So cross with vets

[Strawberryshortcake40]

I have a lovely 6 year old cocker spaniel, a few months ago she had sore eyes and was scratching her ears and skin. Diagnosed with an ear infection and given antibiotics ear drops. It seemed to clear up, then flare up again. In the meantime she seemed really miserable and itchy. Vet diagnosed allergies, prescribed steroids. No change. Prescribed some kind of anti itch medication (£60 monthly). Since then we have had nearly three months on high dose steroids as well as this medication. I have been to the vets numerous times, told not to walk her in long grass as she was allergic, changed her diet to a hypoallergenic one, watched her get tired and podgy with all the medication. She's turned into an unhappy, grumpy dog.

Due back there tomorrow to discuss putting her back on steroids and to try other treatment.

Today she's been to the dog groomers. Who was furious with the vets. Ddog was massively infested with fleas (she has flea treatment every month but obviously not working, I haven't seen any in house and she is mainly dark with thick woolly fur). Dog groomer luckily is a good friend and assured me that while I was unlikely to spot them, it's one of the first things the vet should have checked for. Before putting her on months worth of unnecessary medication. Apparently if they had checked her skin properly to make an allergy assessment they would have noticed.

She's been treated now and I've thrown out all the medication, and the food she hates! But what now? I'm so cross at the months we have gone through, the cost of it all has been huge and DDog has been so unhappy. How can I take her back to a vet that missed something so obvious?

Have you seen an improvement now she has been treated? Are you sure the fleas are not new?

Obviously if you are not happy with your vets then change. What flea treatment were you using?

She was only clipped and bathed and treated today. But yes she's fast asleep whereas she's done nothing but pace and grumble for weeks now. Obviously too uncomfortable to lay down for long :(

Yes friend/groomer reckons the start of it ties in with when the problems started. I used advantage on her and the cat, plus I regularly spray the house as I'm a bit phobic of fleas.

Did you not think to check for fleas yourself? They are not difficult to miss. I'm just surprised that you have a dog crawling with fleas and you never noticed.

If the vet never looked at the dogs ears or skin where you said he was scratching then I would not be happy. However I am confused as to how the groomer can pinpoint when your dog got fleas but never told you. I would also wait to check that the symptoms have definitely gone because it could be that having less fur, a good wash etc has made her more comfortable hence sleeping.

So your dog groomer that did a part time course in cutting and shampooing is more knowledgeable than your vet who studied full time for 5 years

Firstly if the fleas had been going on that long you would know about it

More importantly it's very dangerous to suddenly stop a long term course of steroids, they need to be reduced over a few weeks. Have the sense to take medical advice from a medical professional and not a groomer no matter how good they are or how well you know them

She was last clipped four months ago and was clear then.

As I say she has thick fur and I treat her monthly for fleas so when the vet said she had a skin allergy I didn't disagree. After all they should know. They looked in her ears a lot and at her tummy (which was pink). But not anywhere else.

We have just finished the sixth course of steroids last week but I won't be giving her the other tablets anymore as they have a whole range of side effects I was none too happy about.

And the dog groomer, as well as being a family friend of many years has groomed my dog every four months since she was a puppy so yes I trust what she says over a vet who never even checked under ddog's legs (apparently would have been obvious)

Lesson to me of course but one which I am currently £600 down because of.

Fleas don't cause sore eyes or sore ears.

I would go with allergies myself.

I'm sorry but I cannot see how the dog has had fleas for 4 months without you seeing a flea / having fleas indoors . Do you not brush this dog in between clips , surely she gets matts .

Definitely not seen a flea on her, but like I said she has v thick fur, not usual spaniel fur. She's mainly black also. And no not seen one indoors but I spray all carpets etc once a month.

She's not really brushed, she absolutely hates being brushed always has. So she's clipped short every 12-16 weeks.

I'm as perplexed as anyone over it but the fact remains my friend wouldn't lie. And that at no time did the vets actually properly examine ddogs skin.

The thing is you can have an allergy and fleas. If it started about 4 months ago just after the groom where your groomer said there was no fleas it was probably an allergy. She probably got fleas after that and with the treatment for the allergy and now the fleas no wonder she is better. I don't think it is an either or situation. Also if it was as obvious as your groomer said with the fleas then I would have expected to see them myself over the 4 months.

I can't see how the dog has had fleas for a 'few months' as surely if she had her clip 4 months ago a few months ago her hair would still be short and you'd have seen them .

I am with you op. I changed my vets as I felt my previous vet put my
dog through unnecessary procedures causing him distress and me vast sums of money. I am very happy with my current vet.

My cocker spaniel has thick, wool like hair, and of course they have two coats. Mine gets clipped every 2 months and I failed to notice a skin tag that had somehow torn loose. It caused her a lot of bother. It was bloody. She's pale haired. It was invisible and could only be detected by feel. That I'm saying is I can imagine how the fleas went undetected op. Of course your pup may have multiple simultaneous complaints, but in your shoes I'd also step back from the meds and reassess the situation. Of you have a good relationship with your vet then I'd just ask them whether the pup's issues that their treating could have been caused by the fleas. If you don't feel your vet is capable could you go to a different one?

Did the vet check for fleas?

Did the vet do any allergy testing before prescribing 'allergy' medication? The immune suppressants you're ddog was on can have side effects and shouldn't be stopped abruptly (they usually need to be tapered). It's fine to trial them but if not working then your vet should offer testing to rule allergies in or out

I liked my vets but I'm doubting everything now because of this. I've got a dog who has been put through a lot that could possibly have been so simple to sort. And I know for a fact they never looked for this and that they should have.

I should have looked too if course but like the above poster says it's impossible to see much in her fur when I didn't know where to look (I do now). I can only imagine that treating the environment meant they were staying on her rather than my carpets!!

Could be flea allergy dermatitis

One of my cats had it and one of my dogs.

The cat went almost bald from the middle of her back to the tail. She was diagnosed with depression

Once I got a good flea treatment and kept on top, her fur grew back lovely.

The dog chewed himself to bits when he has fleas. Big open sores. Again once treated and under control his skin cleared up lovely

I think it's really worrying that Advantage isn't working - that's the one all the vets I've visited are pushing

No the vet did not check for fleas. They did not do allergy testing. Said it would be expensive and possibly inconclusive and just to assume it was something environmental

I am sure I have read that if you have fleas in the environment they can still be on your dog as it can take (depending on the preventative treatment) up to 24 hours to kill them so any new ones hatching out can jump on before they die etc.

If you aren't comfortable with your vets then the nice thing about paying for the service is that you can simply move without any issue. However, I do think you need to consider that she might have had both. Personally with skin conditions etc I expect a bit of trial and error for general symptoms such as scratching, soreness etc just as I would if I went to my doctors. I guess what I am saying is when my vets have treated diarrhoea and said let's start with worming to see if that clears it up if it hadn't and then we found it was something else later it would not bother me but it clearly bothers you so I would change vets because you don't trust their judgement anymore.

We do a £10 a month plan with Pets at home, thats vaccinations, flea & worm for 12 months, plus free health checks, that might be worth doing, as they can look over DD reguarly?

I used to use advantage. Is that going down effectively too?

I know front line is crap

I used advantix now. Very expensive but covers fleas, lice, ticks, sandfly, mozzies and other bitey bugs.

She has flea treatment (although obv not working). I don't actually recall them asking me about what I use though so they wouldnt have known that.

If she's been on steroids for months you can't just stop them.

Soubriqet My cat also had dreadful flea allergy issues, and it affected her skin and eyes. I went through four vets before it was properly diagnoses and treated - and it's not even an expensive treatment.

Currently using Advocate very successfully, fingers crossed.

Thankfully steroids stopped end last week (current lot), it's the anti itch and antibiotic ear wash I've stopped.

Will look at advantix. Have ordered some cap star tabs as have used them before on her when the cat had fleas.