Donna
Russellville, AR

I suspect your dog has both a skin infection (with bacteria and possibly yeast) and allergies.

Itchy skin is the hallmark of allergies in dogs. Malodorous skin is often a sign of a skin infection.

Dogs can be allergic to many things. Fleas are the number one cause of allergies in canine companions. If your dog isn’t already on a good flea preventative I would recommend that you start one regardless of whether she has a visible flea infestation.

Food allergies also can cause skin problems in pets. Duck and potato diets are hypoallergenic, but your dog may be a rare reactor to a protein in her food. You therefore could consider switching to a different hypoallergenic diet.

Finally, environmental allergens can cause symptoms like you describe. Dogs can be allergic to pollen, mold spores, dust mites, cockroaches, chemicals, detergents, cats, and even humans. Preventing exposure to these allergens can be difficult. Allergy testing is required to identify these allergies.

Once the skin is weakened by allergies, bacteria and yeast can proliferate exuberantly, leading to a skin infection with an unpleasant odor. Skin infections exacerbate itching and baldness.

Bacterial infections respond to antibiotics. Yeast infections can be diagnosed with a non-invasive test called skin cytology, and can be treated with anti-fungal agents. You should talk to your vet about an antibiotic trial and skin cytology.

Finally, although your dog’s problems truly sound like a combination of allergies and skin infection, remember that other things could be going on. Certain parasitic infestations and auto-immune diseases may cause similar symptoms.

Click the links in this article for more information on any of the highlighted subjects.

People’s knowledge of history is poor. Very few of my clients are aware that merely six hundred and fifty years ago fleas spread a disease (bubonic plague, also known as black death) that wiped out a third of Europe and changed the nature of society forever. Only in the last 80 years has the plague receded as the preeminent threat to human existence.

Now that in the United States plague isn’t the imminent threat it once was, many people view fleas as merely pests.

Indeed, fleas are pests. But they are much more than pests. They are vectors for many diseases other than plague in cats and humans.

A page published recently on the NAVC Clinician’s Brief website discussed some of the vague, creepy diseases that fleas can spread to your cat–and to you.

I suggest you check it out. Also, don’t forget to read what I have written about the parasites on my website:

http://drbarchas.com/fleas

Image: The little fella almost looks cute. Don’t be fooled: he’s deadly!

Grace
Alhambra, California

I would wager that your dog is suffering from allergies to fleas.

Dogs with allergies usually suffer from skin and ear problems. Itching is the most common complaint.

Dogs can be allergic to thousands or perhaps millions of insects, pollens, food proteins, chemicals, and mammals (including cats and humans). But one thing is nearly certain: if your dog has allergies, she is allergic to fleas.

Flea saliva is phenomenally allergenic to cats and dogs (and some humans). This gives rise to a common paradox. Animals with flea allergies rarely “have” fleas.

The last time I visited Yosemite National Park, I suffered numerous mosquito bites. One day was particularly bad. I hiked in the Grand Canyon of the Tuolomne to a place that I will forever call the Mosquito Forest. I applied bug spray nearly constantly, but the six-legged parasites could not be held at bay. After about 15 minutes I retreated uphill towards my campsite.

I suffered about a dozen mosquito bites during my foray into the Mosquito Forest. I am allergic to mosquito saliva. That night, in my mosquito-free tent, I was miserably itchy. I was itchy the next day during my hike out of the wilderness. And the next day at work. And the next day, and the next day, and . . .

Dogs that suffer from flea allergies show similar symptoms. A week after my trek to the Mosquito Forest, there were no insects in sight. But I was still miserably itchy. A week after Frontline has eliminated the fleas on your dog, she too may be miserably itchy.

You have two choices in this sort of situation. If your dog’s condition is tolerable, you and she can wait it out (that’s what I did, and I’m fine now). If your dog is in severe distress, you can look into getting a cortisone shot or prescription.

Cortisone (a steroid, also known as prednisone) almost certainly will relieve the itching. But it is a strong medicine with many potential side effects. Consider the risks and the benefits carefully before giving her steroids. If she truly is miserable, the benefits probably outweigh the risks.

Photo: the Tuolomne River rolls into the Mosquito Forest at the base of Waterwheel Falls.

A man with two Dachshunds (one brown, one black) recently ended up in my office. He had purchased Sergeant’s Gold flea and tick drops at the pet store, believing that the safety and efficacy of the product were similar to Advantage or Frontline.

Advantage and Frontline aren’t perfect, to be sure. But I have never seen either product cause problems like those that occurred in the two Dachshunds.

Shortly after the Sergeant’s was applied to the brown Doxie, the black dog licked the site of application. Soon after that, the black dog began to suffer seizures.

The black dog arrived at my office with a temperature of 108. That is not compatible with life. The staff began intensive treatment to save the dog.

As everyone was working on the black dog, the brown dog sat with the owner in the waiting room. And then the brown dog, too, developed symptoms of toxicity. He produced projectile vomit and profuse diarrhea. In less than a minute he was a dehydrated wreck whose life was in danger. He was rushed from the waiting room to the treatment area.

The following morning both dogs were shaken but alive, well, and out of danger. Their symptoms were reduced to memories.

However, their poor owner will be reminded of the memory when he receives his next bank statement. The massive medical interventions that saved his dogs did not come cheap.

Mandi
Lago Vista, TX

Sadly, I am not aware of any oral medications that effectively prevent ticks in dogs.

Sentinel is a medicine that prevents heartworm, certain intestinal worms, and breeding flea infestations in dogs and cats. It does not kill individual fleas, and it does not prevent ticks.

Comfortis is a new monthly oral flea preventative for dogs only. It does not offer protection against heartworm or ticks. Capstar is a daily (or every other day) oral flea preventative for dogs and cats. It also does not protect against ticks or heartworm.

If you want truly effective tick prevention, at this time you’ll be stuck using a topical treatment such as Frontline Plus, Vectra 3D, or K9 Advantix. Homeopathic oral tick preventatives are not effective in my experience.

One note: you mention that you are worried about ticks because of deer in your area. I presume that means you’re worried about Lyme disease, which is spread by deer ticks. Note that deer populations do not harbor Lyme disease, and the number of deer in your area won’t necessarily correlate with the prevalence of Lyme disease. The reservoir for Lyme disease is a type of wild mouse.

Fleas are vile blood sucking disease spreading parasites that are easy to prevent. They are extremely common in northern California.

A few days ago a client brought her cat to me. The cat reeked of patchouli. It was almost dead.

The cat’s gums were pale–a sign of anemia. It was weak and could barely walk. It was covered in fleas and flea feces.

The client told me that she and her cat had been battling fleas for several months. When the client noticed the fleas she applied witch hazel extract and then tea tree oil to the cat. When those failed to work, she tried bathing the cat in dish soap. Then she fed the cat a garlic-based herbal remedy. Finally, she applied patchouli oil–which was obvious from the way the room smelled.

I had to ask.

“Did you try Advantage?”

Her shocked response was no, she did not want to apply chemicals to her cat.

I resisted the urge to point out that tea tree oil, patchouli oil, and witch hazel extract are made of chemicals. I did, however, tell her that garlic is toxic to cats. Finally, I talked her into giving her cat Capstar and applying Advantage.

Ten minutes later thousands of dying fleas began falling off the cat.

I understand the desire to avoid exposing a pet to synthetic chemicals. In an ideal world it would not be necessary. But if your pet is dying from fleas, it is time to bite the bullet and use something that works.

I am confident that the cat will make a complete recovery. But the cat nearly paid the ultimate price for her owner’s lack of common sense.

Photo: Patchouli. Doesn’t cure fleas. By Kurt Stueber.

Salma

You started your question by mentioning that you’d already searched my website. That’s a surefire way to get your question to the head of the line.

Tapeworms are common and disgusting intestinal parasites of cats and dogs. However, they are not terribly pathogenic. This means that although they are bad for the health of their hosts, tapeworms rarely cause overt disease.

The most common tapeworm in cats (and dogs) is spread by fleas. The tapeworms are not directly contagious. As long as no fleas infest the cats in the house, the tapeworms should not spread. The key to controlling the problem is to use a good flea preventative in all of the cats who aren’t pregnant . . . and possibly the one who is (more on this below).

Prescription tapeworm treatments are generally pretty safe. So are high quality flea preventatives. However, it is best to avoid medications during pregnancy. In an ideal world, no cat would ever need medicine while pregnant. In your case, one must weigh the risks against the benefits.

The safe use of tapeworm medicines and flea preventatives during pregnancy has not been established. However, neither praziquantel (the most commonly prescribed tapeworm medicine) nor any high quality flea preventative is a documented teratogen (a compound known to affect fetal development). If you use the medicines, the kittens will probably be fine. This is especially true during the last trimester of pregnancy (the last 21 days), which is not that far off.

Try to keep your house flea-free. Use a high quality flea preventative on all of the non pregnant cats in the house. If I were in your situation, I would also apply the same sort of medicine to the pregnant cat. However, you must accept the very remote risk that flea preventatives could cause harm to the kittens.

Likewise, I would treat the pregnant cat for tapeworms. This may (but almost certainly won’t) lead to problems in the kittens. Tapeworms are only mildly pathogenic. But they are pathogenic.

I believe that the benefits of flea and tapeworm treatment outweigh the risks in your situation. But it is not an open-and-shut case.

Marilynn
Winchester, CA

Pets don’t have fingers. Therefore, they use their tongues and toes to scratch. When a pet licks any area of its body excessively, I take it as a sign that the area itches or tingles.

Two issues commonly cause pets to lick their rear ends in seemingly excessive manners.

Fleas are by far the most common cause of rear end licking in cats and dogs. Flea bites may stimulate pets’ immune systems. In the same way that pollen causes some peoples’ eyes to itch, flea bites cause many pets’ rear ends to itch. For some pets, a single flea bite may cause severe irritation on the back near the tail.

Impacted or irritated anal glands also may cause licking near the tail. The glands, located (as the name implies) adjacent to the anus, produce a foul smelling fluid that usually is deposited on feces. Any irregularity with the anal glands can cause pets to scoot their hind ends along the ground or lick their rears.

Less commonly, allergies to pollen, food, or any number of environmental agents and chemicals also may cause irritation of the skin near the hind end. In my experience, it is not common for tapeworms to cause excessive rear end licking.

Based upon what you have written, it is most likely that fleas are causing your dog’s behavior. I recommend a high quality flea preventative. The itching may persist for several weeks after your dog is free of fleas, because your dog’s immune system may react to the flea bites for quite some time after the fleas are gone.

Conveniently, eliminating fleas also will reduce the risk of tapeworms in your dog. The most common type of tapeworm is spread by fleas.

Photo: Maggie May’s rear end looks fine.

Let me begin with two caveats. Some of the sidebar advertisements on the article are a bit loony. In my opinion this damages the credibility of the article. Loony websites have loony advertisements, and loony websites often publish loony material.

More important, before anyone gets too worked up railing against flea products, don’t forget how vile and terrible are fleas. Fleas spread tapeworms, “cat scratch disease”, and feline infectious anemia. They contribute to skin disease and autoimmune disease. Their feces contaminates houses. They spread bubonic plague. Fleas are bad, bad, bad.

Now, on to the article.

[P]yrethroid-based flea and tick treatments — from Hartz, Sergeant’s, Farnam, and Bayer — are approved for sale by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and they are readily available at grocery stores, specialty pet retailers, and hardware stores. But they are also linked to thousands of reported pet poisonings, and they have stirred the ire of pet owners, the concern of veterinarians, and the attention of regulatory agencies . . . At least 1,600 pet deaths related to spot on treatments with pyrethroids were reported to the EPA over the last five years, according to an analysis of EPA pesticide incident exposure data by the Center for Public Integrity. That is about double the number of reported fatalities tied to similar treatments without pyrethroids, such as Frontline and Advantage — although these products also have critics.

I was surprised to learn that Advantage and Frontline had been linked to 800 pet deaths over the last five years. In my practice, I see major toxic reactions to the Hartz and Sargent’s products regularly. In the last ten years, I have not seen even one life-threatening reaction to Advantage or Frontline, although I realize they occur.

I would be curious to learn the rate of reactions to Advantage and Frontline relative to those for the pyrethroid-based products, rather than the absolute numbers for each product. Also, readers should remember that the number of adverse events listed for each of the products represents events that have been reported to regulatory agencies. The majority of reactions are not reported.

The article, predictably, goes on to describe several heartbreaking horror stories associated especially with use of cheap flea products. But then it delves into unexpected territory:

Another possible explanation for the number of incidents is that consumers often misuse flea and tick products, causing the sickness that pet owners later blame on the treatments, said Jennifer Windrum, a spokeswoman for Sergeant’s. “Pet owners feel incredibly guilty if they misapply it to their pet,” Windrum said. “It’s easier to blame a company.”

Whoa! This is a total cop out. All products are misused by consumers. It’s a fact of life. For a product to be truly safe, it should not consistently cause problems when it is inevitably misused.

Ultimately, the article does not offer any simple advice to pet owners who wish to avoid adverse events associated with flea preventatives. But I’ll be happy to take over that department.

Talk to your veterinarian about the risks and benefits of flea preventatives before you use them. Don’t buy the cheapest preventatives. Use the preventatives according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Don’t assume that natural preventatives are any safer than synthetics. Garlic, a common ingredient in natural products, is potentially toxic to pets.

Finally, keep things in perspective. It is tragic when a pet loses its life to an adverse reaction to any sort of product. But remember that fleas have killed far more pets than even the worst of the flea preventatives. Fleas have also killed millions of people–it is estimated that in 1400 alone fleas killed 125,000,000 residents of Europe.

Flea preventatives may not be perfectly safe, but fleas are very dangerous as well.

Cynthia
Brooklyn, NY

In dogs, allergies most often cause skin and ear troubles. Three main types of allergens cause a majority of problems.

Flea saliva is the most common allergen in dogs. Dogs with flea allergies almost never are infested with fleas. Fleas can be taken out of the picture with high-quality preventatives available from your vet. If the symptoms improve, then fleas may be playing a role in the problem.

Food allergies also are common in dogs. Special hypoallergenic diets are available. If the symptoms improve after you switch to one of these diets, then food may be playing a role in the problem.

The third group of allergens consists of environmental agents. These include pollen, mold spores, detergents, chemicals, and danders (dogs can be allergic to cats and to humans). To find out which of these agents may be playing a role in Racquel’s symptoms, you will need to run tests.

Blood allergy tests are available through many vets. Blood allergy tests are capable of detecting reactions to common allergens including fleas, foods, and many different environmental agents.

Special skin allergy tests (similar to those that are sometimes run in humans) are available through veterinary dermatologists. These tests check for skin reactions to a number of allergens.

If Racquel undergoes either type of testing, you may get the answers you are looking for.

Regardless, please remember that allergies cannot be cured. And, as you have already discovered, animal allergies tend to be very frustrating for pets and people.

To read more about canine allergies, check out my website:

http://drbarchas.com/canine_allergies

Photo: Mighty Midas is scratching, but I don’t think he has allergies.