We are seeing a lot of very itchy dogs and cats here.  It seems to be a very bad year for fleas.  If your pet is itchy from the waist back it is probably fleas.  You can check for fleas by putting a light colored cloth or paper towel under your pet and scratching their backs gently with your fingernails, brush any flakey stuff on to the white material- if there are tiny curlicues those are likely “flea dirt” and by that I mean” flea poop”!  If there are tiny flecks of dark you can add a touch of water to them, if they turn a rusty reddish color that is the hemoglobin in blood that was not digested by the fleas….and you have fleas!

Good spots to visualize fleas are on the belly and around the anus and tail base, but watch carefully fleas are very fast!

I asked our veterinary dermatologist what he is using for flea problems these days and he still uses revolution and capstar.  Capstar kills all the fleas within an hour but has no residual effect.  Revolution is a topical and kills fleas for 28 to 30 days.  There are lots of new products out there but even our dermatologist is still using these two great products. 

We can look over your furry family members and help you with their itchies any day Monday to Friday.  For established clients we offer Saturday hours too!