dumb question(?)--do y'all flea-treat in the winter?

[Roy Pardee]

Hey All,

Anybody got an opinion on the importance of treating for fleas in our area in these winter months?  I had assumed we'd get a reprieve, but am seeing more scratching than I'd like on my beasts.  (Haven't seen any fleas, but I haven't looked either).

Thanks!

-Roy

--
Roy Pardee
http://facebook.com/rpardee

[Roy Pardee]

Ah, thanks Marylou!  I'll give the oil a shot.

On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 10:01 AM, Marylou Zimmerman <mary...@marylouz.com> wrote:

I don't treat in the winter after the first hard freeze- you may be seeing dry skin from having the heat turned on- you could bump up the oil in their diet- canola or olive oil is fine- add about 1 tbl for a newf.

MLZ

[Anne Seeley]

I don’t treat for fleas, because I don’t see any fleas either. But we are seeing a whole lot more scratching this year than in the past. Both our dogs tend to scratch more in the winter when the heating system kicks in, but this year has been worse than usual. Faeroe, especially, has had extra flakey skin and a while back had some kind of rash thing going on all along her back. Treating so far with regular grooming and medicated shampoo, and lots of fish oil, but scratching persists.

 

I also noticed, during the two air quality alerts we had last month, that both Faeroe and Barlow’s eyes got red and sometimes gooey. Vet recommended Zaditor, an over-the-counter eye drop that you can get at any drug store. It seems to help.

 

Dogs can also safely take Benadryl, but all that seems to do is to make them too dopey to scratch until the current dose wears off.

 

I’ll be interested to hear what others have experienced…

 

…Anne

[Roy Pardee]

I've not seen both-eyes irritation so far, though Kodos has had a couple of bouts of blepharitis.  One eyelid gets totally swollen w/little red pustules, which resolves in pretty short order (e.g., half an hour).  We just finished him on a round of topical and systemic antibiotics (can't remember which one) and haven't seen the swelling back since (tho his fur hasn't grown back either).  I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that one...