Author Topic: Flea treatment for dogs  (Read 1527 times)

brandino29

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Flea treatment for dogs
« on: August 23, 2015, 12:20:33 PM »
Our dog has been chewing on herself lately and it's driving us nuts, makes it hard to sleep as she's under the bed making a racket half the night.  I have seen no actual evidence of fleas in the house, on her (she has a thick dark coat) or on us, but I'm not sure what else would be going on with her.

I am thinking of doing an over the counter flea/tick treatment just to see if it may help.  Does anyone have any recommendations on which brands or types (oral vs topical vs shampoo) to choose or avoid? We also have a 2.5 year old human in the house (no fleas on her) so need to avoid potentially toxic stuff.

starbuck

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Re: Flea treatment for dogs
« Reply #1 on: August 23, 2015, 12:58:24 PM »
She could also have developed allergies. If she has fleas, she should have flea 'dirt' (aka flea shit) on her skin. If you comb your fingers against the direction of her coat you might be able to feel it (grainy), probably at the top of her rump above her tail, and on her belly, underarms, around her ears. If there's no evidence of fleas, I wouldn't assume fleas. It could be allergies, or it could be stress related if it's in only one or two spots that she's obsessively licking.

If it is fleas, there are a bunch of options and their effectiveness depends on geography. There was another thread about flea treatment a few months back with some good info. In my area (metro Boston) OTC topical treatments like Frontline or Advantix doesn't work on fleas. If you use a topical, just make sure you don't pet her for a few hours on the treatment site. If you wanted to give her a bath, the standard blue dawn dish soap is dynamite at killing fleas and pet safe.