Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 8/1/2010

Question
I have a four year old collie. He is chewing and diggind at his hind end and tail. so bad that he is losing all his hair and getting scabes. their are a little bite of fleas but we give him frontline monthly. we don't bathe but maby once a month. so why is he doing that.

Answer
He is doing that because the little bit of fleas that are you seeing he is very allergic to!
Frontline doesn't work all the time and what you are seeing is the tip of the iceberg. You have a major flea problem and a dog with long hair that is not going to get better but worse if you don't nip this in the bud now.

You need a new approach to flea control. Ditch the Frontline and get him on Sentinel for heartworms and fleas. That will start sterilizing all the fleas in the area. Then get some Ovitrol flea spray and premise treatment and treat him outside with the flea spray and then spray your house while he is outside.

The largest part of fleas are the eggs, larvae and cocoons. The adults that you see are only 5 % of the problem.

Here is a diagram of the flea pyramind that will show you this:
http://www.sentinelspectrum.novartis.com.au/pet-health-fleas.html

The Ovitrol has an IGR in it, an insect growth regulator, that will render the eggs, larvae and fleas unable to reproduce. The cocoons will hatch in 2-3 weeks and you will have to spray again. That will kill the newly emerged adults. Nothing can kill the cocoons.

If you follow this protocol you will rid your house and dog of fleas in about a month or so. Believe me it works! I have used Sentinel and Ovitrol for over 15 yrs and my acreage is even flea free even though I have myriads of wildlife crossing my property all the time.

Bathing is worthless in the long term and only serve to dry out his skin. It's good to do one bath and get rid of the fleas at the moment, but then you must spray him as soon as he is dry. Bathes only kill the fleas while they are wet!

Trust me this will work. You MUST rid the house and him of fleas if you want him to get better. It only takes ONE flea bite to set off an allergic dog for up to two weeks -scratching, itching,chewing and digging. They can do a lot of damage and then get secondary skin infections from this.

So act fast and get these products and you will have a happy, itch-free dog soon.