Away ... no vets, dogs... HUGE flea infestation

[Hillsvale]

We are away, we have the dogs with us. One of them has allergies which we assumed was causing his scratching (he is a rescue shepherd) but the base of his tail is BARE of fur from chewing, I looked and he has fleas. We are huge proponents of the vet supplied collars for fleas and don't find the neck squirting stuff (advantage etc) is that great when they go swimming all the time and I gather these fleas don't care, we had a black lab years ago that the vet gave a shot of something (he has the same bare patch oddly)... we have looked everyone over and yes... fleas, poor old blue is beside himself chewing.

My friend tells me that we can give him a shot of Ivomec (same stuff we give to the livestock at home).... I see pros and cons and nothing difinitive to whether is is effective, just not to give to our border collie.

Can anyone help? Can anyone tell me whether Ivomec is what would have been the shot years ago for fleas.. will it help? Blue has chewed his butt to the point on no fur and like he has scracthed his skin like we would fly bites. I douced him with DE and rubed it in but it isn't doing anything much.

Any other ideas if ivomec isn't acceptable, my friend has a few farm type things but not much... we are unable to access a vet with the holiday weekend and not back until Tuesday.

Help?

 

[Beekissed]

Got any garlic or garlic powder? Dust him with the garlic powder, particularly on the place that itches the most~be liberal. Place some garlic powder in each of his meals. This just may get him by until you can access a feed/pet store for something more soothing and effective.

Sometimes if you submerse the dog in the water for a good while it will drown those fleas. I did this the other day with my choco lab mix and massaged his fur over and over while he was in the water to insure no fleas were hiding in any nice air pockets under his fur. His fur is absolutely gleaming now and I haven't seen him scratching for days.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

Ivomec cannot be tolerated by some breeds - for more than just collies - i would NOT give it to your dog unless you hear it from your vet.

as for fleas, we use a new-ish product called Comfortis - you give it orally to your dog (its a big chewable tablet) and it works GREAT. we had a big flea problem and nothing else has worked. you can get it online or from any vet its available according to your dog's weight.

as far as what to do until then? do you have any prednisone?? i'm guessing the shot they gave your dog was long acting steroids to reduce the inflammation and NOT something to get rid of the fleas. one of our cats has bad flea allergies and we do this when necessary. it works for up to six weeks and allows the flea meds a chance to get rid of the fleas.

or - here's a weird one... do you have any Avon's Skin So Soft - the oil? sometimes - for whatever reason - this works like a dream. rub it on the scratch spots - kinda thick. my guess is that it smothers the fleas and/or it has some kind of repellent. i cant tell you how or why but sometimes it works.

you can also do a flea bath - but make sure you tell your vet that you did so you dont overdose on the pesticides.

also - you probably know this - sheps can be obsessive and your dog might have started itching and now is just fixated on it. can you distract him by giving him something else to chew on??

good luck!

 

[Hillsvale]

yup they are obsessive..... I don't have anything such as both of you posted, geez I wish the ivomec site I found was cleared...

Medication should never be administered without first consulting your veterinarian. The dose for ivermectin varies from species to species and also depends on the intent of treatment. General dosing guidelines follow.

For dogs: Dose is 0.0015 to 0.003 mg per pound (0.003 to 0.006 mg/kg) once a month for heartworm prevention; 0.15 mg per pound (0.3 mg/kg) once, then repeat in 14 days for skin parasites; and 0.1 mg per pound (0.2 mg/kg) once for gastrointestinal parasites.

http://www.petplace.com/drug-library/ivermectin-ivomec-heartgard/page1.aspx

 

[elevan]

I wouldn't do the ivomec as you could accidentally kill your dog if it's got a sensitive breed in it's history...

You can give children's benadryl for the itching.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

the complicated thing about ivomec is that its something like 35% of some breed have the (insert long and boring explanation that totally slipped my mind)....which causes severe sensitivity. but the reaction is pretty darn bad - and sudden.

i have sheps also and when i was reading about it i said to myself "holy crap i'm never giving that to my dogs!"

so let see if we can call someone else into this conversation. lemme yell for someone SAVINGDOGS!! ARE YOU OUT THERE!?!?

*please stand by*

 

[freemotion]

Question: If your vet put your dog on Heartguard or a similar product for heartworm containing ivermectin....then Ivomec should be ok, right? But I've never heard of ivermectin being used for fleas. Then Heartguard would be advertising that as an advantage, wouldn't they?

 

[aggieterpkatie]

You can try an oatmeal bath that might help soothe the itching. Or find a pet store that sells flea combs and go to town coming out the fleas. If you can find a vet (any vet should sell it), buy Capstar. It's a pill that will kill all the fleas within about a half hour. It's not a prescription, so any vet should be able to sell it to you. That's only a short term solution to get the fleas off though, you'll still have to treat them again because it will not kill the eggs. Best and quickest bet might be the flea comb (takes a while if there are lots of fleas) followed by a soothing oatmeal bath. Good luck!

 

[elevan]

Question: If your vet put your dog on Heartguard or a similar product for heartworm containing ivermectin....then Ivomec should be ok, right? But I've never heard of ivermectin being used for fleas. Then Heartguard would be advertising that as an advantage, wouldn't they?

True because Heartguard contains ivermectin...so Ivomec would be fine for a dog who was taking Heartguard.

I have used a combo drug from the makers of Heartguard before that had an added ingredient to kill fleas (it didn't work very well imo)...so I guess I would have to say that ivomec probably won't take care of fleas....

 

[elevan]

You can try an oatmeal bath that might help soothe the itching. Or find a pet store that sells flea combs and go to town coming out the fleas. If you can find a vet (any vet should sell it), buy Capstar. It's a pill that will kill all the fleas within about a half hour. It's not a prescription, so any vet should be able to sell it to you. That's only a short term solution to get the fleas off though, you'll still have to treat them again because it will not kill the eggs. Best and quickest bet might be the flea comb (takes a while if there are lots of fleas) followed by a soothing oatmeal bath. Good luck!

Capstar is wonderful stuff...and will continue to work for 24 hours which gives you time to find a more "permanent" solution.