Dog scratching?

Question

My dog has an allergy to fleas and scratches. OK I KNOW I should take her to vets and get frontline, spot on and all that but I have tried and its expensive.

Now I am an outdoors person & have to permantly take anti histermine tablets as I get bitten so much.

My question is this. If I gave her half of one of my tablets would it help her as it certainly stops me scratching!

Answer 1

No, it won't help. You have GOT to start w/ the fleas first.
If Frontline isn't working try ADVANTAGE. And I am sure she has dry skin too, so you will HAVE to add oil to her diet , to get it in her skin. Pour a lil cooking oil or butter on her food everyday. It will help the frontline or advantage work better, as they work by the oil in their skin. Then, you can work on antihistamines. I would try a little benedryl. Antihistamines from the vet are really inexpensive.

Answer 2

Never give a dog human medications unless your vet recommends them.
Once you treat your dog for fleas and treat your house (treat the house again in 10 days to get any eggs that were laid and now hatching) then you'll be okay if you use a flea collar.
If you want to be a dog owner, you have to allow and budget for these expenses. Try getting a good pet health insurance policy. It covers a lot and although may seem to be another monthly expense will save you down the line - I've been there and done it and won't get another dog till I can afford the insurance. I think anyone who doesn't get it and has to put an animal down before it's time because of illness expense is irresponsible.
So doing this treatment once should do it. Don't let your dog suffer. If you just treat the dog and not the house the fleas will go to humans and bite.
If you are outside a lot - watch for sand fleas. I used to live near a beach and that was always our problem so we had to treat a few times/year even though we didn't always take the dogs to the beach.

Answer 3

NO.

Your dog is allergic to fleas - you need to get rid of the fleas!! You've got a hayfever problem - not the same thing, not the same meds.

If you know what needs to be done, DO it. I'm afraid 'it's expensive' is not good enough. It's unlucky to have a pet with flea allergic dermatitis, but I'm afraid it's just one of the many responsibilities you have to accept when you get a dog. Stop being cheap and sort your poor dog out, allergy to fleas is HORRIBLE.

Don't bother will pet shop stuff just because it's cheap - it has low efficacy, and even having ONE flea can make an allergic animal crazy, so you need the good stuff - and you need to be treating your house too, to keep ALL the fleas away.

And never give a dog human meds! If you have a prescription, read the medicine information leaflet - all say 'do not share your medicines with someone else even if they show the same symptoms'.

Chalice

Answer 4

Think about what you said... do you think it's ok to leave live ticks on her to keep biting her? That is what will happen if all you do is give her antihistamines. It won't get rid of the fleas; it only treats the itch.

PLUS
do NOT give human meds to your dog without your vet's OK.
My vet ok'd giving my dog Benedryl, but I would not use it to deal with itching from fleas as it doesn't get rid of the fleas.

I had fleas living off me after a dog I had left and I know how fleas treat the dogs they jump on. From my personal experience I will tell you that, if you love your pet, you'll treat it with proper flea medicine. That does NOT include the junk sold at Walmart from Hartz which doesn't really work.

You have several options:
1- Buy Frontline Plus online for a more reasonable price from a reputable online pharmacy
2- Buy K-9 Advantix instead of Frontline
3- Buy Kennel Dip and use it once a month (that's inexpensive)
- - you put it into solution in water to use it
4- Buy Adams Flea & Tick Shampoo and use it each month
5- Buy food grade DE (diatomacious earth) for a natural flea treatment

That gives you multiple treatments.
ALSO... you can save money by treating only March through October which is when the fleas are out.

AND
While you didn't mention it, all these are treatments NOT ONLY for fleas, but also for ticks which can make your dog very sick.

What bites YOU is mostly mosquitoes and that's quite different from fleas and ticks which latch on and FEED on your dog's blood and fluids. Mosquitoes bite and are gone, and all you have is an itch. Fleas and ticks stay and keep feeding and propagate their babies on your dog and those babies all stay and feed on your dog. Not treating your dog is cruel.

Now that I've given your multiple treatments you can select from, some of which are quite inexpensive, you have no excuse to NOT treat the dog properly. The link below is a low cost, reputable online pet pharmacy I have used and continue to use. Go to the website and select one or more products to treat your dog. Don't wait. If you find a gorged tick on your dog, it'll disgust you.

If you don't kill the fleas on your dog, those fleas can drop off the dog, onto your rug and jump on YOU and start to feed on YOU as well as your dog. It CAN happen... it happened to me. And I found the fleas that fed on me were NOT gone until I bug bombed my home about 6 times on an every 4-day basis because the bug bombs only kill live fleas, not the babies that haven't hatched yet.

Answer 5

My dog has the same problem. The vet has me give him Benydryl. I would call the vet for the exact dosage that is appropriate for your dog. Also, Make sure that if you do buy overt the counter flea products that they 'repel'. I was buying some very expensive and great products that kept fleas from living on my dog but that didn't stop them from biting him when he went outside. Alot of products will break the life cycle of the flea or kills the fleas after they bite the dog, which helps control an infestation but doesn't help dogs with allergies at all. Hartz makes a flea repellant which, if used regularly, it will help. I would also sugesst treating your yard for fleas. You can find some inexpensive products at Lowe's.

Answer 6

You never never give a dog human medicine unless the doctor says you can!!!
You say the medicine for fleas and ticks cost!! Well do you know how much it would cost if your dog gets lymes disease?? Your dog gets this from ticks!!
I hope your dog has had all the shots it is supposed to have?? You can get the Frontline that is for ticks and fleas all in one. There is a shot the Vet. can give for lymes disease . It can be given once a year when all the other shots are due.
My dog gets all the shots plus the lymes shot. My dog is on Frontline. It is for ticks and fleas.
You know what you feel like when something bites you? Your dog feels the same way. Would you like to have ticks on you? Dogs don't like having their blood sucked out of them either.
I hope your dog is at least inside!
Go get the medicine the dog will thank you !!!!

Answer 7

It is so sweet that you care so much for your dog but please don't give her anything before asking the vet. Most vets will answer questions on the phone without a charge. Also you can get Fish Oil pills at the store in the vitamins section that may help. They are safe to give to your dog for the dry itching skin. As for the fleas the flea treatments that are sold in the grocery store aren't the best but will help a little. Good Luck

Answer 8

Dogs can't take regular cold medicines that we take (for the most part), they have things in them that can hurt the dog. However, the Benadryl tablet (not liquid) is something Vets recommend. Our Beagle (30 lbs.) takes one adult tablet a day. Please, please talk to a vet before giving your dog any medicine. Our vet prescribed that dose for our dog, for itching and allergies. The link below discusses Benadryl for dogs.

Answer 9

I wouldnt give her any meds until I checked with your vet, however my dog had an alergic reaction to something in our yard and they had me give him liquid bendryl

Answer 10

When people do that kind of thing, it is called self-medicating. Very dangerous! Possible sign of mental health issues! Pets cost money, get used to it!