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Topic Dog Boards / Health / Flea bite???
- By labmad [gb] Date 20.03.07 11:02 UTC
Henry has a single red spot on his "tinkle".

I've also noticed him more itchy esp back legs.  I also had him to the vet the other week with inflammed ears (before I noticed the spot) so I am wondering whether there is a connection with all this...maybe a possible flea bite allergy?

Does anyone have any suggestions how I can soothe the spot/itching.

He was frontlined last Fri BTW.

Thank you x
- By akh0706 [gb] Date 20.03.07 18:55 UTC
When Molly ate a wasp last year I gave her 2 Piriton tablets just in case, (she's 23kg) .  I guess they work for dog allergies just like us! You could bath the spot & put some anti ceptic cream on it. Molly gets the odd spot on her 'penny', I think it may be from the grass over the fields.
- By calmstorm Date 21.03.07 04:23 UTC
Do you know what caused the ear problem? I was wondering if your dog is allergic to something? If he is still scratching, maybe a return visit to the vet, for another opinion. If an allergy, it could be a number of things, I always think of things like central heating, do you use powder carpet freshener, are his dog beds rinsed out of washing soap correctly, that sort of thing, then where has he been when out that could have caused him to scratch. Next is food, some dogs do not tollerate every type of food on the market, and a food reaction can cause allergic reactions. You are what you eat........Not setting one food against another, but some do tend to cause allergies so that should be considered. Unless the vet found something specific, I would think about the house, then the food.
- By labmad [gb] Date 21.03.07 10:00 UTC
Hiya, thanks for replies.

Re ears....At training, someone (without them knowing about it) gave him turkey and I know that he is allergic to that.  It goes straight to his ears when he eats it!  The vet said that the smallest amount can trigger a reaction and unfortunately for H it did :-(

The scratching is not excessive by any means but slightly more than usual.

I wonder whether it was connected to the food he had been given or that the bite on his tinkle had something to do with it.....
- By Jeangenie [gb] Date 21.03.07 10:03 UTC
Have you checked him for fleas? Stand him on some damp white paper (kitchen towel is ideal) and groom him, especially around the back end. If the dirt that falls from his skin onto the paper makes a reddish stain then he has fleas, because that's the dried blood in the fleas' excrement.
- By labmad [gb] Date 21.03.07 11:16 UTC
ha ha stand him on paper...he's Henry the labrador...he weill just run off with it and eat the paper! He can't keep still for 2 seconds :-D  I have checked through his coat whilst he was sleeping and no sign...plus he was frontlined last week as well.
- By Jeangenie [gb] Date 21.03.07 11:52 UTC
If Henry can stand on the floor he can stand on paper. You might have a problem if he's one of the levitating varieties, though! ;)
- By labmad [gb] Date 21.03.07 12:22 UTC
I know its not fleas in any case. I had a good root through him the other day. thanks anyway x
- By Jeangenie [gb] Date 21.03.07 13:01 UTC
If you know he doesn't have fleas, why ask if people think he has a flea bite allergy? :confused:
- By labmad [gb] Date 21.03.07 13:13 UTC
JG there is no need for that remark- see below!
- By Jeangenie [gb] Date 21.03.07 13:21 UTC
You're certain the 'spot' is a flea bite and not anything else?
- By LJS Date 21.03.07 12:30 UTC
Poor Henry's tinkle :D :D

The way I get two to stand whilst I groom them is get them lodged between my legs and keep the head otherwise occupied by talking to them and groom the front end. I then turn around and do the back end. I don't normally talk to the bottom as don't get much sense out of it (actually thinking about it don't get much sense if I talk to the head either :rolleyes: ) so normally have a head peering round at me :D

I would just keep an eye on the itching and if this continues or anymore spots appear then go and get it checked out by the vet :)
- By Daisy [gb] Date 21.03.07 13:05 UTC

> I don't normally talk to the bottom as don't get much sense out of it


LOL - one sensible dog owner here at least :D :D :D ;)

Daisy
- By labmad [gb] Date 21.03.07 13:13 UTC
errr...

no need for you to be so sarcastic guys...

It takes one flea from anywhere to bite him.  Not necessarily living on him!

God you lot sometimes are so bloody argumentative and pedantic!
- By Isabel Date 21.03.07 13:17 UTC
There is no need for you to be rude either.  JG has a very good point it is a rare occurance that a flea jumps onto a dog and decides it does not like it and it is often very difficult to spot them particularly if the dog is a dark colour. 
- By labmad [gb] Date 21.03.07 13:20 UTC Edited 21.03.07 13:22 UTC
SEE above......

He was frontlined! he is a yellow lab and as I have said, I have searched through him for fleas.

I am not being rude I am just sick of people being so bloody pedantic on here when you ask an innocent question. :mad:
- By Jeangenie [gb] Date 21.03.07 13:22 UTC
Frontlined animals can still pick up the occasional flea. We often see them at the vet where I work. Nobody's being pedantic - just trying to get as many facts and as much history as possible; vital if any advice is to be anything more than guesswork.
- By labmad [gb] Date 21.03.07 13:23 UTC
[deleted]
- By Jeangenie [gb] Date 21.03.07 13:24 UTC
Do you think it's worth checking to see if it's left any fleadirt then?
- By Daisy [gb] Date 21.03.07 13:25 UTC
If he is itchy, are his anal glands OK ??

Daisy
- By Isabel Date 21.03.07 13:25 UTC
I think swearing is rude.  If you disagree or have any issue with what people are saying then give your point but there is no need to swear or get personal.
- By Daisy [gb] Date 21.03.07 13:22 UTC
I was merely making a joke about Lucy's comment :( Nothing whatsoever to do with your posts :( You seem to have had very sensible comments from other posters :)

Daisy
- By labmad [gb] Date 21.03.07 13:23 UTC
Not you Daisy sorry......

Doh!
- By labmad [gb] Date 21.03.07 13:31 UTC
Daisy,

Anal glands are fine.  They were emptied by the vet just before Crufts.

I will keep an eye on him as LJS said and see whether it subsides.

Thanks for your help x
- By Lillith [gb] Date 21.03.07 13:34 UTC
Oh dear, think we need to get our stories straight here! :-D  Are we agreed that this dog might have been bitten in the unmentionables by a "traveller" or not?

By the way, dogs treated with Frontline still get bitten - that's how the flea gets killed and, as you rightly say Labmad, it only takes one bite to set off a reaction in an allergic dog.

Has Henry shown sensitivity to flea bites before?  Are you sure it couldn't be other parasites, given his itchy back legs?

I think the question is probably more complex than it first appears.
- By labmad [gb] Date 21.03.07 13:40 UTC
Lilith,

I think that he may have been biten by a flea but has since been treated and following treatment, no evidence of fleas whatsoever. 

I've never seen any evidnce of fleas before on him either which makes me think that perhaps after Crufts he did pick them up, ONE bit him and triggered off this reaction.

I was just asking in my post whether others considered that it ticked the boxes of an allergy to flea bites...

Thanks for your reply Lilith!
- By Lillith [gb] Date 21.03.07 14:03 UTC
Well, I expect you're thoroughly fed up by now but:

it doesn't tick the box for me because if your dog was so allergic that one bite would really cause a problem, you'd have been waging war with fleas on absolutely every front before now: spraying the house and/or using something to stop the eggs hatching and generally following a rigorous flea protection programme, with each dose on the dot.

Hope it's all calming down now - have no good ideas about how you can soothe it, sorry.
- By labmad [gb] Date 21.03.07 14:08 UTC
I've got some oatmeal shampoo and aloe vera for him so will see if that works.  He is actually better today and ears are nice and white and cool again so it's all good.

The bite is still raised and red but I'm sure it will go.
- By Jeangenie [gb] Date 21.03.07 14:25 UTC
Does the spot/bite bother him? If it was a bite then most dogs would be nibbling at it, but if it's another sort of spot they generally leave them alone.
- By labmad [gb] Date 21.03.07 14:40 UTC
He did lick it a bit to start but haven't noticed him since.......
- By Jeangenie [gb] Date 21.03.07 15:38 UTC
Then I wouldn't think it was a flea bite; so if you know turkey makes him itch, and someone gave him turkey, I personally wouldn't be looking any further for the cause of the itching.
- By calmstorm Date 22.03.07 10:44 UTC
Very true JG. It can take a while for the 'allergy' to pass out, Im sure there is a more technical term ;), so just keep watching him, OP, hopefully it will be ok :)

As a side issue, as he suffers with a definite allergy to turkey, it may be worth checking what treats, food etc you give, as some contain 'poultry fats' or 'poultry derivatives', which could mean not just chicken but turkey.

How is he now? :)
- By LJS Date 21.03.07 14:10 UTC
Sooth it with a small dab of Germoline :)
- By zarah Date 21.03.07 14:13 UTC
I don't think that's right..? The flea doesn't have to bite the dog in order to be killed by the Frontline...it happens on contact as far as I'm aware which is why it's recommended for flea allergy dermatitis, not just for the prevention of fleas.
- By Lillith [gb] Date 21.03.07 14:21 UTC
They can certainly bite before dying.
- By LJS Date 21.03.07 14:07 UTC
LOL - one sensible dog owner here at least

:D :D :D

I do like to give useful tips now and again ;) :D :D
Topic Dog Boards / Health / Flea bite???

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