FLEAS!!

Advice on this matter please -

Not 100% if he has them, but he is scratching and biting at himself alot last week or so, went to pet shop and the woman in there had a quick look and couldn't see anything, said it could be the hot weather and his skin was dry, or something he ate!??!?! I have looked and looked and cant see anything, but I have come out with couple bites in my legs and not sure if they are flea bites and now paranoid we have them in house!! I have washed all his bedding on hot wash, given him a bath with tea tree oil shampoo (as recommended by the pet shop) and obviously am hoovering daily anyway, I also gave him a flea treatment that you had to put on back of neck and between shoulders and it said should kill all fleas within 48 hours, but this time has passed and he is still scratching alot - he does get walked in woods alot - any further advice?  

Do you have any blotting paper in your home, if so you can use this to see if he has them or not.

Give his coat a run through with the comb or brush whichever you use on him then gently tap the comb or brush over some damp blotting paper - if you dont have this use some damp cottonwool pads, it will give a similar result. If he has fleas you will probably see tiny reddish brown specks on the paper.

Might also be worth letting the vet take a look in case too.

Thank you - I will try this and report back  

It may be fleas. If it's a minor infestation, you might not have noticed them crawling around yet, so the blotting paper idea is good.

If not, it could be a reaction to insect bites. If this is the case, you could try giving him a Piriton once per day and see if that relieves the itching.

Maybe more to do with the pesky insects that are about in the wood, I have been bitten really badly too. If you have used a flea treatment then it should be ok. What treatment did you use? If no improvement I would pop along to the vets. 

Kathy wrote:Do you have any blotting paper in your home, if so you can use this to see if he has them or not.

Give his coat a run through with the comb or brush whichever you use on him then gently tap the comb or brush over some damp blotting paper - if you dont have this use some damp cottonwool pads, it will give a similar result. If he has fleas you will probably see tiny reddish brown specks on the paper.

Might also be worth letting the vet take a look in case too.

Eleanor wrote:It may be fleas. If it's a minor infestation, you might not have noticed them crawling around yet, so the blotting paper idea is good.

If not, it could be a reaction to insect bites. If this is the case, you could try giving him a Piriton once per day and see if that relieves the itching.

Excellent advice there!

Are the bites on you close together or just an odd couple?

Just odd couple, two close together back of leg and one on front above knee

could possibly be just bug bites rather then fleas

I give our 2 advocate from the vet every 2 months - anything else that bites us isn't a flea :-)

How's he doing today? Any improvement?