Community ClicksProblem with flea drops
Dear Dr. Fox,
I used flea-medicine drops on our little dog, Minnie Pearl, last December.
I applied them at about 5 p.m., and by 11 p.m. that night, she had a severe seizure — I thought I had lost her.
I had to work with her and the veterinarian for three months to get her back to normal.
To see her go through all of this was horrible, and I have no doubt that the drops (manufactured by Hartz) caused the problem. I stopped applying the drops, and she hasn’t had a seizure since.
I hope no one else has to go through this.
— L.H., Springfield, Mo.
Dear L.H.,
You are one of many pet owners whose dog or cat has had a severe, and sometimes fatal reaction, to anti-flea drops/spot-on chemicals.
If you have a computer, report your experiences to www.biospotvictims.org.
The foot-dragging of federal and state regulators to do anything substantive to address the entire matter of over-the-counter anti-flea and anti-parasite drugs that harm thousands of animals annually is deplorable. It shows the power of business interests.
My advice is to only get such products as a last resort when safe methods of integrated flea control break down, and then only from a veterinarian who is more likely than not selling safer products and will provide strict instructions to follow.
Never buy over-the-counter medications, pesticides or worming medicines — you may save some money but lose your animal companion.
Royal genetics hinder dog
Dear Dr. Fox,
I have a problem with my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Charlie is 4½ years old, and for the past three years, I’ve had a hard time with fungus on his skin.
I went to my regular vet, and he said to bathe him in Betadine, leave it on for five minutes and then shampoo him.
I did that, and it seemed to help, but it came back.
I used an antifungal cream, leaving it on for 24 hours.
It seemed to help, but it smelled so bad that I had to give him a bath in between applications.
I took him to a dermatologist, and he gave him an antibiotic and Malaseb Pledgets to wipe him down.
The dermatologist said he had a fungus, and this medication would get rid of the problem forever.
It didn’t. It keeps coming back.
I shave him regularly so I can get to the root of the problem.
The long hair seems to cover up the problem, and it gets bad before I feel the lumps of the sores that it makes.
I have stopped putting flea liquid on him, thinking that the medicine wasn’t doing any good.
The fleas still bite him and then die, but the bite sites get this fungus stuff on him, and we go around again.
He has no fleas now and still gets the fungus.
I do still use the Heartgard.
He also had back surgery a year ago for two bulging discs that left him dragging his hind end.
Some of the medicine for that left him with a damaged liver.
My regular vet put him on some medicine to repair the liver. We also found that he had low blood sugar.
He had another bad time (uncontrollable shivers), and we had to go to the emergency vet.
They kept him 24 hours had him on IV and gave him shots.
They said his sugar was low and to put him on two teaspoons of honey a day.
— E.E., Suffolk, Va.
Dear E.E.,
I am sorry you and your poor dog have had to go through so many problems.
For such a young dog to have chronic skin and back problems is in part the legacy of his genetic background, coupled with (most probably) far too many vaccinations.
Your dog needs a total medical health makeover to address his ongoing problem from a holistic perspective, integrating conventional treatments with nutrient supplements in his food, especially fish oil and brewer’s yeast (up to ½ teaspoon of each daily), and plain live yogurt or kefir for immune-system-boosting probiotics.
A shampoo containing tea-tree oil should help get rid of any fungal infection, but remember, part of the dog’s skin reaction to flea bites is an allergic response to flea saliva.
So if he gets itchy, a short course of antihistamine treatment should help.
Low blood sugar and acute hypoglycemia are common in small breeds and can be fatal.
It may be prevented to some degree by feeding three to four small meals daily, rather that one or two.
Eliminating cereal grains, corn and all starches (these metabolize into sugar) is advisable for your Charlie.
