I have a 12 year old BC bitch and for the past few days since she and i have come back from my parents she hasn't stopped scratching. I have looked in all the usual places for fleas and haven't found any. My other four dogs, (short haired) are not scratching and show no signs of fleas either and i haven't any flea bites on me and i'm usually the first target.
While we were at my parents she went swimming in the sea and brought back her fair share of sand but this is not unusual for her. I don't have carpets in my home and all of the dog bedding is washed regularly. She is raw fed and is doing well in every other way.
I want to give her a bath but i'm worried this may aggravate her itching even further.
Can anyone offer any suggestions & ideas as to what is causing her to itch and maybe a gentle dog shampoo until i can get an appointment for her at the vets.
many thanks in anticipation.
 

I like Camrosa shampoo best.

I also think Quistel is a good one.  They are both very mild.

Good luck with your bitch Zebedee, hope you get her sorted.

Thanks, I've ordered myself some Camrosa, I've heard good things of the ointment. I have 4 itchy dogs, regularly Frontlined and I've bathed them in teatree already with no effect. I don't believe I could bath all 4 and search their fur thoroughly without spotting a single flea with that amount of scratching if it were fleas, and we haven't changed our washing powder or walked them anywhere else. I'll bath them in Camrosa shampoo and if that doesn't help, we'll be off to the vets for a skin scrape in case it's mites or something! Main itchy places seem to be their tummies and haunches.

> Main itchy places seem to be their tummies and haunches.

Most likely Cheyletiella which Frontline spot-on doesnt touch!
You know when the infestation is increasing when they start to nibble their front legs.

Frontline SPRAY then bath with Sporal D shampoo, leaving on for 5 mins then shampoo off.

Thank you for your replies.
I have ordered the Camrosa starter pack and hopefully this will get her sorted.

Ah, thanks. I've not seen anything moving (I know it's also known as creeping dandruff) but will get some spray and Sporal D if the Camrose doesn't do anything. :-)

> I've not seen anything moving (I know it's also known as creeping dandruff)

Unlikely to see white flakes 'walking' on long, predominately white coats, so it has to be pretty bad to actually 'see' them moving on the coat. On a microscope slide is easy.

Could it maybe just be the salt water drying out her skin and making it itchy?  I always rinse my lot off after coming back from the beach.

Goodness me the starter pack has arrived! I only ordered it yesterday!
Well it's a nice sunny day - the perfect day for a bath..... "Tess........ Tess......... TESS"
She might love swimming but she hates having a bath!

Lol yes, mine always charge up the stairs after me usually if I leave the stairgate open, but they just know if I want them up there for a bath! Free afternoon tomorrow and the Camrose has arrived, so we'll give it a go. Hubby doesn't see why Frontline spray should work better than spot on which they have regularly, but if the Camrose doesn't help we'll be off to the vet to see what they think - hubby wants to try Stronghold as he's been reading research papers. He's very scientifically minded and knows a fair bit about this sort of thing as he regulates the training of the SQPs. :-)

> Hubby doesn't see why Frontline spray should work better than spot on

F.Spot-on is absorbed into the blood stream which is then taken up by sucking organisms.
Cheyletiella lives on the skin under the skin flakes on which it feeds, they do not suck from the blood stream.....

That is why only the Spray on Frontline is licensed for these mites.
It says so on the packaging.

I will tell him - he probably hasn't read all the packaging on all the products the SQPs sell. :-) Anyway, they're all bathed now, so we'll see how that goes. You can see dandruffy patches on Ellie, being as she has some black hair, but nothing is moving, and I've been staring hard for long periods!

>F.Spot-on is absorbed into the blood stream which is then taken up by sucking organisms.

Hubby says no it isn't, it spreads through the sebaceous glands, and he's heard a lot of presentations on it. I think I'll just wait and see whether the shampooing has helped and then see what the vet says if they're still itchy, I can't cope with too much science! :-D

> Hubby doesn't see why Frontline spray should work better than spot on

I would say it is more likely to work better as you physically apply it all over the dog as opposed to waiting for the more concentrated (which is why i won't use it due to localised reaction) spot on to disperse through the oil layers. 

This means there is more direct contact with the chemical and the fleas should they hop on.

It would also explain why the efficacy of the spray is up to 3 months after application, and the spot on only 1 month.

Also if Effipro (a generic Frontline and same  strength) works then Frontline must too, as ti;'s the same active ingredient, and would make me wonder about storage of the product (before or after sale) making it ineffective.

Would the mites be on fabrics in the house like flea eggs? I bathed them all in Camrose, and hubby has taken the cocker off for the weekend going hill walking, and says he hasn't seen him scratch at all since they left. The 3 Cavs are less itchy but not completely right yet. Would you get more Camrose and give another bath all round, or go to the vet for a skin scrape? I did find a single flea on one of them last night, but there is no flea dirt on any of them, just a little pinkness and hint of dry skin. They are regularly treated with spot on, the house has been sprayed, and they have been itching for several weeks before I found this single flea, so although I will spray the house again (they aren't due for spot on until early June) I still suspect it is something else that is causing the itching.

Anyone tried colloidal silver spray? My American friend swears by it. I'm going to rebath in Camrose though as I think it helped last week.