How long till Revolution kicks in?

[Stacer]

Skylar has fleas. She picked them up last weekend at my parents' house, their 2 cats are having some flea issues at the moment (they neglected to tell us about the fleas until after we arrived with Skylar ).

I treated Skylar with Revolution on Tuesday afternoon and her itching only seems to be getting worse, she's gnawing at the base of her tail and scratching her sides and neck to bits. I feel awful for her, she's in some discomfort.

Should I squeeze another tube onto her? Or should I wait awhile to see if it kicks in?

[Melinda]

it should kick in right away.....well within 24 hours, but then I use advantage and thats what was used on Skylar when she was here, I'm not too sure about revolution but I wouldn't use another tube just yet....don't forget, its chemicals that you're putting on her, maybe give her a bath in a few hours and some benadryl for the itching?

[kathryn]

Do not put more on here unless you want to poison her. You need to just give her a regular bath and flea comb her. Adding more chemicals to her body won't help. Keep brushing her with the flea comb and drowning the fleas.

[babymomma]

I agree with Kathryn!

[14+kitties]

My thoughts would be check to see if Skylar still has fleas. It could be she is allergic to the flea bites themselves. Normally Revolution will work within hours.
The fleas will still bite her even with the Revolution. They just won't live long afterwards.

[Stacer]

I thought about giving her a bath, maybe I'll do that tonight.

Can I give her regular human benadryl? How much? She actually has a rash on her tummy from all the nibbling she's been doing. Poor girl.

[14+kitties]

http://www.diamondpaws.com/health/drugs.htm

http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/dise...Q_benedryl.htm

http://www.canadasguidetodogs.com/he...tharticle1.htm

Hope these sites help.

Just a thought - if you give her a bath you may dry out her skin even more which would make her even more uncomfortable.

[Stacer]

Very helpful sites 14+, I'm off to get some benadryl.

[Stacer]

Benadryl, check.

Relaxing oatmeal and aloe bath, check. I even joined her in the tub for moral support (clothed ) She always looks so dejected in the bath.

Now she's in post bath zoomie mode. Why do dogs get all crazy after a bath?

[hazelrunpack]

Originally Posted by Stacer

Now she's in post bath zoomie mode. Why do dogs get all crazy after a bath?

With setters it's because they've survived the worst torture in the universe--a water bath! That's cause for celebration!

I hope Skylar's itchies go away quickly with the Benadryl, Stacer!

[TKW]

Be very careful with Revolution! Its very toxic and some dogs can have bad reaction to that (mine is one.) Follow instruction closely. Do not overdose.

[Melinda]

Labs get the zoomies because they want everyone to enjoy life with them and they figure the only way to do this is to get wet like they are after a bath.....sharing creatures that they are *L*

[Stacer]

, well she certainly managed to get us both pretty wet.

I'm not so sure she has fleas now. She's scratching and biting more than ever and her tummy is completely raw.

We've been wracking our brains trying to think of anything that's been different lately. She's eating the same food she always has without incident, She doesn't get table scraps or new foods that she could have had a reaction to.

I gave her some Benadryl this morning and again just a few minutes ago. The state of her tummy from this morning till now is just awful, she's licked, chewed and scratched it so raw and the fur is gone.

I've tried putting polysporin on the rawness, but she licks it off. I'm not putting any more on, I'm not sure what ingesting polysporin will do to her.

She is so uncomfortable and her incessant licking and chewing actually keeps me up at night (I feel awful for her, but I need my sleep )

Should I try putting calamine lotion on her raw tummy?

I think I'm going to have to take her to the vet. So frustrating.

[14+kitties]

I would think a vet visit is def. in order. Is it possible for dogs to develop allergies to something they have been eating for quite some time just like people do? Maybe she is having issues now with her food. Or it is the flea bites and she needs an antibiotic. There are so many issues that could be happening. The vet will probably do a scraping to see if he can find something. Meanwhile would a cool cloth ease the itch a little? Not ice cold but something cool enough it might soothe her?
Sorry I can't be more helpful. I really feel sorry for her. Poor baby. :sad:

[Diamondsmum]

aww stacer,


Also have you treated your house for the fleas? ie washed the bedding vaccum everything, spray? Also has the car been treated?

you also have a kittys right? have they been treated?

what food is she on? I wonder if she is also getting an allergy.?? Definate vet (Duke developed Allergies around 3ish)

& Does it say anything on the revolation about it been water proof? or how long does it say to keep out of water?

[Love4himies]

We had a flea problem while Malcolm and Matilda were staying with us and it took 2 months (2 doses) of Revolution to clear up all the fleas. It does start working immediately with the fleas are currently on the animal, but until all the life cycles of the fleas are complete and every flea has bitten a kitty, then there may be fleas around for a while.

[Melinda]

Stacer have you used a new cleaner anywhere in the home? Has the neighbours sprayed for weeds or anything? new laundry soap?

[Stacer]

Nope, no new cleaners (I make all my own non toxic household cleaners), no neighbours have sprayed anything that I'm aware of (rarely see any of them outdoors).

Neither cat seems to be showing signs of fleas (no itching or biting themselves). I've vaccuumed several times this week, I've washed Skylar's bedding, perhaps I need to do more laundry.

There are really no signs of fleas in the house other than Skylar's itching.

She has an appointment this evening. I'll pick up some advantage for the cats (assuming it's fleas we've got)

I'm going to get the vet to cut her nails too

[AmericanBullMom]

When Patrón allergies start to act up he gets really bad skin infections... I have learned how to tell if he has infections already by feeling at the base of his jaw to see if his lymph nodes are swollen....just like in people when you're sick...

Definitely needs to see a vet! Allergies are soooo awful! Hope it all works out!

[Hazmat]

3 cats mine, 2 dogs Dad's, 3 more dogs sister's, 2 dogs niece's. So 3 cats and 7 dogs running through house almost daily.

One of my cats had scabs around her neck that only disappeared for 2 weeks after applying Front-line (similar to revolution) then came back. Vet and myself all assumed flea allergy. So I led a coordinated attack: Everyone would put Flea stuff on their animals on the same day of the month.

That worked great for about a year until my family stopped cooperating, not because they didn't want to help but because of the cost and inconvenience.

I later figured out that my allergic cat was just scratching herself. If I keep her rear nailes trimmed she gets no scabs. She was scratching herself with very sharp claws and tearing her skin making the scabs. I do not trim her rear nails much, just enough to dull them as she may still need to climb trees when in danger ( although she is inside 98% of time).

I guess my point is that if you have a lot of visitors ( animal visitors), keep fleas at bay by having all use flea stuff at the same time since they all last about a month. And a cat flea allergy might ( not be an allergy and) be solved by nail trimming.

[Stacer]

She saw the vet this evening and she doesn't appear to have fleas, but she probably did. Now she has a skin infection from all the scratching and chewing and licking she's been doing. It's called pyoderma.

She had an anti inflammatory/antibiotic injection and we have some antibiotic pills to give her for the next few weeks. Hopefully her itchies clear up in a few days.

They couldn't do her nails, not for lack of trying. They got a good laugh at how much she squirmed and struggled to get away but never tried to nip or hurt any of them (3 people to hold her).
The vet suggested we try filing them off, she didn't think her nails looked all that bad.
She doesn't really like the idea of sedating her just to clip her nails. So we won't do it.

Anyone else dealt with pyoderma?

[Melinda]

I've never dealt with it, but I wanted to comment on nails, our pedipaw arrived friday, by saturday Brina was allowing me (with lots of treats) to file her nails......I really like it and its not as noisy as I expected!!!

[kilala_94]

When I used revolution on my cats I brushed them the next day and the fleas were all dead as far as I could see so, a day maybe?

[NoahGrey]

I am hinting that your cat had an allegic reaction to the Revolution. What did you doctor say. You are lucky that it didn't turn more serious and possibly fatal.

Also, Revolution is a better brand then Advantage. It lasts longer and kills more then fleas, but also intestional worms. Revolution lasts a month. It also starts to work right away, usually an hour later they are flea free.

I am wondering, Did you not read or were not given instructions on how to use it? By giving 2 doses within a 24 hour period can be extremely harmful to your cat. Revolution also goes by the weight of your cat. Hopefully you checked or were told that. Not going by weight, can also be harmful.

ACO22

[chico2]

ACO22,Skylar is a dog,I too thought he was a cat at first

[hazelrunpack]

We had a dog that would occasionally get a pyoderma on his belly. As I recall (and this was many years ago) we used a medicated shampoo prescribed by the vet and it cleared up fairly quickly.

I hope Skylar's itchies clear up soon! Sounds like she's been positively miserable!!

[Stacer]

Originally Posted by ACO22

I am hinting that your cat had an allegic reaction to the Revolution. What did you doctor say. You are lucky that it didn't turn more serious and possibly fatal.

Also, Revolution is a better brand then Advantage. It lasts longer and kills more then fleas, but also intestional worms. Revolution lasts a month. It also starts to work right away, usually an hour later they are flea free.

I am wondering, Did you not read or were not given instructions on how to use it? By giving 2 doses within a 24 hour period can be extremely harmful to your cat. Revolution also goes by the weight of your cat. Hopefully you checked or were told that. Not going by weight, can also be harmful.

SKylar's not a cat, rather, a 70 pound dog, and we did NOT give her 2 doses of Revolution. Yes, we had instructions and yes, we followed them.

I was concerned because it had been several days and her itching was getting worse and her tummy was getting raw. She saw the vet twice (she had pyoderma from all her scratching) and is now fine. In any case, that all happened a month ago. We haven't had to treat her again. It turns out she probably never had fleas.

[NoahGrey]

Originally Posted by Stacer

and we did NOT give her 2 doses of Revolution. .

I know that you didn't give your dog 2 doses. I was going on the fact that you had said that you were thinking of giving another dosage, because of your

Originally Posted by Stacer

Should I squeeze another tube onto her? Or should I wait awhile to see if it kicks in?

comment.

I was stating by giving another dose could pose issues.

Happy to hear that your dog is feeling better.

ACO22