My dog has hair loss from fleas. How to regrow her fur fast?

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If you are noticing a flea infestation and this is the cause for the excess shedding/over-grooming of her fur, then simple treatment and prevention of the fleas and time will allow for her coat to regrow. It is important, however, to understand how Capstar works. When administering a Capstar, this will kill all the fleas on Jackie and those that re-infest her for 24 hours, after which it is no longer effective. It is important to also follow with a preventative treatment, such as Advantage II, that will then continue to kill and prevent the re-infestation of fleas for one month. This is a topical treatment that is applied between the shoulder blades. Another option would be a Seresto collar, which provides flea prevention for up to 8 months. Remember to also treat the environment where Jackie is located (indoors and outdoors) to add another layer of protection against re-infestation. In some rare cases you may notice minimal or no hair regrowth if significant trauma was caused to the hair follicles due to over-grooming, but in most instances adequate control of the fleas and therefore the itch will allow for hair regrowth with time.

It can take anything between 2 weeks and a month time, depending on the severity of the hair loss and the amount of skin inflammation. 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.

Unfortunately fleas only hop on the body of your dog when they want to feed, then they hop off again and stay in Marley's environment. So you need to treat Marley as well as the environment (which contains the fleas, their eggs and larvae). First you will have to make sure that Marley indeed has fleas. You need to look through his fur, and hopefully find live fleas or at least a lot of flea poo, which looks like little black specs, Fleas can cause weight loss as well as loss of fur, however there are also other causes for that, and if you do not find fleas, then you should take him to your vet for a skin exam. 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: 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 Revolution (stronghold in the UK) Tablets: comfortis (will only kill fleas once) Collar: Seresto (ticks as well) House spray: Indoorex

Great question! I would give Lynk Capstar first. It's a one time pill that starts killing fleas within 30 minutes. Then follow up with a spot on treatment, such as Advantage or Revolution. This is a treatment that has to be used once a month. You will also have to disinfect the environment. Wash his bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a spray to kill fleas in the house, such as Indorex, or a flea bomb would work well to kill the fleas in the home. As for the dry skin, try adding vitamin E supplements to his food, which helps with dry skin. The fur should grow back in when the fleas are completely killed, but if Lynk had a very heavy infestation of fleas, he may have developed a flea allergy and might require medication. Due to this, I would have him seen by a vet. Should the vet diagnose him with a flea allergy, he can be prescribed medication to treat it.

Fleas and allergies to fleas can set-up an environment for infection. It's possible that this is complicating the recovery process. The skin will often start to heal once the fleas are gone, but it's worth treating for infection by giving a bath with a medicated dog shampoo (can get this at the pet store). It's best to just give a bath with the medicated shampoo once every 2-3 days, until the skin starts to look normal. It's expected that it will take a month or more until Buddy starts to look normal again, so stick with it and he should get through this fine. Treating for fleas is not just restricted to the host, because fleas can reproduce and nest in the environment and continually cause an issue. Below is a link to a short article that explains treating the dog and environment for fleas: https://www.petcoach.co/article/5-tips-to-get-rid-of-fleas/ If the skin problems are not getting better, or are getting worse in the next two weeks, then it's best to have Buddy evaluated by a vet, because he may need additional treatment. I hope that helps and buddy gets better soon.

Poor girl. With so many external skin parasites on her then hair loss due is common to occur. There is no harm in waiting 1-2 weeks to see if the hair starts to grow back on its own. As long as she isn't chewing her paws excessively and seems bothered then it's ok to wait things out for now. Also try an oatmeal based puppy shampoo to hear her skin. When she is at least 6 weeks of age then visit your vet to get her on topical Revolution to protect her from future infestations. Monitor her behavior as well and if she acts ill in the next few days then it's best to get her seen to make sure she didn't pick up a big from the many parasites she had on her. Best wishes with your new puppy Reina and I hope everything goes smooth from here on out with her new responsible owner. Take care.

When you have a heavy flea infestation, you also have to disinfect the environment as well. Wash theirs bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a spray to kill fleas in the house, such as Indorex, or a flea bomb would work well to kill the fleas in the home. Dogs who have heavy flea infestations can also develop flea allergies, which would lead them to continue to be itchy and may affect the fur growing back. I would take them both back into the vet, and the vet can discuss if they do have flea allergies and how to treat them. Tonight, give them baths in Epsom salts or oatmeal, as it may help temporarily with the itching. Tomorrow, I'd take them into the vet. Good luck, I hope this helps!