h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Fleas.

The poor dog's misery is my fault (so, therefore, is our mis*gets up to stop chomping*ery). I missed a dose of her topical treatment, and didn't realize for a couple of months. By then, of course, it was too late. We flea bathed her weekly. We restarted her topical treatments, I rubbed food grade diatomaceous earth on her, which made her bare spot look really We flea bombed the house. We washed all the bedding, and put the topical treatment on her before she was let into the house again. The bombing was less than a month ago--I'd gotten the bombs that claimed to keep killing for 2 months after. Guess what I saw on Penny yesterday? I gave her a flea bath about half an hour ago. I'm getting the "Why did you do this to me, Mom?" look right now. I'll be getting it even worse once she's dry and I do this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pszNSfn7lzc to her again. (If you didn't check the link, it's how to make an alternative form of the cone of shame using a ). Even when we *thought* she was flea-free, we were (I was) being awakened during the night by *nibble nibble chomp champ snort snort lick lick lick chomp* (the licking, by itself, doesn't wake me up, but it does keep me from going back to sleep). I did buy some spray to soothe the itchy spots, and some omega 3 supplement to get her skin back in condition (and make her breath fishy) (her food is a good grain free kibble)--but the spray only works if it's not licked off immediately Evidently, the only liquid allowed is dog saliva, and since the inflammation is from licking/biting, she can reach... Heck, if fleas were bigger and/or I felt I could trust Penny that close to the chickens, I'd let *them* get a little extra protein--I bet the problem would clear up pretty rapidly if adult fleas were eaten daily.

Ugh... I am way to familiar with itchy dogs (sadly so). Nessie is also having issues, and we haven't tracked down the cause. I'm not hopeful that we ever will do so.

That said, for fleas, I highly recommend only two products. Frontline and Advantage/Advantix. Don't bother with any other flea drops (unless you check their active ingredients and they also contain fipronil or imidacloprid respectively). Other brands may be cheaper, but they're usually a waste of money.

I once had an extreme infestation on a cat and in my apartment and shortly after applying Advantage for cats on her, I watched the fleas literally fall off of her as she sat on the back of my sofa. Within a few days, there were no noticeable fleas in my apartment even without treating the area directly. Even after a few weeks, and all the eggs had hatched I still didn't find any fleas. We haven't had to treat our property since switching to Advantage.

[Reads first post and flees ]

Ah, so you know that "snort" doesn't really quite describe that *sound*... *shudder* Of course, the fact that Penny's a boxer and so has a short muzzle may make that worse--I don't remember Sandy (a cocker spaniel mix that my dad and stepmom had when I was in highschool) making *quite* that horrid a sound when he'd go at it. Then again, that *was* nearly a quarter century ago (!), so maybe I'm just not remembering accurately.

[Keeps fleeing]

*Sets up the sleeper couch, in case paul keeps fleeing long enough*

Argh--Penny's learned that if she scratches at the towel, it'll loosen enough for her to chew her tail and inner thighs. She's aiming to get herself a cone, since the places she attacks the most can't be covered by letting the girls dress her (yes, she allows the girls to dress her in their old dresses--I have several photos of Penny looking adorable and oh-so-humiliated)--well, they'd be covered, but still easily accessible. Even without loosening things, she's a bit more flexible than the dog in the video, being able to lick everywhere, but not quite able to apply teeth when the towel is tight.

The sleeper couch?

I might have to turn back if I can't get across the Mississippi and the Grand Canyon.