Dog allergic to flea collar. Is dexamethasone dose enough? When will it work?

Steroids can be indicating is allergic dermatitis but have extreme side effects when used at high doses or long term. I would not recommend this as a long term course. Any steroid over time leads to a resistance where it just won't work anymore and can lead to liver problems and diabetes in cats. Prednisolone is better tolerated and seems to work better in generally in cats compared to dexamethasone. There is a medicine called Atopica or Apoquel that is made for allergic skin disease and does what the steroids do just without the side effects and resistance, so you may be better trying one of those instead. All are prescription medicines so you will have to call your vet to see if they can fill this since they already have a medical report on her. I would stay on the hypoallergenic diet as this can take 2-3 months for max affect and treats count as far as food allergy go, so make sure those are hypoallergenic or don't give any. I would consider a treatment for mange and fleas also. It is not common in cats but causes them to be itchy and it is hard to prove and super easy to just treat to be safe.

I don't think I would be overly worried about this. Dexamethasone is a fairly weak steroid. Just go back to giving it to him every other day until you speak to your vet. If he has a scabby wound then he will likely need antibiotics. Steroids (even the weak ones) will decrease the body's immune response so they tend to infections easily.

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

Poor Lily. Sometime both Apoquel and steroids might be necessary to control skin condition. Generally speaking, steroids have more side effects compared to Apoquel and is important to consider correct amount and length of treatments. Steroids need to be tapered gradually so please do not stop them without having gradually reduced the dose. Apoquel has a maximum effective dose so if Lily is already getting the maximum you won't see any beneficial effect if you increase it further. I would suggest to ask your vet exactly when to start and stop steroids as she knows Lily condition very well and can organize for her a treatment plan. Please post again in the forum if you need further advices and I hope my answer is helpful.

Yes this is a reaction to the collar, likely allergic. Disinfection may be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths twice daily for 4 days (make sure you dry it up after disinfection). If signs persist after a week time, a check up at your local veterinarian is required. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

I'm so sorry to hear that Smokey is having this problem. Dogs that have flea allergies can be miserable with only 1 flea bite per week, so it doesn't take very many fleas to cause a problem. I am attaching a handout about flea control for an allergic dog below. https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952572 I would recommend speaking with your veterinarian about one of the newer oral flea products. I have been very happy with Nexgard. It works differently than Frontline, so it might be more effective. There are a couple of different oral flea prevention products that can be given even though you have already done Frontline, so they will work together to get the problem under control ASAP. You may also need to speak with your veterinarian about adjusting his medications short term to help control his itching while the fleas are being treated. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Prednicare should stop the itchiness within 48 hours of starting the treatment. i would recommend asking your vet for a medication called Apoquel, very effective for skin allergies without the bad side effects of steroids.