My anxious dog has fleas. How can I calm her and ease discomfort?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I recommend that you try a product called Capstar which can help kill a lot of fleas at once. You can consider switching to another flea preventative product such as Bravecto or Frontline. In the meantime, your veterinarian can consider a medication such as prednisone or Apoquel to help with the itch for now. Good luck!

You can safely give an oral flea medication such as Capstar (available OTC or from your vet) with other flea preventives. This will kill any fleas on the body within 24 hours, but will not stop flea eggs or reinfestation, which is why it is important to continue with other regular flea preventives. Making sure to clean out brushy areas, wash all bedding and fabric surfaces, and vacuuming baseboards, etc can also reduce flea eggs and fleas in the environment.

She may be uncomfortable from the itching and inflammation. I would recommend speaking with your veterinarian about additional prescription medications and topical ointments you can use to help relieve the discomfort. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

I hate to hear that Sam is so miserable! Definitely for the fleas I would recommend an oral flea product such as Simparica or Comfortis. These are the top products on the market and will kill any fleas that land on Sam within 3-4 hours. Topical products take 12 - 24 hours. You will need to use a good flea prevention on him and any other pets in the house for a solid 6 months. To help his skin to feel better, give him a cool water bath daily. You can also give him an over the counter antihistamine. If you have an elizabethan collar for him, you can also apply a small amount of cortisone cream. The collar will keep Sam from licking. You need to rub it in well and make sure he cannot lick it. You might also call the clinic daily and check to see if they have any cancelations. You might be able to get Sam in earlier. I hope this helps!

Poor Lucky! Flea bites can be very irritating to the skin. If she received an oral flea medication today at the vet's office, you can try bathing her in an aloe and oatmeal dog shampoo to help soothe the irritation and make her feel better. If her flea medication was topical (applied to the skin), then unfortunately she can't be bathed for a few days without washing off the medication. In that case, I would suggest asking your veterinarian about an over-the-counter medication like Benadryl - this can be used in dogs to hep with itching and skin irritation in some cases, but should only be given if directed by your puppy's vet.

Try to get a Capstar or Comfortis tablet in your local pet shop. This will kill all the fleas that are on her. I doubt Benadryl is strong enough to alleviate the itching. You can also try to bathe her with an anti-itch shampoo. Another alternative is to take her to a pet ER or an out of hours vet near you for an exam and an injection that will make her stop itching. As for fleas, here is how to get rid of them: Unfortunately fleas only hop on the body of your pet when they want to feed, then they hop off again and stay in your pet's environment. So you need to treat all pets in the household as well as the environment (which contains the fleas, their eggs and larvae). Flea treatment:  1) Get some flea medication such as a Flea spray or a spot on from a pet shop or your veterinarian and apply monthly 2) get flea powder, put some in your vacuum cleaner bag and vacuum your house and furniture and also non-carpeted areas frequently to remove flea larvae and eggs which live off house dust., Dispose of the bag in the trash outside. Hot-wash all the pet's bedding, If you do this diligently for a few months you will get rid of the fleas. Flea products: Spot-ons and/or chews Advantage, Advantix Advantage Multi (Advocate in the UK) Frontline (ticks as well) Bravecto spot on (ticks as well) - for cats, in tablet form for dogs Simparica, Nexgard Revolution (stronghold in the UK) Tablets: comfortis (will only kill fleas once) Collar: Seresto (ticks as well) House spray: Indorex

I'm sorry to hear that your dog is having so much trouble! Fleas can cause a tremendous amount of discomfort, especially if he has an allergy to them. You can get a tablet called Capstar over the counter that will kill any fleas on your dog every effectively within 30-60 minutes, so this would help to give him some immediate relief. It only lasts for 24 hours, so you will need to start him on a longer-lasting medication as well to prevent them from coming back - the most effective products are oral medications like Bravecto or Nexgard, which you can get from your vet. Depending on how severe his skin problems are, he may also need prescription medication such as an antibiotic and anti-inflammatory medication to treat the bleeding sores - for this, he would need to have a vet exam. I understand that costs are a concern, but this should not be an expensive visit at all - just the exam fee, and you can request written prescriptions for the medication to be filled at a human pharmacy. The medications themselves are very inexpensive.