Dog Flea Bites - How to Treat Them
By Ann Wong
Spots was playing with Tippy, our neighbor’s dog happily in the backyard. It was dinner’s time and Spot came running home. Something just doesn’t seem right about Spot.
She was scratching feverishly and could not stop through out the night. This scratching continues for couple of days more and it got worse. She started biting off patches of her fur, exposing raw inflamed skin throughout her body.
Does this sound all too familiar to you?
That’s right, Spot has brought home a tiny friend and this friend of hers is the cause of all her misery. I guess you all may already know what’s her name. Yes, it’s “Fleas” and Spot is suffering from dog flea bites!
When flea bites, they excrete salvia which causes an allergic reaction in some dogs leading to skin eruption characterized by a red-spot surrounded by a reddened halo. It’s accompanied with itch causing increased scratching resulting in hair loss, crust and erosions of the skin and pimple-like bumps. In severe cases, the skin becomes thicken and darkened. Hot spots may develop which appear as red oozing sores causing immense pain to your pet.
Often, flea bites are most commonly found in areas like the lower back or tail and the thighs or abdomen areas.
Treatment of dog’s flea bites depends on the severity of the allergic reaction.
Here are some simple home remedies for flea bites:
1. Bath your dog to keep it clean and prevent secondary infection. Always bath it with cold water and never use hot or warm water. Cold water will help in alleviating the inflammation as well as the itch while warm or hot water tend to stimulate itch.
2. Use fresh aloe vera juice to apply to the inflamed skin. Aloe vera has a soothing effect and it also promotes wound healing.
3. Supplement its diet with fatty acid like flaxseed oil, which has an anti-inflammatory effect.
In chronic cases, where the condition is bad and your dog is suffering from the constant intense itch, a visit to your vet may be necessary. Your vet may prescribe a steroid cream or a steroid jab and administer an anti-histamine to bring about a more rapid relief for your dog.
There are many natural products that are useful for treating dog flea bites.
