Hi

Can anyone help?  Isla my sheltie seems to be doing a lot of scratching and biting despite being treated with F/line regularly,  the last time was a week ago.  She is also coughing (although has the kennel cough vac) which I wonder may be a fur ball thing.  I am not sure what to do as I am going on holiday to USA on Wednesday leaving her and the other 2 dogs (4th will be in kennels) with being looked after by my ex cleaning lady at my house (she is staying so can see to cats too).

I have always found Frontline to work but of course Isla has a very big coat.  Was wondering if others with long coated dogs have any advice?  Do want to get this sorted before I go.  Was wondering about bathing her using a flea shampoo.

Any ideas welcome.

Thanks

Snowflake

It could be an allergy to pollen, or even to the frontline.  I would use neem shampoo from here: www.neemgenie.co.uk it's the red one for pets and smells lovley, they also do neem aid which needs diluting in water (smells awful) but very effective against itching/mites/fleas/wet exczema (sp) and natural so you know you won't be adding to the problem.  The other thing is have you changed food?  If you order from neem genie they usually send the order by return so if you are not home then it would be with your pet sitter soon.

Just to add I have a collie/retriever cross (or could be sheltie cross) who does sometimes get itchy and the above works for him.

I had same problem even phoned frontline they suggested frontline combi as may be allegic to the eggs when they hatch into larve, tried that still scratching but not so bad. Have since change the complete food to a salmon and Rice pro plan with Yumega Plus and so far no scratching. I groom him twice a week anyway so it was not lack of grooming. He has a very thick coat.

Hi, 

my dogs have been doing the same thing but not with using frontline, I used Advantage.  I wonder if this damp weather is effecting them?

If it is damp & warm where you are there might be some mosquitoes around. They have a nasty bite at night and really make the dogs itch - us too!

Add a clove of garlic each day to their food should prevent any flea or midge bites you can also use the garlic capsules.

Thanks one and all.  I shall try all these remedies.  Today Isla not so bad.  The other thing I have done is Frontlined my 2 cats (as well as my other three dogs) as I am told cats are often the culprits that bring fleas in.  I do remember one vet of ours saying that this time of year is very bad for fleas.  I will  monitor the situation on my return.  I haven't changed Isla's food (she is on JWB Ocean Fish) but I could try this if problem persists.  Def will try the Neem shampoo.

Will  report progress.

Snowflake

I took Nellie to the vet tonight with the exact same problem - she is on a 4 weekly regime of Frontline, but is scratching excessively to the point she is getting bald spots behind her ears!

Vet tells me there is an abundance of harvest mites this year, and that the scratching is down to an allergy to the larvae.  In high numbers they are visible on the skin as orange fluff (which she did get last year, but was zapped effectively with Spot On), but in smaller numbers (perhaps where Frontline is effective, but not 100%??) they are not so visible - the dog is just generally more itchy than normal!

She has a short course of steroids now, but I would be interested to try anything which could help her.  Maybe the garlic method? :)  Also, I read on another forum that wetting the affected areas with Frontline spray was more effctive than relying on the Spot treatment alone........

For Harvest mites use diluted Benzyl Bezoate (can get on internet). Wipe a little on dogs ears, feet, between toes and under tummy every morning. We have loads of the horrible little monsters in our fields but the dogs are quite comfortable. This is quite safe and used for horses as well. In a couple of weeks the little blighters should be underground again. If you have them on your land make sure you keep the grass quite short as they like to hand out in long vegetation.

This is a very interesting thread - I walk my little dog in a field across the road; the Council doesn't always cut the grass regularly and it can get quite high.  She has also been scratching more than usual lately, despite monthly Advocate - particularly in armpits and behind ears.  I did notice after one or two rainy days she wasn't scratching as much, so perhaps it is harvest mites and the rain had cleared them temporarily?

Harvest mites appear in the late summer & early autumn usually on sunny days. They are orange but very tiny and usually you can only see them when there is a cluster of  them. We found that Advocate & spot ons were not very effective, but good old fashioned Benzyl Benzoate is!

Unfortunately it would seem that it is very difficult to get hold of now as mentioned in this thread: http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/cgi-bin/board/topic_show.pl?pid=1088778;hl=Benzyl%20Benzoate%20#pid1088778

You can get Benzyl Benzoate from Hyperdrug. It seems to be diluted a bit more but it works just fine!

I got it from chemist very easily and goes under the name of ascabiol emulsion - 100ml bottles.

My springer is also very itchy and i can see areas of brown/red residue on his skin ?mites, anyway have just used the emulsion as already had some in the house and it smells like the dog ear cleaner! cant remeber which one, maybe logic. Is this the same stuff i wonder??? or contains some of the same ingrdients??