Hi Connie,
I am honored! I have read so much from you over the years!

Yes, this was my thinking too.
I believe that fermented milk...real yogurt...is not the same as other milk products and will keep feeding it for the probiotic effect. Thanks for your thoughts!

The doorbell just rang and it was UPS with my delivery from Leerburg!

I ordered everything that has to do with flea allergies:

1.) Pure Pet Natural Oil of Lemonene anti flea shampoo

2.) Organic Neem Spray

3.) Yucca Intensive Drops for irritated skin

4.) Aller G Free Capsules

5.) Mega Pet Daily Vit. tabs

6.) Herbsmith Boost Immunity tabs.

7.) Herbsmith Clear Allergy tabs.

If any one is interested, I will keep you posted for effectiveness. Or, if any one has tried any of these...let me know your experience with them.

I have decided to hold off on the anitbiotics. 3 weeks worth seems excessive to me. I hope I do not reap the scorn of everyone, but my research and inner-voice tell me to hold off. We should not give antibiotics so easily to ourselves or our pets (My opinion,,,now....if things get worse, of course I will reconsider)

I will not use all of the above at once...especially the vitamin and herb pills, I will slowly start including them into his diet one by one.

I tried to post a picture of Jones in the Signature box, but can not get it to work.

 Quote: Chris Corey

Hi Nora,
Thank you so much! I feel like I know a lot of you already because I have read so many of your wonderful postings over the years and learned so much through you all! I am so glad you have this under control by 90%!

You all are right in that not one remedy will work, but that it is constant combination of remedies finely tuned to interlock with the others. A balancing act so to speak.

You mentioned Adams Shampoo...Last night, I came across this site which you may know of:
http://www.greenpaws.org/products.php
and it lists all flea products according to danger levels. Unfortunately, all Adams products are pretty up there in high risk for dogs! Makes one want to cry...

Thanks for sharing that about Frontline and the neurological symptoms that may come over time with use! Unfortunately, Comfortis is so new (I think it came on market in Aug.08) and there have been no long term studies done. Who knows what lurks. But, it is true, one does have to weigh the benefits if a dog is suffering from eternal itching.

Chris,

Thank you so much for pointing this out to me about the Adams shampoo. I did not know that. I should have further investigated it but did not.

I started using it last year when she first acquired this allergy (before I knew it was an allergy) when the Frontline, Advantage, Bio-spot, etc. did not work.

I am almost out of it now and will greatly limit it if not stop altogether.

The Comfortis seems to be working well but the fleas start quickly at 4 weeks.

Water, of course, will kill fleas if you bathe the dog. So I guess I'll probably do bubble baths with the Comfortis instead of flea baths.

Thanks.


ETA: And, yes, please keep us informed of all these remedies.

Here is an update so far on the natural products that I bought from Leerburg to try and control the flea allergy problem:

I have tried these two products
1.) Pure Pet Natural Oil of Lemonene anti flea shampoo-

This is a fantastic shampoo for dogs! It is very concentrated so that a little goes a long way. I dilute a squirt or two with several quarts of water and rub this into Jones fur and get a super nice soft lather going.
Jones is part Border Collie and part Long-Haired German Shepherd, so he has the undercoat of a German Shepherd and the silky soft overcoat of a border collie, but this shampoo glides on and makes such a soft lather, that it is easy to get deep down and actually get to his skin. Not all shampoos can do this. It has Coconut Oil in it and I think this is the softening agent that works great.
I did see some fleas appear in the lather and they were easy to pluck out and remove. However, it does not hold fleas at bay after washing. One hour later, there was a flea walking across Jones belly, bold as brass. I have used it about 3 times already, and it does get at the fleas while washing, but I always see another flea soon after washing again. So the Oil of Lemonene scent does not work well at keeping away So. Cal fleas.
I will continue using this as my main shampoo, his fur is simply fabulous, soft, shiny and he smells terrific.

2.) Organic Neem Spray

I sprayed this on Jones as instructed...unfortunately it does not seem to work against Southern California fleas either. It is pleasant to use and smells good, but I can not really say it is effective in this part of the country. But I will continue to use it, perhaps it helps and not as MANY fleas will want to jump Jones.

Still using diatomatious earth on my carpets, lots of vacuuming and washing bedding etc...I feel like a general waging a strategic war ...
I will keep you all posted about the other items as I notice any improvement.

Thanks for the update.

I will have to get me some of the shampoo. Since I found out about the Adams flea soap, I stopped using it and have been using baby shampoo and Suave daily clarifying shampoo with Matrix Balm conditioner on my dog.

This still doesn't leave her as silky as the Adams did.

Thanks again and keep up the updates.

ps: My dog is still on Comfortis and it is still doing a good job.

Chris, I hope you are using some kind of flea product on Jones - i.e. Comfortis, Frontline, etc. I know you are trying to keep drugs and chemicals to a minimum, all of us are too, but if fleas are seen on him, they are biting him and that will keep him in the cycle of biting/scratching, then infection, hair loss, rashes, yeast,etc.

I'm still wondering if the vet did a skin scrapping? That is so important in answering your question about the antibiotics. He could so easily, at this point, have bacterial and yeast infections going on which will cause itching in and of themselves. We have gone through this cycle with Kasey several times now because I was unwilling to really address the flea issue completely. One flea bite can send these dogs into self destruction mode! I really encourage you to take your derma vets recommendations with the flea products - it is the exact same recommendation that many of us get from our derma vets too - especially because you know for sure you have fleas.

I would encourage you to call the vet and ask for the skin scrapping if he didn't do it - you need to know what is on his skin at this point. If he is parasite, bacteria and yeast free, at least you can just concentrate on the fleas and know he doesn't need infection help. JMO

Hi Lori,

Yes, the derma vet did a skin scraping and found no yeast or bacterial problem.

...I agree with all you write. I come from an area where there are no fleas so this is my first confrontation with them.

The internet is a blessing as well as a curse...Good were the days when we may have been more innocent and trusting of our doctors and pharmaceutical companies.

If you want to retain peace of mind...do not research Comfortis...or Frontline et al for that matter. You may cry at some the stories you read. And, yes, it is a balance of benefit vs. risk. But when I read these account of healthy active dogs suddenly lifeless after ingesting the above, I just can"t feed this to my pup yet.

When I lived in Germany, a friend of mine was a distributor for a popular spot-on topical flea agent (will not say which brand...don't want to get him in trouble), he worked at their pharmaceutical headquarters, which is in Switzerland. One evening, he explained just how toxic this substance is. Right from the horses mouth, so to say, off the record. Animal pharma is not under stringent guidelines and virtually anything can be used for animals that are not raised as a food source, as long as not too many animals drop dead on the spot. Now what happens in a few weeks, months or years later to the animals does not concern the companies. As it is not newsworthy and difficult to pinpoint.
We do all we can to help our companions (we on this website and similar ones) with nutrition and species proper feeding. But then we seem to not mind pumping the chemicals into them. I can not yet get my self to give Jones, from my hand, a huge pill that is approx. 1 1/2" diameter of toxic substance to ingest just yet. My benefit vs risk point has not been reached yet.

Having said all this....I may come that point one day, when I say ok, it is time to go this path. I know just how strong nature is and that fleas and cockroaches have defied everything since the beginning of time. And I have no illusion that I can get a grasp on this...but...In the mean time I (for my own peace of mind) have to try a combination of all other less toxic options.

Gosh darn it! Makes me homesick for a place without fleas... Any places in the US that does not have them?

Chris, I certainly understand where you are coming from with all the toxic substances.

KY is full of fleas, too.

And, I won't read more about the Comfortis. This has been the only thing to help my dog and she was in terrible condition. Losing her hair, skin infection, and almost a hot spot on her little stub/tail. It was terrible. She would awake in the middle of the night, several times a night, and scrape her back on the edges of furniture.

For now, I have to stick with the Comfortis plus I try to keep her immaculate with bathing and wiping her off.

Good luck to you and please keep us posted. If there is a natural cure out there, I want it. In the meantime, just one flea gets her started into that 'panic-ky' itching.

Hi Nora,
Well I guess that rules out KY )

Bless your dog! What a terrible reaction she has. Jones reaction is not that severe (yet?). I am really glad you found a solution to keep her from suffering so much!
This is why I did not post any of the links about Comfortis...because I know many really need this item as there is no alternative sometimes.

Probably just a matter of time till I capitulate too, but till then I will keep you posted if I have any success!

Hi Lori again...
Just re-read your posting...and noticed I forgot to answer your question.
Yes, I am using Frontline at the moment. Even though I hate to use it....and hope eventually to find alternatives... the real one I am hesitant about is is Comfortis (Or alternating between Comf. and Front. every 2 weeks like the vet suggested. But Frontline alone is not doing the trick).