Flea Medication

Barbara writes:


Some information I got from my Vet. My dog had a serious itching problem and I still could not seem to control it.. Now the Vet told me that if you use flea medicine you can not wash your dog with anything but oatmeal soap for dogs because if you do it washes the flea medicine right out..

There is a flea medicine named Comfortis, and it is a pill.. Look this up on the net for info.
It's a pill and suppose to be excellent and costly by the way. But you may only need it at the time of the year when we get these devils the most. There is a Aloe And Oatmeal conditioner that you can use after you bathe the dog and use your normal shampoo to wash your dog but make sure you put this conditioner on after and try not to rinse it out..Or rinse lightly.. So I am experimenting with this new procedure and hopes it works.
The web site for the conditioner is www.vitalityvet.com.
The flea control is made by Lilly.. Hope this is helpful to anyone with problems.

Jean responds:

I have not heard of that product yet but . . .

Some info to pass along about Flea and Tick Preventative Promeris.
Many report (on various dog related message boards) that after giving their dogs a dose of this, they noticed the following symptoms (collective) -- vomiting, loose bowel movements, disoreintation, gagging, dry heaving, drooling, lethagic, trouble walking, thirsty, not thirsty, swelling, eye issues, to name a few. Most ended up at the Vet's. On some of the dogs, the product worked fine.

Active ingredient: Amitraz (search Google for Amitraz toxicity)

The instructions state that the product should be administered where the dog cannot lick it off because if ingested, it can cause these symptoms.
However, a dog can scratch and the area and then lick their paws/feet and develop this reaction and the product is designed to help the whole body, so it does not matter what they do, the result may be the same as listed in the above symptoms. Get your dog to the Vet if you notice a change in your dog due to medication.

If you do a search of this product on the net, you will find many negative comments so it might be wise not to get it if it is still offered as a treatment. Some Vets no longer carry it.

Also -- there is an email alert making the rounds every now and then, or posted on pet message boards -- this has been posted at Snopes and Urban Legends using various types of dogs as the victims, the same paragraph describing the symptoms, and signed by various people.

Alternatives to flea/tick issues: Advantage, Frontline, Sentinel, and Revolution