Fleas have been awful this year. It's as though they're hiding in the grass waiting for the first available dog to come along. I've bathed Sadie and dusted her, only to find fleas on her again the next day. So I decided to get some of that stuff that you apply on the dog from neck to mid-back. Out of several brands displayed, I chose Sergeant's Gold.
When I first applied the stuff on Saturday, Sadie acted as if it were irritating her, but I've seen that reaction before, and figured it was temporary. I ignored the warning voice in my head reminding me that my daughter's dog had a reaction to over-the-counter flea pesticide recently.
Yesterday (Sunday) I noticed Sadie was drooling a bit, and panting constantly. I googled "dog drooling" on the Internet and came up with toad-licking or mole poison. Sadie hadn't been outside to play with any toads, and she hasn't run away lately to get into mole poison.
Her appetite seemed good, so Cliff and I went on our ride. When we got home, my dog seemed more like herself, except that she kept trying to scratch the back of her neck, and repeatedly shaking herself. By this time we knew it must be the pesticide on her neck causing the problem, but since she didn't seem to be sick or drooling any more, I thought the side-effects might wear off (I know, shoot me for an idiot). I really wanted rid of the fleas.
Today I googled "Sergeant's Gold" and found more complaints against the stuff than I could count. Several dogs lost control of their legs temporarily, and some were taken to a vet to have their stomachs pumped!
Sadie has now had a bath, along with my sincerest apologies. I'm glad dogs are forgiving creatures.
I'll pay the higher price and get my flea stuff from the vet from now on.
Maybe this entry will save someone else's pet some misery.
Donna I am glad Sadie is okay. I saw that same stuff on the news not long ago. They were interviewing a lady and it had made her dog sick like you were saying. I have used Frontline Plus for years on Tip and it always works. Go to Petshed.com to get it for much less. They are based in Australia and they are pretty quick about getting your order to you. They are cheaper than petmeds or jeffers. Kelly
ReplyDeleteGlad that Sadie is doing ok now. Helen
ReplyDeleteIn Bloglines I only get the first few lines of your entry and I was already popping over to give you a warning about the over the counter flea products..... All of those side effects are the reason we only use the stuff we get from our vet. Glad Sadie is o.k.
ReplyDeleteOur Golden had a pretty bad reaction to the Frontline/Advantage stuff. Actually, one of our cats, too. They get sick and all foamy-mouthed.
ReplyDeleteWhen my beagles were pups they had the worst case of fleas that I've ever seen and since then I get the stuff from the vet that goes between there shoulders called Frontline and haven't had one flea since. It depends on the weight of the dog what dose they get. They never had one sign of irritation. Now I'm down to one 15 year old dog and he's flea free.
ReplyDeleteYears ago I bought over the counter flea stuff at Agway for my dog Charger. He walked by me a couple of days later and I noticed across his shoulders looked wet and on closer inspection, swollen. A few vet visits and a couple hundred dollars later for the antibiotic treatments and a few other odds and ends to clear up the massive infection he'd gotten I swore I would never try to save time and money on that stuff. And I never had, I felt terrible about the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteI have read that over the counter flea medicine is basically useless. I tried Hartz on my dog and I think the fleas thought is was a cocktail or something.
ReplyDeletemy husband thought he was saving money and bought some at wal mart and when I wouldn't use it he got kinda put off.... now I can show hime these remarks and maybe he will finally get it.... I just couldn't remember the reasons why so thanks for the posting
ReplyDeleteSandra
Sadie looks like she could be Sheba's cousin...same markings. To our good fortune we have not had trouble with fleas.
ReplyDeleteHow scary..I'm so glad she is doing good now, poor thing! Like you said, it is good that they are forgiving!
ReplyDeleteI've used frontline and it always seems to do the trick.
A few years back I had used some sort of flea shampoo and when it didn't seem to work, I used a similar product to frontline as well as a flea collar and my poor dog got sick, I had over done it in using all of the products!
My vet recommended putting the flea collar in the vacuum bag to kill fleas that get vacuumed up and only use one product on the pet.
Good luck on a tick/flea free Sadie :)
Sounds like you did the right thing in bathing her and deciding to go through the vet in the future. Give Miss Sadie a big hug.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
~Toni~
Same here in Kentucky Donna...fleas at their worst..and I was tempted to use over the counter...save a buck or two...but went to vet instead..Max had a couple sore spots from the scratching..took a while but we got rid of them..using Frontline...both cat and dog are now ok...sometimes lessons are hard to learn..so happy that Sadie is ok now...she is soooo pretty...God Bless...hugs..Ora
ReplyDeleteWow I will have to watch out for that flea treatment. I worry about fleas too, and it is not helping that the cat thinks she can go in and out when she pleases. I give up trying to make her a strictly indoor cat. Dakota has a mind of her own.
ReplyDeleteLisa
I HAVE USED THAT STUFF AND NEARLY KILLED EVERYONE OF MY CHIHUUAS! I HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM LIKE THAT WITH ANY OTHER STUFF. THEY WERE FOAMING AT THE MOUTH AND PANTING SOMETHING AWFULL...LITTLE HALLIE..THE SMALLEST ONE NEARLY DIED. BUT I HAVE ALSO USED THE OTHER LESS EXPENSIVE BRAND AND HAD NO PROBLEM WITH IT. WANTING TO GO NATURAL, I WENT ONLINE AND I READ THAT IF YOU PUT A TEASPOON OR TWO OF APPLE CIDER VINEGAR IN THEIR DRINKING WATER IT WILL HELP KEEP FLEAS AWAY...I STARTED DOING THIS AND IT DOES NOT HURT THE PUPS AND THEY HAVE FAR FEWER FLEAS....
ReplyDeleteLOVE,
CARLENE