Last night I treated my puppy with Frontline drops which I placed inbetween his shoulder blades and at the bottom of the back of his neck..When I got up this morning I noticed he had been sick, it was clear pale yellow liquid with some of his hair in it. He has been sctratching now for ages and thats why when I went to the vets for his injections I asked if Oscar had fleas, the vet found none but made an appointment for two weeks later to give him the flea treatment obviously to cover him for the next two months, well when I was brushing him today I found dandruff type stuff at his backend,and also a small piece of broken skin, he's sat here with me now and he's chewing and nibbling his front legs, this is where all the hair must have come from and made him sick during the night..I've found some codliver oil tablets in the cupboard, I wonder if that might help, if so (one capsule a day) Or maybe do you think he's having an allergic reaction to the Frontline?? Now he's nibbling his back legs, I've spent ages looking through his fur for fleas but I haven't found any yet !! It's now 24 hrs since he had the drops so they must be dead anyway.. (by the way, I know this might sound stupid.. but I'm just wondering how just a small file of Frontline put at the back of the neck can travel all over the body in 24 hrs..to cover against fleas..) He is still scratching and itching it's been at least 5 minutes constant now..Poor thing it can't be normal to scratch so much. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Sandy x x x

It is why I always use the Spray. It lasts longer, and as you have a growing pup it will need to be applied monthsly to take into account the ever increasing body mass!

As long as you do it in a well ventialted place, and do not have trouble with your chest I think the spray is more reliable, and less concentrated than the spot on, threfore spread around more evenlyt and in less oncentration in one place.

Hi Sandy,

I can't offer much help I am afraid except my own experience of when my puppy was itching and there were little balls of black fur all over the place. He was making himself yelp when he was scratching :( I thought it must be fleas or even ringworm or something horrible, so took him to the vet and she could not find anything. She Frontlined him for me but it made no difference but then I changed his food from supermarket bought to Hills puppy and the itching stopped. That was about 6 weeks again, and I just Frontlined him yesterday and he seems completely better.

HTH
Nicola x

buy a pot of aludex and dip him-then youd kill anything that might be hiding there !

Thanks Dizzy will get some, just don't know if this itching is fleas or just skin dryness, altho I can only find that one patch at the backend just above his tail ..
Hi Nicola, well it might be his food thats an idea, but he's been on the same food from the minute I brought him home from the breeder( Pedigree puppy advance.. ) I've heard of Eukaneba food causing skin dryness etc, on previous threads, but not the Pedigree, but If I thought it was better then I'd swop to Hills..
Hi Brainless, think thats a good idea at least you can rely on a more even spread with the spray.

Thanks Sandy :)
x x x

Hi Sandy
The FRONTLINE spray and drops are very different in how they work.The drops which you have used are systemic in their mode of action i.e.they are absorbed through the skin and eventually must end up in the blood stream because they kill the fleas when they feed on the dog.
Whereas the spray is topical and kills the fleas on contact and remains in the dogs coat working for some time after.
I would not use the drops but it is a personal preference
Regards Carole

Hiya Carole,
I had a good read of the instructions before hand as I didn't like the idea of the drops going in through the skin and into the blood stream and I thought I'd read something that said they didn't, so I've just been back and checked again and it says ie:

Fibronil is a member of the phenylpyrazole family of non-systemic insecticide / acaricides, which acts by blocking the GABA receptor to kill the parasite on contact. etc etc..

After the local application of Frontline 'spot on dog' the product will spread from the site of treatment to cover the entire surface of the animal within 24 hours. After application absorbtion of fibronil through the skin is slight.

Oscar has been scratching again this morning but not quite so much as last night..and as he has this dandruffy patch at the back-end wondered if he just has a 'dry skin problem' (if he has ,i I could probably solve that with primrose oil or cod liver oil but wonder how much to give him) I don't suppose it would do any harm to give him some anyway.

Thanks for your help Carole :)
Sandy x x

Sandy
going back to the food issue -
Gus is on Hills puppy and he has a gorgeous shiny coat .
I know every food does not suit every dog/puppy but just wanted to let you know incase you were thinking of changing :)
Lel

Thanks Lel.

Will have a look at the Hills puppy food ..It certainly seems popular. A friend of mine suggested that his itching might be caused by his thick puppy fur and suggested a different brush to help get it out..took Oscar to school to meet Danny for the first time today, he was so happy to see so many children, and wasn't a bit frightened. He had his first training session last night and was the biggest puppy there and the most timid with all the other puppies..so he spent most of the time laid down and' laid back' there was another Airdale puppy who was a bit timid too, same age as Oscar and when I was talking to 'Amy's' owners we looked down to see Oscar and Amy face to face tails wagging away, Is this love at first site I ask ?? :D :D :D
Sandy x x
(a big hug for Gus )

Sandy
isnt it brilliant when they make friends at the classes ?
Gus is mates with a boxer pup called Millie and they both get really excited when they see each at training
:D
Do you have any pics to send of Oscar ???
Lel

Lel will try and send a picture of Oscar, have got loads to be developed,anyway as I'm not too clever on the computer will do my best ,Have you got any of Gus I'd love to see him ! Take care :D
Sandy x x x :)