Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Our family recently moved to southern texas, which is way more green and has way more bugs. Our house has a nice grassy backyard, and ever since moving here, I noticed our border collie is really itchy. At first I thought fleas because they are common in our area, and when I inspect where he is scratching I usually find a very small bite or two. 3 weeks later after 2 flea baths and dousing our yard in diatomaceous earth, I'm wondering if it was fleas at all for 2 reasons: I never actually found evidence of fleas with the flea comb (dirt or otherwise, which should be easy to spot since our boy had a lot of white fur), and our other dog is completely unscathed.
He has a vet appt on tuesday but I hate to see how itchy he is. I gave him a benadryl and once he conked out, I used the flea comb for almost and hour and came up with nothing. Now I'm thinking hes being bitten by something else (what else would leave these tiny bites around his neck/armpit/tummy? Why would they not be attacking my other dog at all?), or perhaps he has hives due to another allergy. Any thoughts or ideas?
Certainly possible he's getting bitten by mosquitoes, flies, ants, some type of gnat, chiggers, sand fleas, who knows what else, but it is odd that your other dog isn't being bitten. An experienced local vet would probably have some ideas based on what they see in the area. Some rashes or allergic reactions might have the appearance of small insect bites. Maybe the vet can get a magnified look at the "bites" and tell more.
Could be anything mentioned above. You will need to have your dog on some sort of flea prevention year round in South Texas or you will constantly be battling fleas. Even if you treated your yard, fleas could be coming from a neighbor's yard or from squirrels if you have them.
I don't know where you moved from so I'll add this. Your dog should be on heartworm prevention too if he's not. Heartworms, which will kill a dog, are transmitted via a mosquito bite and are very common in dogs that aren't on a preventative in Texas.
It's true. My dog had a disease trasmitted via a mosquito two years ago (don't remember how it was called). Fortunately, my husband took her to a vet clinic in time, and after a long treatment (about 2 months) she got well. After that case we usually buy Vectra for flea and other insect prevention (I order it on Pet Express as it is cheaper there). What products do you use for this purpose?
We use Trifexis and have great results.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
