Hi Guys,

so a few months ago we found Brooklyn had chunks of hair missing on his back and under his tail where he had chewed the hair off and it was red raw right down to his skin, he was constantly itching and chewing himself so we took him to the vet and after a few tests he told us it was a bad flea allergy and what we thought was him suddenly getting a little chubby was actually him swollen as a reaction to the fleas, he was given anti-histamine injections and antibiotics which calmed the swelling and itching down. We have been managing it pretty well during winter (not many fleas) and we do the monthly chew-able tablet flea treatments (we were using Sentinel Spectrum but it was obviously not working)and fairly regular baths for him, as he gets really dirty really quickly.
I was just wondering whether anyone else has a dog (or cat) who is allergic to fleas and how they manage it, or if anyone has any tips and tricks to keeping the fleas away from your dogs both indoors and outdoors, especially now that it is getting to the warmer weather where they thrive. When we found out he had the allergy we flea bombed the house (the cans are not cheap) twice a week to make sure there were none in any of the bedrooms of living areas, we used malaban wash concentrate on the whole yard and under the house where it is quite dark and concrete (perfect breeding environment for them). We do not mind having to do all of that to the house as it means keeping Brooklyn healthy and not irritated, however it is a very costly process, not to mention time consuming. So i am certainly open to any cheaper alternatives to keeping fleas away not only indoors and off our dogs but outdoors also.

Extra info: we do not use spot on treatments as they just don't work, and it's a pain in the bum digging through all the fur to get it onto the skin, so we use tablets. All 3 dogs are on a RAW diet, Brooklyn is also allergic to grains so we have to make his food.

I hope that all makes sense, any help or advise is much appreciated so thank you in advance.

I don't have the same problem, but I do deal with demodex so I know the whole issue of having to control pests. If you google "apple cider vinegar and dogs" you'll find some info on how ACV can help. It'll make the dog's body more acidic, not enough to hurt the dog, but parasites don't like it and will be less likely to want anything to do with your dog. There's someone else on here who's dealing with the same thing with her Husky, if I can find the thread I'll share it here.

Hi Shae,
Thank you I will have to do a search with 'mr google' and see what he has to say about it, it sounds like it might be worth looking into and trying.

That would be fantastic, i will have a look and see what i can find.

Here's some topics concerning fleas:
Fleas Everywhere
Fleas Around The House
Tips for Beating Summer Fleas Naturally