Why is my dog itching, losing hair, and has large flea-like bugs?

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

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

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. This still may be a skin allergy but Benadryl sometimes does not work. I would recommend using a shampoo such as Douxo PS Chlorhexidine combination shampoo and bathe twice weekly until resolve. I would also recommend using products such as welactin omega 3 fish oil, essential 6 spot on by dermoscent and malacetic conditioning spray. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. All of these product recommendations can be found online. If the problem becomes worse, I would recommend having your veterinarian examine Sofie.

This is probably due to a severe allergy, although it could also be fleas or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat big with a high quality flea treatment (e.g. advantage), then get him to the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try discovering the cause of the allergy. Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair the skin lesions (steroids and antibiotics). simultaneously you should start Big on a prescription hypoallergenic diet for at least 2 months. Hopefully you will see some results after all this, if not you and your vet should consider putting him on a long term allergy treatment (Apoquel).

If you still see fleas then this is likely to be the reason for the scratching. Hartz is a bad quality flea treatment, here is the list of the best flea products on the market. Spot ons: Revoulution (stronghold in the UK) Advantage Advantage Multi (Advocate in the UK) Tablets: Trifexis/comfortis Bravecto Collar: Seresto ( (ticks as well) House spary: Indoorex

Sounds like she not only has fleas, but likely a flea allergy as well. Poor thing! Fleas can be very hard to get rid of as various life stages can remain present in the environment. Treatment focuses on several factors: 1) A good flea preventative such as Simparica or Trifexis. I prefer oral medications as they allow you to bathe your pet as necessary 2) Capstar- this will kill all fleas on your pup in a couple of hours, but has NO preventative quality 3) Cleaning of the enviroment- vacuum often. Wash bedding in hot water. Use a flea bomb in your home. It can take 3 months to truly eradicate them from your home 4) A medication to provide relief from itching. I prefer Cytopoint which is a once monthly injection that halts the inflammatory response in the body with very few side effects. Apoquel is an oral medication that is also a good choice. A low dose of a steroid is also an option, but has more side effects such as excessive drinking and urination. The key with fleas is to treat all of your animals,and your home concurrently. Be patient and persistent. I am sorry you are having to deal with this!

Unfortunately fleas do not live on the dog, but only hop on to feed and then they hop off and stay in his environment (your apartment!) until it is time to feed again. 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 (which you have done already) 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 Frontline (ticks as well) Bravecto spot on (ticks as well) - for cats, in tablet form for dogs Nexgard Revolution Tablets: comfortis (will only kill fleas once) Collar: Seresto (ticks as well) House spray: Indoorex