• If you're a past member of the board, but can't recall your password any more, you don't need to set up a new account (unless you wish to). As long as you recall your old login name, you can log in with that user name then select 'forgot password' and the board will email you at your registration email, to let you reset your password.

zack's wiped out again

judy

Well-known member
:( since saturday, Zack got better and better. This morning, i really was seeing him as being back to 100%. He was bringing me the ball to throw, going outside, ate his kibble this morning, nice poo :) , and when we went out to go to the vet, walking to the mail box, he was just prancing, head and tail held high, and his cute little front paws stepping high in the air, just seeming to feel good to be alive. The vet said right off the bat that it was pyoderma, as the other vet said, and she said she didn't like the medication he had been given, Clavamox, for skin infection, she liked something else better, i asked what, she said Cefadrop, sounds like a cephalosporin maybe, i haven't looked it up yet, but i said i'd take that one since she is the skin specialist. because i wanted liquid rather than tablets, it was very expensive, $60 more than the tablets. i just want to make it as easy on him as i can. and on me.

she found a flea on him, and saw flea dirt, which wasn't there yesterday, i dont' know if she didn't believe me that it wasn't there before, but she said her theory was that he had been bitten by fleas, and the skin infection developed from that. She said he absolutely does not have a flea allergy, which was good to hear, i didn't think he did, but things are far from clear. She also said not to worry at all about the lesions scarring and hair loss, she said they were superficial, it's not deep pyoderma. i was relieved about that.

So...we talked about Advantage and Frontline, and i was already committed to having Advantage put on him. I asked if it would be contraindicated because of the lesions. She scared me because she hesitated before answering. Then she said as long as there weren't any lesions on the back of his neck. I pointed out one on the back of his neck. they're all over him. she said it was ok, as long as the stuff wasn't put right on the lesions. I'm not sure it didn't go right on lesions since his hair is so long, i can't see where they all are, and she didn't check. she put it on, and i got one for the cat too.

He was still fine all the way home. He went in the backyard, he was playful. But about 10 minutes after we got home, he started doing that scratching/body rubbing thing again, and furiously digging into the pillows. He did it once on Tuesday night too but i gave him benadryl and he continued to seem like his normal self. But today, right after that, he became very lethargic and prostrated again. He has slept all afternoon. This is just not like him. I can just hear the vet saying (as the one did on Sunday) "It's the heat." It is NOT the heat. Something is wrong. He showed no interest in a treat. I could not interest him in playing. He wanted to lay on me, or lay anywhere, and he is just sleeping, and i am afraid he's like he was last week again.

The only thing that happened to him was the Advantage. It may not have been caused by the Advantage, but i was already so reluctant to put pesticide on my dog, and now, it's still wet looking and when he was laying on me, a strong chemical smell was coming from him. Not so strong that if he was running around i would smell it, but because he was laying righ on me, a few inches from my face, i smelled something and i thought "What's that?" and then i remembered he has the Advantage on him. I'm afraid he's poisoned. i think he was poisoned last week, but i don't know by what. None of the vets really address his systemic symptoms.

Now, i am not sure whether i'm going to switch him to the ultra expensive medication ($93). I don't want to add something else. He was doing OK on the Clavamox for one day. If i give him the new one, then that will be yet another powerful drug in him. I just want him to feel good and hold his tail high and prance again. i'm really sad and worried now. :(

i hope it's not the Advantage, but i also don't like not knowing what it could be. He did go in the backyard right before he started scratching. It definitely could be something out there. I was watching him the whole time, i was watering the garden, and he was in areas where i'm sure there must be fleas. I'll keep him away from there until the Advantage takes effect.

I wanted to treat the yard with an IGR but i can't find out where to buy it. I can order it online but didn't want to wait. I asked the vet and she said not to treat the yard or the house. She said to just rely on the Advantage. She did mention Malathion and said while it's a strong chemical, the sun burns it off really fast. but there's no way. anyway, i think when she said not to treat the house and yard, she was considering that more chemicals might be harmful. i dont' really know why she said it, just guessing.

i just want him to be ok and want to know what i can do for him, all i can do is just let him sleep and wait it out, i guess.

my objectives in going to the skin specialist vet today were, one, to ask about what could be done to prevent scarring, and two, to ask about whether it was ok to put Advantage on with the lesions. And anything else she might add from her expertise because it's a skin thing. so, all of that was accomplished. but now he's acting sick while before he was acting well.

maybe i'm overreacting? maybe he just needs to sleep and it'll be ok in a day or two or three? i don't know, i'm at a loss for what to do.
 
Sorry to hear that Zack back tracked a bit. You are definitely stressed by the situation; none of us likes our babies to be sick!! The contrast between having him seem happy/healthy earlier then suddenly going back to old behaviors probably is what's causing your greatest frustration right now.

I'd give it a day, let yourself relax so that you dont stress zack out with your own stress. He's had a lot of vet visits lately, and throughout his life; perhaps the stress of all that has an impact on him.

You also dont like chemicals, and I know putting the flea/tick preventative on him wasnt something you really wanted to do. It will stay wet as the skin absorbs the oils. that's how the meds work for an entire month. The glands absorb the oil, and then release the oils gradually. You can brush him and you might not see the wet spot any more.
 
Dang...Judy and we thought that he was getting better...the only thing that bother me bout wat u just said was that the vet wants to change his medication from wat one vet put him on to the med that she likes better..i just hope that Zack doesn't get hooked on all these meds...but i was glad too hear he was prancing...take care
 
Moviedust said:
...The contrast between having him seem happy/healthy earlier then suddenly going back to old behaviors probably is what's causing your greatest frustration right now.

You nailed it there. and anticipating having him get like he was last week, very depressing prospect.

I'd give it a day, let yourself relax so that you dont stress zack out with your own stress. He's had a lot of vet visits lately, and throughout his life; perhaps the stress of all that has an impact on him.

Yours is the voice of wisdom, it's too soon to know whether it's the same thing, or whether it will last 3 1/2 days like before.

You also dont like chemicals, and I know putting the flea/tick preventative on him wasnt something you really wanted to do. It will stay wet as the skin absorbs the oils. that's how the meds work for an entire month. The glands absorb the oil, and then release the oils gradually. You can brush him and you might not see the wet spot any more.

on another thread, i posted a link to an article i came across while sitting here with zack laying on me uncharacteristically dead to the world, it was a very anti-insecticide for pets article, from the respected Whole Dog Journal, and it scared me over the edge. I went and washed it off him as best i could. One thing that was creeping me out was the smell--there was a chemical odor coming from the back of his neck. Also, on the Advantage website, it says that it should be put between the shoulder blades of dogs and on the back of the neck of cats. My vet (or vet tech, i can't even remember which) put it on the back of his neck. I guess that's OK. but he has skin lesions pretty much right next to that poison-saturated hair, and that bothered me more than a little. the poisoned hair was right over that lesion above his ear.

I love petting his neck, kissing him, putting my face in his fur and stuff, and as i read that article, i couldn't imagine doing that, not without washing it off. I don't understand how it can not be toxic to people who touch the pet, if it's being released into their skin all the time. I'm not saying it necessarily is, but i dont' understand how that can work. it seems like i'd have to wash with soap after i put my hand into his fur. Not that it would make a person sick just like that, but i am concerned about the accumulation of exposures over time.

The article mentioned a vet who reported on a client who said they smelled the insecticide on their dogs' breath minutes after it was applied to them. Right after we got home from the vet today, i had smelled something unfamiliar on his breath and i thought "could it be the pesticide?" and then i thought, "Nah.." and then there it was in that article. The article was trying to make the point that contrary to what the drug companies advertise, it's systemically absorbed.

Since i washed it off, it seems like the fleas have been attacking. not sure what i'm going to do about the fleas. Maybe once Zack is healthy, the skin lesions gone, him not on antibiotics, and not just barely getting over something, I'd try Advantage again. I don't know why he acted so different by about 40 minutes after it went on him. I didn't expect it. He just became so lethargic and clingy, and depressed or unhappy looking, he's just not like that. The other time i put Advantage on him, that didn't happen. At least i don't think so. There were a lot of other things going on then.

Before i bathed Zack tonight, he was up and around and possibly not lethargic anymore, or less, but i had read the article and it had me convinced i should wash it off. After his bath, Zack was typically very frisky and playful too. Now he's out cold again.

So now i'm off to read the other Whole Dog Journal article i posted, which is about nontoxic flea control. back to the drawing board. While i was sitting here, i saw two fleas on me. First time this year.
 
Update: zack really seems better now. He slept some more after his bath and now for a while has been wanting to play. we have played fetch with a couple of different balls. Now he's gnawing on a carrot stick, i can now go to sleep peacefully tonight.

Increasingly his lesions are healing, the scabs are falling off.

we all three are getting fleas on us tonight, it's starting. i killed one on my arm. So, i'm not sure what i'm going to do about that yet.

Although i paid $93 for the new antibiotic, because Zack's skin infection appears to be healing well, i'm going to continue the Clavamox, so as not to add a new drug to the mix. when i said i would take the new one, that was when he was acting so healthy and normal, before he fell out when we got home.
 
I'm so sorry Judy, I don't know what to say. Poor Zack...he seems to have such a rough time.

It's really hard when even the vets disagree over what's best...we always think they know everything, but I guess they have their own opinions like we do.

I'm glad he's a bit better and hope you manage to get some sleep. Thanks for teh WDJ links, will go and have a look
 
Judy, I am glad he is more with it now - is it worth looking at a natural product for the fleas, or for the vet to issued a smaller dosage or something... for you to put on and not them.
 
Poor Zack, give him a big hug and kisses from me. Have you thought about trying a crystal in his water bowl - Nicki uses it so she'll tell you baout it - for the fleas?

I'll post more later but hubby is dragging me out now and nagging me to get off the computer :roll: :( xxxxxx
 
Judy, I'd consider two things. One is to try very hard not to focus so entirely on whether things are wrong with Zack. Your own anxiety can contribute to problems even to the extent that they will learn that acting lethargic gets a huge amount of attention from you, stop eating, get the runs etc. He needs some space just to be a dog, and dogs do have health ups and downs from time to time. I'd just keep him on a plain diet and not treat him with lots of different things and also not overly worry whether one thing might have led to this behaviour or that. If the advantage nothered him this is surely not going to last more than a day or two. Honestly, just see if giving him some actual *inattention* doesn't help a bit. It can be very overwhelming for any animal to have someone very worried about you constantly, especially as an animal can pick up on that so easily, and also to have too much focus all the time. For a dog this can be extremely alarming and cause a high level of anxiety. So try to back off a bit from him and just let him get on with things and see how he does, without any extra treatments, foods, etc.

DO NOT put Advantage on open wounds!! I am sure it says this somewhere on the packaging but in general you'd never want to put chemicals into any open wounds, broken skin etc. I am sure his spots will just heal and disappear.

The vet is giving you very good advice and you have to relax and let time pass and let him heal. Try not to second-guess the vet -- they know their job and they are doing the proper order of treatment. There's absolutely no benefit to you or to Zack to be worrying about every micro-element of his behaviour and treatment. Dogs like people have off days too and mostly at that time, they just want to be left alone to rest and recover. (y) Why not just leave things a few days and see how he does?

The second thing is, if problems continue THEN consider specialists. I think the vet has emphasisesd though that she feels none of these things are unusual. Fleas are common espeially in warm weather. Dogs sometimes get bumps if they have an allergic reaction. Many things cause itchiness. And heat will cause a dog to be much quieter. Also Zack is much older now -- he will NOT be as lively or playful as he has been. I have a feeling you are simply seeing some adult behaviour as he is at precisely at the age when those behaviours can change significantly -- mixed with some summer lathargy mixed with some minor discomfort from a skin reaction that is *nothing to worry about*.
 
Hi Judy,

So glad to hear Zack is better again.

I would rather use the flea drops (Frontline, etc.) that try to treat a whole house and yard. Plus my dogs can go anywhere and not pick up fleas when they are protected.

I once saw an animal that was flea bitten and allergic to fleas - so much worse looking than what you've been through. I think you're doing the right thing, protecting Zack with proven medications. :flwr:
 
Claire said:
Judy, I am glad he is more with it now - is it worth looking at a natural product for the fleas, or for the vet to issued a smaller dosage or something... for you to put on and not them.

Yes! This morning he was scratching when i got up so i took him outside and rubbed nutritional yeast into his fur, i've read that fleas do not like it. Zack, and Fluffy, seem to love it. Zack wants to lick it. So that's good too because taken internally, it's like taking a B complex vitamin and supposedly it gives their body a flavor fleas don't like. I didn't know if it would work, but after i put it on, he stopped scratching. Coincidence? i don't know. i had to go out for several hours and when i came back, he was scratching. So i put it on him again and he has not been scratching since. I also have flea combed him but haven't found any fleas. I did see one on him earlier though. Last night it was worse, i was seeing more evidence of them. Fluffy has not been scratching at all. We all three sit together on the reclining chair, but the fleas have not been here. Knock on wood. I put nutritional yeast in their bedding too.

I first saw fleas about two and a hafl weeks ago and that's when i started the brewers yeast/garlic tablets for pets from the health store. I stopped giving them because Zack got discharge in his eyes which i thought might be yeast. Within about a week or less from when i was giving him the tablets, he got that itchiness and then lethargy and prostration, and i'm very suspicious of the garlic. So is my favorite vet. In his blood tests, it said his reticulocytes were elevated. I read an abstract from a study on the web of hemolytic anemia in dogs induced by feeding onion, which has the same toxin as garlic only stronger, and they said reticulocytosis starts within 5 days of starting the onion. I'm suspicious that the whole syndrome he had was related to the garlic.

but, right after i started giving the tablets, i stopped seeing any signs of fleas. I was impressed and pleased. It was after i stopped the tablets that i moved on to diatomaceous earth and neem oil. That was about a week and a half ago, and i am only just now seeing signs of fleas again, so it's possible those things really worked, and would take care of the problem if i kept them up. it's trial and error.

Dr Pitcairn says there are studies with conflicting results about effectiveness of nutritional yeast against fleas, some suggest it is, some don't. but he said no studies of garlic have shown it to be effective against fleas. so i'm just giving the yeast now, and hopefully it is working as it seems to be. No scratching, no signs of fleas. It's kind of hard to use, it's flakey and messy, but not really a big deal. It smells yummy. the animals love it.

i still haven't read the article from WDJ about nontoxic flea control, i'm hoping to get some ideas from there too. it seems too good to be true that the yeast is working so well.

That is a great idea, to get a smaller dose of the Advantage, and combine it with the other things. I am open to trying the Advantage again, but i think it may have not been a good idea to do it when Zack had those lesions on him and has been having an unexplained illness or reaction to something, with a secondary infection. I will only do it again if i can't do it with nontoxic things, but it may come to that, and as Cathy M says below, a dog with a flea allergy is the last thing i want, there is terrible suffering with that condition. and that is exactly why, against my gut feeling, i chose to do the Advantage yesterday.
 
Maxxs_Mummy said:
Have you thought about trying a crystal in his water bowl - Nicki uses it so she'll tell you baout it - for the fleas?

nicki mentioned it before. i definitely want to get one. putting it on my list of things to get this weekend. sure can't hurt. I also have heard that apple cider vinegar in their water helps to make them unappealing to the fleas, and also to spritz them with apple cider vinegar.
 
karlin said:
Judy, I'd consider two things. One is to try very hard not to focus so entirely on whether things are wrong with Zack. Your own anxiety can contribute to problems even to the extent that they will learn that acting lethargic gets a huge amount of attention from you, stop eating, get the runs etc. He needs some space just to be a dog, and dogs do have health ups and downs from time to time.

i agree, i take that seriously--the way people/beings feed off each other, the way peoples/beings' energies affect each other and stuff, and having that in mind (i have had my share of family systems training and experience as a therapist) i am conscious of how i act toward zack. Believe it or not, and it must be hard to believe, I do try not to show him my anxieties. I have used this board and caring people here to vent my worries and freak outs, but with zack, i just leave him alone. If he needs to sleep all day, i don't get in his space. I do my thing, which may be posting freaked out posts to message boards and mail lists, or researching what might be wrong with him on the net, but i am cheerful and laid back with him, believe it or not. Having said that, i'm sure he can sense something in the air, but there's really not a lot of occasions for me to communicate my anxiety to him because when he's acting sick, we basically aren't interacting at all, he's sleeping. i do continue to keep a sense of humor with him, and act normally toward him, what else can i do? It wouldn't do any good to act any differently toward him. But i did give him canned food last week in order to see if he had an appetite, i wanted that information, it seemed like a good thing to know in evaluating what the heck was wrong with him. But you're right, this can lead to problems. However, those very problems are only perpetuated to the extent both "people" keep them up. It can always be changed.

Actually the opposite is the case as far as the attention i give him goes. When he's well, i give him loads of attention, he's a lot of fun. When he's sick, there is much less interaction, and his requests for attention stop, so he's not getting much. I'm just working on trying to figure out what's wrong on my own, not involving him in that.

What he's just been through really wasn't a normal health 'up and down' of being a dog. I think i poisoned him with garlic. but whatever it was, he was in very bad shape, not walking, not eating, not drinking, not functioning. walking two steps and laying down. just to name a few. This was a real cause for alarm. And then, because of my own idiosyncrasy, the way i deal with that is to get fairly dramatic and fearful, but i do avoid acting that out with him. I sure appreciate having people to listen at times like those, like you guys, and my daughter too.

It's always good to be reminded and encouraged anyway, to try to not overreact to things.

....It can be very overwhelming for any animal to have someone very worried about you constantly, especially as an animal can pick up on that so easily, and also to have too much focus all the time. For a dog this can be extremely alarming and cause a high level of anxiety. So try to back off a bit from him and just let him get on with things and see how he does, without any extra treatments, foods, etc.

Yes, again, as far as what he experiences goes, there is not a lot of focus on him. It's just you poor people here that get the effect of my focus on how to help him recover and feel better. when he's sick, those have been the times when he gets very little attention from me, mainly because he needs to be quiet, he shows that, and all i can do is give him space to do that. He doesn't seem to be alarmed by me. He was just sick.

DO NOT put Advantage on open wounds!! I am sure it says this somewhere on the packaging but in general you'd never want to put chemicals into any open wounds, broken skin etc. I am sure his spots will just heal and disappear.

The vet yesterday did not seem concerned about putting the Advantage right on his lesions. When i asked if i should wait until the lesions were healed, she said it would only be a problelm if the advantage went right on the lesions, like if there were any on his neck. When i said he had some on his neck, she wasn't concerned and just put it right on. There was a cluster of them right where she put it on, right there. But maybe she wasn't concerned because they were healing?

The vet is giving you very good advice and you have to relax and let time pass and let him heal. Try not to second-guess the vet -- they know their job and they are doing the proper order of treatment.

With all due respect to vets, they are human, and there are many mysteries in medicine, and the right course is not always clear, and they don't always choose it. I could write a book on the experiences i've had with doctors/vets doing things that were not helpful and were even harmful, with totally good intentions, and doing their very best. I think it's unrealistic to expect more of them. Only one of 4 vets diagnosed Zack's need to be wormed when he had colitis and vomiting when i first got him. The others gave him treatments that didn't help at all. And it was all reasonable. None of it was incompetent. It was based on conventional wisdom or standard medical practice. The 4th vet, i have found repeatedly, is an especially good thinker. She's very alert. She's more than competent. She said almost as an afterthought, when she prescribed the worm medication, "I'd hate to miss that diagnosis." Apparently negative stool samples prevented the other vets from considering this, i dont' know, i didn't ask. But if he had been correctly diagnosed in the beginning, he would never have had a period of chronic sickness. He would've had a brief two day bout of diarrhea and then gone on being the healthy dog that he is. Instead, there was a month of misery for him and emotional trauma for me, having to watch my dog suffer, and because it was during the 30 day waiting period, not being covered by the insurance for the $1100 in 4 weeks.

i'm just glad i second guessed those vets because one was saying the only thing left to try was endoscopy or exploratory surgery and the other one was saying the next step, to be done immediately, was $600 barium studies. I just had to try one more vet before going that way. Luckily, it was an unusually good one who has continued to do good diagnostic work with Zack. so i'm gaining trust in her. but she is only in Friday through Monday.

There's absolutely no benefit to you or to Zack to be worrying about every micro-element of his behaviour and treatment. Dogs like people have off days too and mostly at that time, they just want to be left alone to rest and recover. (y) Why not just leave things a few days and see how he does?

You're right. If i had left the Advantage on, he probably would've come around and been fine, and he would now have the very convenient Advantage protection. But after the scary experience last week of his sudden abrupt deterioration into a totally nonfunctioning dog who wasn't eating, drinking, eliminating or walking for three days, i was feeling shell shocked and didn't really know if he was relapsing, since i didn't really know what caused the thing in the first place. Believe it or not, normally he is well and i am not in worry mode or hyper focus on zack. I just enjoy him, immensely, that's all.

The second thing is, if problems continue THEN consider specialists.

In retrospect, i see you're right, i should not have gone to this doctor who claims to be specialized in skin diseases (she is the third one i saw back in February, who was recommending the barium studies). I really wanted to consult with my regular vet about the lesions but she wasn't in until Friday. I wanted to check on how to prevent scarring and i wanted to know if it would be OK to do the Advantage. Because the fleas were starting to escalate, i was feeling urgency. I wish i'd been more calm about it at that point and just waited it out. i just thought something needed to be done about the fleas but he had the lesions so i didn't know, and considering the possibility that some of the holistic flea things i did might've caused his illness of the week before, i didn't know what to do. but it would've been better if i'd just waited it out, and tried the nutritional yeast, and waited til the lesions healed to try the advantage.

I think the vet has emphasisesd though that she feels none of these things are unusual.

My main vet didn't say that. She said maybe the combination of stuff i gave him for fleas might've thrown him off. She gave him fluids to try to wash out his system. When the blood results came back, she said he had an infection that needed to be treated, even though he was improved so much by then. She didn't mention fleas at all.

The vet i saw yesterday said she thought it was from being attacked by fleas previously, resulting in the pyoderma. I'm not sure about that, and i dont' think she heard what i was saying, history-wise. On the insurance claim form, she wrote "flea infestation, pyoderma." but i dont' think you can accurately call what he's had an infestation. There has been an occasional flea or two, occasional scratching, every few hours, that only lasts a few moments, it's not persistent nor intense.

When he first started scratching, rubbing, digging and paw licking last week, on the first day of his sickness, i carefully looked all over his body. There were no fleas, no bites, no flea dirt. If there were any fleas, i don't think you can call it an infestation. He hadn't been scratching at all for a week before that, after i'd given him the brewers yeast/garlic and other stuff.

Fleas are common espeially in warm weather. Dogs sometimes get bumps if they have an allergic reaction.

yes, but these bumps have never looked like allergic lesions. And the skin specialist vet yesterday said emphatically that he does not have a flea allergy (thank goodness).

Many things cause itchiness. And heat will cause a dog to be much quieter. Also Zack is much older now -- he will NOT be as lively or playful as he has been.

All day Monday and Tuesday when we were visiting Belle down in san diego, the dogs played and played, and we people were sitting around sweating, it was so hot. The dogs looked hot but that didn't make them quiet.

And it's not very hot where i live, by the beach. To give you an idea, where i went to see my mother today, 15 miles from where i live it was in the 100s. Where i live, according to the radio weather report, it was mid 70s.

Anyway, i know zack. this was not the heat. this wasn't developmental behavior change. It was an abrupt overnight dramatic extreme change. he was sick. i think i poisoned him wiht garlic. maybe. Just the night before he came down with this, i was marvelling at how energetic he was. I was thkning he was more energetic than he was earlier in his life. He used to sleep off and on at night while i would sit her doing stuff, but for a while recently, i was noticing he wasn't sleeping at all. He was doing stuff. I was surprised at this. he's a dog, after all. They sleep. so it was quite dramatic, first that he started rubbing, licking paws and scratching, after not doing this at all before, and then, the next day, shutting down, sleeping constantly, not moving, appearing ill--it was alarming. then, yesterday, it seemed to happen again, he abruptly crashed, stayed asleep for most of 8 hours, had a depressed expression, and other things i could list that really were not right, and against the background of what happened last week, it definitely freaked me out.

I am so happy because he is acting fine now, all day today. He was prancing around, holding his head and tail high and carrying toys and balls in his mouth high in the air. and seeing that is wonderful thing. that's the way he usually is. He sleeps, he gets quiet off and on, plenty, but it's not like yesterday, he doesn't look depressed, he can be aroused by the usual things--somethhing wasn't right. but as you say, had i given it time, i think it would've passed--or, it did pass. but i washed off the advantage anyway.

I will keep what you said in mind, so that i won't be surprised if he slows down due to changes developmentally. but i really (beleive it or not) do not get alarmed when normal stuff happens, sleep, not sleep, a little more active, a little less active, playful/less playful--it's just when something extreme and negative happens. but then that will set me off and i'll get overanxious, and in need of a sounding board and feedback. :)
 
Cathy Moon said:
Hi Judy,

So glad to hear Zack is better again.

I would rather use the flea drops (Frontline, etc.) that try to treat a whole house and yard. Plus my dogs can go anywhere and not pick up fleas when they are protected.

I once saw an animal that was flea bitten and allergic to fleas - so much worse looking than what you've been through. I think you're doing the right thing, protecting Zack with proven medications. :flwr:

I think i will just wait until he's had a chance to be fully recovered from whatever was wrong with him, which i guess he just about is now. The scabs have fallen off most of the lesions and his skin looks normal again.

my friend had a dog who had flea allergy, just one flea bite can create terrible havoc. After treating him and trying to help him for a year or two, my friend had him put down because his life just consisted of suffering and nothing the vet did could end that. The possibility of that happening to Zack is really scary, and that's why i did the advantage yesterday even though it strongly goes against my inclinsations. i didn't expect him to start acting sick right after. i thought it was going to be a normal kind of thing, just put it on and he'll be ok.
 
it's been a week ago tonight that the other photos i posted were taken, of the lesions on zack's face. Here's how it looks tonight, it's healing good. :)

znos.jpg

zchin.jpg
 
He looks so much better, bless him. I'm so glad he's behaving more like his usual self too, Judy There's nothing worse than when our babies are ill :( Charlie is much better today but still not quite right, he has been having a zoomy fit though and has probably worn himself out :lol:
 
Back
Top