Of desperation and its outcome

A couple of weeks ago, Zoe was scratching so much, and had so many fleas, that in desperation, I used Frontline Plus on her. Now, I used it once or twice last year, but it's not something I'm fond of. I hate using any kind of chemicals, but the herbal spray I was using didn't seem to be doing much. About a week later, Zoe broke out, in one afternoon, with hot spots all over her body. The sores were angry red and weepy, and ranged from the size of a dime to larger than a half-dollar. No itching, just real evidence of toxins in her body.

I wasn't sure what it was from at first, and started ticking off all the things that she might have gotten into.  We live on a farm, after all, so maybe she had found something in the shed and rolled in it?  Nope, the door was closed.  Allergic reaction to sweat bees or ground bees?  Maybe.  Reaction to deer flies?  Possibly.  Then I remembered the Frontline Plus and after some searching online, found a discussion group on Amazon.  Though Zoe's particular reaction wasn't described, I did read about  hot spots at the application site.  Well, one of the spots is definitely there.

I took Zoe to the local vet, who diagnosed Acute Moist Dermatitis, aka hot spots, and prescribed Benadril and steroidal cream.  In other words, to fix the problem, let's shut down the immune system.  I paid the bill, thanked the vet, and went home to email Dr. Glen Dupree.  I love this vet; he never fails to come through.  Apis, he said, and apply Calendula tincture (10 drops per ounce of water, sprayed on) or green tea or Aloe juice.  By the next morning her hot spots were pink and healing instead of raw and red.  Another homeopathic remedy followed.  In the meantime, I mixed up some Calendula ointment, Aloe gel, and Vitamin E and applied that to the hot spots that weren't too sore to touch. For five days, Zoe just lay on "her" chair and rarely moved.  She went outside when she needed to, but had no appetite--my little dog who could eat her meal, mine, and yours and look for more!. 

It was amazing to see how quickly the lesions healed.  I've had other dogs that got an occasional hot spot, but none ever cleared up that quickly.  I knew she had turned the corner on day 5 when someone came to the door and she lept off the chair to greet them.

She's looking lots better now.  Her hair is growing back, but so far as Frontline Plus is concerned, I'll never use any spot- on chemical (poison) again.  Instead, I'm using a growth inhibitor for fleas on the carpets and stuffed furniture, boric acid crystals as well, and adding Flea Free herbal/garlic food supplement to her food every day.  I may also add Brewers yeast, and apple cider vinegar to her water.  Perhaps she won't be so tasty, then.

Oh, and did I mention?  She still has fleas.