Last week I took Kasey to the derma vet for his usual 4 month check. He's been very itchy the last few weeks - more than normal. And the itchiness has been particularly bad on the back half of his body - rump, back, tail, back legs.

The derma kept harping on fleas. I told her, 'we don't have any fleas in the house, and we put Frontline on every month'. She was skeptical and explained that the majority of the time, when the dog is biting and itchy on the back half of the body, it is flea/flea allergies. I hadn't seen any fleas, we didn't see any flea dirt, and so I kind of brushed her off and thought she was wrong. But she felt strongly about it, and told me that even if there was only 1 or 2 fleas, it could send him into fits - so she convinced me to take along the new flea pill called Comfortis and give that to him 2 weeks after the Frontline had been put on. I didn't want to because I thought I KNEW fleas was not a problem!

WRONG! He's only had the most recent Frontline applied 2 weeks ago, and today after I bathed him, I found 6 fleas on his backside. We had just taken a walk, so I think they came from outside because us humans don't get flea bites in the house and we haven't seen any, but the point is that even with Frontline he is getting bit. Upon inspection (he's a golden with lots of fur), he had several flea bites and they were all raw from him biting them.

The derma vet was right! When the back half of a dog is itchy,it is more times than not, fleas (even if you can't see evidence of them), and the front end of the dog being itchy usually indicates environmental allergies. One flea bite can cause a BIG outbreak of itching and biting which leads to broken skin, infection and the need to be on a host of meds!

So I thought I'd share this experience for those of you who are going nuts trying to figure out why your dog is so itchy - it could be a couple of fleas even if you don't think so! I will have to eat dirt next time we see the derma vet!! She said, in her experience, just making sure your dog doesn't have ANY fleas, has cut down at least 50% of the itching and biting that people bring their dogs in with! She said MUCH money and drugs could be saved if people were more vigilant with the flea prevention. Just thought some of you would want to know!

I know with our Saint Bernard we used to have to put the frontline in 2 places. We would split the tube half between the shoulders half on the top of her butt (kinda in between the hips..you know the area). I assume it was because she was so big but this might help with the back half fleas on larger dogs even if not as big as a Saint.

Been there and done that. Molly has bad flea allergies. One flea bite will set them off and once they are started they keep getting worse. Last summer she got a bacterial infection secondary to the flea allergies. We fought that all summer. By the time that cleared up she looked like she had been shaved from the chest back. For us the vet suggested Frontline twice a month but I'll ask him about the Comfortis and see what he says.

I've had the same problem and I thought it was a Rott thing b/c I have had the same problem with every Rott I have ever had and I can't even begin to imagine how much money I've spent trying to clear up skin problems. What I do now before I take my dogs outside is use Equisect equine fly spray or Avon's Skin So Soft.Both work but I prefer the Equisect as its all natural and doesn't interfere with Frontline or whatever you use and it smells good.

http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=10&Number=208030&Searchpage=1&Main=20558

http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=10&Number=213758&Searchpage=1&Main=21177

These are my threads from last year when I had the same problem. Only thing was the dogs were scratching their armpits, elbows and necks. I also thought I knew how to look for fleas. The problem was, my dogs didn't actually have fleas; the neighbor's cats did, and the fleas were in my yard biting them whenever they went outside. They weren't in the house because I was vacuuming all the time, brushing the dogs, washing their beds in hot water and treating the home.

I had the same problem the vet prescribed me with some pills that didnt even help but to comment that you need to get rid of the fleas which we have been doing but ever since I applied Olive Oil Extra Virgin Cold Compressed it has help alot plus the raw diet. If interested there is some more stuff out there just google what natural herbs can help stop itchy dry skin.. I already wrote another forum in the beginning "of my story".

I'm glad you posted this, Lori!

Every time an itchy dog thread comes up, it is stressed again that fleas are by far the #1 cause of allergy symptoms. Even one exposure can drive a hypersensitive dog crazy.

Especially the base of the tail -- if an owner sees that it's a severely affected area, s/he should consider fleas the top suspect.

What a relief to have this answer! And how easy to miss it, too, when you did have the dog on flea meds. I have been reading about fleas developing Frontline immunity. Is this what the derm vet suspected?

Naeema, what were the pills the vet prescribed? Antihistamines?

P.S. The best way to halt allergy symptoms is to remove the allergen. The best way to do that is to identify the allergen. The area of the body that's most affected is a big piece of the I.D. puzzle.

 Quote: Angela Burrell

.... The problem was, my dogs didn't actually have fleas; the neighbor's cats did, and the fleas were in my yard biting them whenever they went outside. They weren't in the house because I was vacuuming all the time, brushing the dogs, washing their beds in hot water and treating the home.

How did you find out? What a nightmare for you (and the dogs)! Did you end up finding out by treating for fleas to see what would happen?

I have a super flea hypersenstive dog, and another that I suspect might have a flea allergy. Poor Nico actually has a permanent bald spot on her tail from chewing.

I also keep Capstar that you can give them that last 24 hours and kill all the fleas on them within an hour or so. They work really well for emergency flea problems.

We use both the frontline spray and the advantage topical every month. I have found for us that advantix doesn't really seem to work as well on fleas so If we are going to be out in the woods I use tick repellant spray on her.

I have found that a paper towel or cotton pad soaked in with hazel and applied to the raw and itchy spots helps to calm them down and give her some relief.
Calendula gel seemed to help a lot too when she has chewed herself raw from fleas.

In answer to Connie's question on the Fronline immunity, no, the derma vet said she hasn't seen that. In fact, she said the Frontline is their topical flea treatment of choice. Advantix doesnt seem to be very effective with fleas - ticks, yes. One of the reasons you can see fleas even with Frontline is if you have a big, full coated dog - i.e. golden retriever. The Frontline has a harder time coating the hairs (which is how the flea product gets on the flea when it jumps on the dog) when the dog is on the large side and has a lot of hair to coat. We did start putting the frontline on 2 spots - way up by the neck and halfway down the back, trying to help it spread out better. You just want to try and put it where the dog won't sit there and lick at it though.

The vet said the Comfortis works extremely well with killing fleas and doesn't depend on a topical coating - it's oral. The biggest side effect is that some dogs with barf it back up an hour or two after they eat it. You have to give it with food to try and help with that. If they do vomit it back up, you won't be able to use that product - we'll see what happens with Kasey next weekend when we give it to him for the first time. I'm a little nervous giving this product, as it is what they call 'a low toxicity pesticide'. They claim it hurts only flea nervous systems and not mammals. It is rated a 'Green Pesticide' by the the environment people and our wonderful government!, but I don't know - it's hard to decide what to do when you can't control the fleas that bite them and the bites cause sooo much problem. His lower belly area, by the groin, is a raw mess in a couple areas because of the biting caused by a couple of flea bites! That causes infection, then you have to give other drugs - it's all a vicious cycle if you don't get rid of those fleas. And I've tried everything! - natural and chemical.