Flea allergy?
Submitted by durdenslabs2 on May 22, 2011 - 8:35pmWe just acquired our 3 year old Bully about 2 weeks ago. The person we got him from said they were told he had a flea allergy and that he lost some hair and scratched a lot but it cleared up once they applied advantage. He had fleas when we got him, even though they said they'd kept him utd on flea preventative, and we gave him Comfortis. It took a day or two but he stopped scratching (only behind his leg/side on his left) and his 2 or 3 spots are clearing up nicely with neosporin. So, does this reaction seem typical of flea allergy (the excess scratching)? If so, then all of our dogs have flea allergies. Our Labs nip at their butts the same way Bully scratches his side and they end up losing their hair and having boo-boos. Once treated, things clear right up.
Tony, Kim & Evan D. 2 Labs & 1 English Bulldog :)
diatomaceous earth
I use some FOOD GRADE diatomaceous earth as it kills fleas and eggs? I get it on ebay. I mostly give it away, to friends and family, as a flea infestation is treated [IMHO with DE than with a Bomb of some sort, and it stays in the rug or bedding too.] as fleas don't bother us much due to Advantage Multi, and the DE.
Fleas by nature set time bombs in their eggs and hatch when there is a reason to. Vibration of walking on carpet is one. So killing the fleas is good but some DE in the mix helps too, to kill fresh hatches.
I've even eaten the DE myself [FOOD GRADE] to see if it would hurt my boys, before I gave it to them. This was when Buddy had tape worms, possibly from cat poo, or a pesky racoon next door in the roof. I mixed it in his food at that time.
It's also used for dusting, on the dog or bedding, but needs to be shaken in a baby powder type bottle to spread it out. Not good on your lungs when it is in the air, so a mask is used here. I also use it outside but it only works dry.
Also Bulldogs and other dogs, I've heard get SA Seasonal alopecia ,which is a thinning of hair on the sides, I've heard of it, but that's about all. Others here know more on that, I'm sure.
Good luck
Steve
Mean people still suck
I use DE daily
Audrey gets some in her food every day because she is raw fed and it kills intestinal parasites.
I also use it for fleas, on her and in the house. I also use essential oils on her, either mixed in sweet almond oil or just a drop rubbed on her underarms and stomach and back end where they congregate. She recently had a LOT of fleas on her (thank you cats for bringing them in!) and we had a daily flea battle for about a week until I could flea comb her and not find any fleas or flea dirt in the comb. I sprinkled it in her crate and all around it, and in the one area of carpet where she likes to nap during the day. She sleeps on my bed, so washing bedding took care of that.
I do not use a mask, I make sure ALL de used is food grade. The pool de is what you need to be extra careful with, it is super heated and chemically treated and dangerous if inhaled. It only takes around a teaspoon of de to rub into Audrey, and I just use my hands and rub it into the carpet. I normally put it on her outside, but last time it was too dark to see, so my husband and I wrapped a towel aroud her while she was standing up and he held it loose above her back, like a tent, and I went inside it and rubbed the de all over her belly and legs really good and on her butt by her tail, and it really worked well to contain it.
Essential oils do not kill fleas, but they work very well to repel them. I know this because they stayed off of Audrey and jumped on me! I HATE fleas!
Cathy and Audrey
Fleas
Sounds like your labs have fleas as well. The little nipping biting they do is typically a sign of fleas. If they do they your hosue is infested with fleas. Time to start a prevention on all the dogs and de-flea your house. Fleas are nasty, dirty and can cause health issues and worms in dogs. They are difficult to get rid of once you have them...especially if you have carept.
Good Luck!
Also
My more expensive vet.. as opposed to my country vet., lol swears by CapStar, and so do I, but DE is cheap and safe...I've read it works on other bugs too. I've never put a bug in a jar with DE, but it might be interesting to see what it will kill.
Steve
Mean people still suck
DE is definitely worth
a try. I hear it works.