Itchy after fleas

[sherlock]

So we had a very small flea problem when Watson came home from his doggy-cation. We got it taken care of near immediately and I don't see any more fleas on him. However, he is still super itchy!

I've read about flea dermatitis, but I don't know if it's that or just the bites still bothering him. And honestly, I don't really want to take him to the vet if I don't have to, just because that can be costly.

So does anyone have any itchy dog remedies? Is benadryl okay, or anything else?


EDIT: I had totally forgotten that we have given him benadryl before, when he was a pup and had a reaction to a shot. So I just went and got some.

But it sucks, because I just found two fleas on him. OMG I really wish this would end.

 

[Wandering Man]

We've had to pull out the Capstar at times when our dogs came home with a flea infestation. The advantix or frontline drops will do a good job (Hartz, not so much), but for a full blown infestation, CapStar gets rid of them quickly.

Then there are the fleas that have dropped off in the house and are laying eggs on the dogs bedding or in the rug.

You might need to wash his bedding.

If you start picking up fleas on yourself, its time to do something about the rug. I don't think they make a flea drop for humans. ..

 

[sherlock]

Yeah, we've been washing his bedding regularly. DH vacuumed two days ago, so I'm going to do it again today. Every time I check Watson for fleas, I only see 1 or 2, so I'm hoping the drops are working (I do use Hartz, but I guess now I know to get different ones next time...)

 

[natural curl]

We tried Adams from Walmart and it didn't work. Frontline seems to be better. We first tried Frontline by buying a single dose from a feed store. Now we get the 6-pack from
Costco, but the feed store said they have reports that Frontline is not as effective as in the past.

It wasn't the full month after Frontline that Milo suddenly exploded with itching over a span of 24 hours. It was nonstop, he was obviously miserable and no one got any sleep. I couldn't see any fleas, just redness where he scratched and bit his skin. There were hunks of black hair everywhere; if he sat anywhere for 5 minutes there would be a dozen hair tuffs around him. Bizarre. It was a weekend. Would I have been laughed out of the doggy ER with a complaint of a scratching dog?

I gave him a mild bath, followed with Benadryl, swaddled him in a towel when he tried to sleep and applied an early dose of Frontline. I think the Frontline made him better even though I did not see any bugs.

Crates and dog house were aggressively decontaminated. We have very little carpet. That's out story.

 

[babysis]

Benadryl is okay to give them depending on the weight. My mini is only 10lbs and we give her half of one pill. It helps with the redness fleas after they have bitten her. Other than bathing her and constantly checking for fleas I have actually done a bath mixed with Olive Oil. I soaked her in it because she was itching so bad and no fleas. Natural oatmeal soaps might calm the itching for a bit too. With Baby it only lasts about 2 days. Check to see if you can get a lotion or a cream for the dog. Vitamin E cream, utterly smooth, or Nivea cream (not lotion). Those are just some ideas for it. The fleas (in my experience) cause Baby's skin to dry up really bad in the spots where they bite. I have also been known to use neosporin for the itching, which seems to help.

Something that has helped my girl is after her bath, swaddling her up in towels and blankets but also putting a sweater on her as well. She tries to get the sweater off and she gets preoccupied with that instead of itching! LOL Good luck!

 

[sherlock]

Thanks Babysis! Watson is about 10lbs, so he gets 5cc's of benadryl twice a day (I use the children's liquid kind. He really really likes the cherry flavor.) It seems to be helping a lot, but I am still finding fleas. Guessing I'll just switch to a different brand of drops next month.

 

[babysis]

You're welcome! I usually buy the benadryl tablets and break them in half and mix it with her food. That's good that he likes the cherry flavor! I've noticed the drops only sterilize the fleas so they can't bite, they don't get them all the way off. Last year, here in Washington fleas were horrifying. I am hoping that they aren't as bad this year but I have found quite a few on Baby. I think I have mentioned this before in another post but when Watson is out of the house or not in the room, spray lysol along the edges (near walls) after vacuuming. It can be dangerous because of the smells, but it worked every time. I've done that before with Baby but it would scare me each time because of the toxins/effects it can have. Let's just say my arms hurt that day because I was carrying her the whole time but she loved being held!