: Tried everything to get rid of Fleas on my dog!!! Need other ideas.?
To start off, my 11-year-old Chow/Shih-tzu mix has skin allergies (we think it may be seasonal), so when we saw her itching alot a couple of months ago, we thought that it was because of that. So we switched her food to Nutro Natural Choice dog food along with a half can of wet food at night which we mixed in an all-natural supplment powder, fish oil, and a multi-vitamen pill for senior dog. During the day, we would give her a fish oil pill, and twice a week she would get a bath with a anti-itch shampoo that I got from PetSmart. We tried that for about a month, and didn’t really notice any difference.

The next month, we kept her on the all-natural diet with the supplements; but, this time when I gave her a bath, I noticed a couple of fleas on her backend. So I immediately went out and got a flea spray from PetSmart to see if that would work—-it only works to kill the fleas that are on her; it doesn’t stop them from coming back though. So I then went back to PetSmart, and got another flea product to put on her back—that didn’t work. Then I got another flea product that had more good reviews then the last one, along with a all-natural anti-itch spray and anti-chew spray for my dog. The anti-itch spray only works when it’s wet so that doesn’t last long; and the anti-chew spray didn’t really deter her from chewing on herself, and after we sprayed it, everyone in the house was able to taste it.

A couple of weeks ago (after trying everything), I took her to the vet to see if they could finally get rid of the fleas. They gave me a shampoo for irritated skin, predisone, and a steroid pill along with advantage flea treatment for her and my inside/outside cat (which has shown no sign of having fleas on her). They told us that we should Fog the house and outside—–my parents said that we can’t fog the house because we have an in-home daycare business so it would just create a big mess for us to clean up in the daycare, ect. And they thought the backyard was pointless, because my dog goes everywhere outside (different neighborhoods, dog park, downtown, woods in the back of my house)—and we doupt that those people fog their own homes, so when my dog comes into contact with that area there will probably be fleas there. So they went out and got this flea spray (recommended to us by a couple different people) for inside the house—-we washed everything, moved alot of stuff around, and then vacummed everything. We then vacummed the carpets and everwhere that my dog went for the next week, and sprayed again on Sunday. Whenever I do wash (every coupl of days), I always wash my dog’s bedding too. She still has fleas.

Now, my dad thinks that it would be best and easier for us to get my dog shaved down so that we can start from scratch with trying to fight off these fleas; along with buying her and my 12-year-old cat flea collars. I asked the vet about shaving my dog down, and the vet said that it would only irritate my dog’s skin more which I told my dad and other family members—–they all seem to agree with my dad now because we did try everything that the vet said (besides fogging the house and yard), and that didn’t work. So any ideas would be greatly appreciated because I really don’t want to pay someone to shave my dog when that’s not really going to work or help make the process of getting rid of fleas easier. Thanks!
I don’t allow my dog to roam by herself—-whenever I go out, she goes out with me on a leash. When you live in the city, it’s very important to keep your dog socialized; and that’s why I tend to take her everywhere with me.

Best answer:

Answer by Syd *Dedicated SPCA Worker*
Frontline Plus. Or i have to use Pro Meris for my PB because she has skin allergies. It works great. It is a little more expensive then the frontline. Take your dog to the vet and they will give it a cap star to kill all the fleas that are on it now. Then get a topical flea medication, like Pro Meris, and that will keep the fleas off.

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Question by mrs. robinson: Can you see fleas?
My dog is a 4mos golden. He is very itchy. Made a vet appt for allergy testing but its 1 1/2 away. When I brushed his hair this morning I looked for bugs, but saw nothing. Would I be able to see fleas if he had them or do they bury themselves in the skin and arent visible? Thanks in advance for the advice!

Best answer:

Answer by iluvtorofl
You can see them. They are mostly found under his arms and near the face.

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Question by .: Can someone tell me about fleas please? EW?
First my apologies this will be a little lengthy.

OK…
Well my boyfriend and I sleep in the same bed. Like 3 days ago my boyfriend came up with these slightly itchy pimple like things all over his body. I’ve had hives before thought maybe it was allergies to the new body wash or it could have been some food. Told him to try some benedryl, it may or may not have helped it just made him sleep so we don’t know.

Its only getting worse, I dismissed bed bugs/fleas immediately as I was getting even one little bump or bite.

Then I got all ‘bugged out’ thinking about well maybe it might be…

The websites say some people just don’t get bites or don’t react to them. They say the dog might scratch/itch/bite his butt more if he has them. Sometimes when hes walking he like drops/turns really fast because his butt itches.

Tell me what you think please. We don’t have insurance so we want to figure as much as we can out before going to the doctor.
Oh my. Thanks guys. I’m at my moms using the computer so I cant check the dog right now. Argh.
I appreciate all the help I will try to post back soon with an update.

Best answer:

Answer by Reece Braveheart Aussies
If your dog has fleas you can see them. Check his skin and look for flea dirt or fleas. Comfortis is a great tablet to give your dog to kill fleas for a month. You can get little red spots from flea bites, it’s not a big deal.

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