Next: “I scratch and scratch and scratch – it seems that is all I do.  What’s wrong?” Itchy puppy in Hinton.

Elwood: Oh man, don’t tell me you got fleas!!!! There are just so many great flea-killing products available that there’s really no excuse for your person making you suffer the FLEA EXPERIENCE.  Of course, sometimes these humans just don’t know any better.  A long, long, long time ago my great, great, great, great, great Granddaddy’s person thought that fleas just came with having a dog.  That’s one reason they made us sleep outside!  But today a responsible human can keep the fleas off of his or her dog or cat and then we can spend time in the house being best buddies with our human family.

Fleas are these horrible little biting insects that take blood every time they bite.  And they carry tapeworm! Lots of dogs and cats are actually allergic to fleas.  So if they get even one flea on them they go crazy with itching and their skin gets rough and red.  But Thank Goodness for Science (one of those human concepts).  Today there are lots of products to kill and control fleas.

My first suggestion is that you ask your person to take you to the vet to figure out why you are so itchy!  Being itchy can be from a variety of problems.  The most common reason for itching is flea infestation.  But other problems can be the result of allergies or mites – I will talk about these later!

If you have a flea problem, your person needs to treat you and your environment.  This means the he or she needs to apply flea killing products to you and your home and your yard.  At least one re-treatment of house and yard may be needed.  You will probably need treatment year-round.

  There are some really cool flea killing products on the market.  The days of smelly fleas killing sprays are over.   There are pills that you can take to kill fleas, there are spot on treatments that kill fleas, there are “egg-stopper” collars that kill fleas and there is even a “quick-kill” pill that kills any fleas on you within 30 minutes and lasts 24 hours.  This pill is good for getting rid of all the fleas immediately and then the other products keep them off.  The best products are sold at your veterinarian’s office.  If money is a problem, the Frontline spray (if you can find it) is very economical and very effective.

 For around the house and inside the house, my human likes to use a time release Dursban spray.  This was the first year in 5 years that she had to spray for fleas – I blame it on those stray dogs that she took in! 

So, what if you don’t have FLEAS and you are scratching and scratching and scratching?  First, I have to mention the dreaded FLEA ALLERGY DERMATITIS – I’m sorry dude, but some of us are just so allergic to fleas that even one flea can make us go ballistic.  That one flea itches SO BAD that we are able to scratch ourselves into a deep bloody hole.  For this problem your person just has to really protect you from fleas!  In no way should you EVER encounter a flea!  I know that limits your ability to socialize with those flea ridden neighbor dogs.  But hey, now you can stay inside the house with your people friends and watch TV.

But if you don’t have an allergy to fleas, then there are a few other reasons you might have an incredible itch.   Allergies make up for a considerable amount of itching problems.  Like I said, fleas and flea allergy can cause us to scratch a lot.  Other allergies can make us scratch a lot too.  Lots of us dogs are allergic to grass pollens.  Some of us are allergic to our food.   This means we itch and scratch all spring. summer, and fall. Then we make up for what we didn’t get to scratch and scratch all winter too.

There are veterinary solutions to ease our allergic responses. Antibiotics can really help an allergic response and subsequent itching.  So can antihistamines.  Sometimes steroids are needed. If you have a food allergy, then a change in diet might help.   Your veterinarian will suggest a course of treatment based on the type and severity of your allergy.  And sometimes you might just have to go see a veterinary allergist! 

Another cause of itching can be an infestation of mites – commonly referred to as THE MANGE.  There are two type of mange caused by two types of mites.   – Your vet can determine what kind of mange you have and recommend how to treat it.

The great thing about some of the new fleas products is that they kill a variety of other parasites too!  So just get in the car and get your person to drive you to the vet so you can find out what is causing all the itching.  Soon you will be back home watching cat/dog cartoons!

NOTE TO CATS: Make sure your human friend uses a flea product approved for cats.  Some of the canine products can knock you felines for a loop!  You might even get sick enough to die.  So be careful!!!

Talk At Ya Later,

Elwood

Elwood encourages letters form his readers.  You can reach him at his email address, elwood@crazydogart.com