Comfortis: Effective Method of Flea Control

If you are like me, you are constantly battling fleas.  My dogs spend a fair amount of time outside with me and are constantly getting reinfested with fleas.  This starts an endless cycle which nothing has seemed to control or eliminate.  One of my dogs has developed an allergy to flea bites and so even one flea causes days of scratching and chewing.  She spends half the time looking like something with which the moths have had a field day.

I was complaining to my veterinarian about the ineffectiveness of the sprays and spot ons that I had tried.  I have run the gamut trying Frontline, Advantix, Seargants Gold, etc.  All of them have some effect but it doesn't seem to last until time for the next application.  He suggested that I try Comfortis. 

Comfortis is a pill that is given once a month and kills the fleas before they can lay eggs.  It continues to kill fleas for the full 30 days.  It is suggested that you treat the environment as well but since my dogs have access to about 19 acres, it's impossible to spray it all. 

I tried Comfortis for a month.  It is expensive but VERY effective.  My allergic dog barely scratched at all for 30 days.  Her skin healed up and her coat grew back soft and healthy.  My other dogs showed no signs of fleas for over 30 days. Comfortis begins killing fleas within 30 minutes. 

The only problem that I have heard reported is that you should not give it with high doses of Ivermectin.  To be extra cautious I would give it at a separate time than monthly heartworm medication although in theory that is not a high enough dose of ivermectin to cause problems.

My dog with flea allergies typically suffers the worst in August and September.  I think I will probably use Frontline the rest of the year and then give everyone a dose of Comfortis for those two months.  I would love to see the cost come down to something reasonable as right now it costs me approximately $16 per dog per month.  That is VERY reasonable if you only have one dog but with 4 dogs it is cost prohibitive to keep them on it all year long.

Parvo Home Treatment

This is a sad day here. I have been breeding dogs for 30 years and in 30 years, I have never had a puppy with Parvo. Until Now! I admit that I was totally unprepared both emotionally and with emergency first aid. I vaccinate my puppies and they are kept isolated from other dogs. Prevention is the key to Parvo and I am extremely careful.

Somehow, and I am not laying blame, my recent litter of puppies did not have enough immunity. At some point, they were exposed to Parvo during the time between my father's death and his memorial service. Ten days later, the first puppy was a little sick. Sadly, this happened over a holiday weekend and the vet who I could find to see him, did not believe this to be Parvo. Four hours after his visit to the vet, the puppy passed away. The next day, another puppy was sick.

Not believing this to be Parvo, I treated the puppy with the same medications that the vet had given me. By the time I could get this puppy to a vet, it too had passed away. By now, I had another sick puppy and I had been able to get in touch with a vet who came highly recommended. I rushed the puppy to the vet and sure enough, it had Parvo.

Needless to say, I was and am devastated. No one who hasn't experienced it can imagine nursing a tiny puppy through this. Spending hours spoon feeding fluids and medications so that it wouldn't get dehydrated only to have it die slowly in your arms. Parvo is a terrible virus. Ninety percent of untreated puppies die. Pups that get to the vet in time still only have a fifty percent chance of surviving.

What My Vet Did

There is no cure for Parvo. The vets can't cure it, no one can. What they can do is use the latest treatment options to support the puppy while it fights the disease. This used to mean simply giving the dog fluids to keep it hydrated as dehydration is the usually the actual cause of death.

I was surprised when my vet said she had a "Parvo Pack". She didn't mention what it was but she did bring the bottles into the examining room to begin immediate treatment. The bottle was Parvaid. She told me that if the treatment was started early enough then there was a good chance that the puppy would survive. She also started IV fluids and dextrose to bring the puppy's blood sugar level up.

When I got home, I looked up Parvaid and found the Parvobusters website. I immediately placed an order for the Gold Kit. My theory is simple. Nothing ever happens here when I can reach a vet and the hours that I wait for the office to open, are hours that the pup can be receiving treatment. These few hours may mean the difference between life and death.

There are other websites where you can buy Parvaid by itself but it is not nearly as effective as the Gold Kit. This pack, also known as the Parvo Treatment Value Pack, contains Doggie Pain Relief (aka Pet's Pain Formula), Life Cell Immune Support, Parvaid and Vibactra Plus), and offers the maximum protection for both sick dogs and dogs that have been exposed to the virus.

They advertise that they have a 90% survival rate for puppies that receive treatment as soon as they first show symptoms or even after they have been exposed and before they show symptoms. They also offer a free downloadable ebook: Parvo Treatment 101 . The book has a recipe for Parvo Emergency Tea which will help keep your puppy hydrated until you can get it to the vet or receive your order of Parvaid.

They have several other recipes which will help to support your puppy before and during the infection. The book contains a recommended vaccination schedule as well disenfection methods that will kill Parvo. Even boiling water will not completely kill the Parvo virus so the book is a worthwhile read and resource.

Warning to Breeders

I did everything right. My puppies were vaccinated at 6 weeks, exposure to outside dogs and strangers was limited, environment was kept scrupulously clean and my puppies still got Parvo. I don't know if it was a bad vaccination, if someone came in and brought the virus to my pups or if it was just a freak thing but it happened. And worse, when it happened, I was totally unprepared. No matter how careful you are, the worst can happen.

After talking to my vet and hearing the success that she has had with Parvaid kit, I will keep a kit on hand for any future problem. The cost is nominal if it saves one single puppy and it has a 4 year shelf life. It has no known side effects and won't hurt a thing if you give it to a healthy puppy.

This Is Why We Have Dogs In Shelters!

With all of the negative publicity about dog breeders and legislation to regulate, control and end dog breeding, it really ticks me off when I see something like this. As a breeder, I take great care in placing my puppies into homes where they will hopefully live forever. I have a written contract which states that if the owner can't keep the puppy, it will be returned to me. My puppies go to their new homes with health check ups from the vet and the owners go home with the assurance that I have done everything that I can do to make sure their puppy will live a long and healthy life.

Then I get the following ad from my local freecycle.

"Free Puppies

chocolate lab and black and tan mixed
8 are ready for homes now
6 will be ready next week
and 5 will be ready the week after

some of the chocolate colored pups have blue eyes, all are real cute
need to find homes quickly or they will end up at the pound and no body
wants that."

This person is not a breeder, they just don't care. My bet would be that these pups have not seen a vet, a vaccination or even a worming. They have probably not been raised in clean, sanitary environment and they are the most likely candidates for Parvo which has been rampant in the area this spring.

The laws and regulations won't touch them because "they aren't making money" or "breeding for profit". Do you want to make a bet on how many of these puppies end up in shelters either now or in the future? Yup, it ticks me right off!

The Dog Blog Carnival - April 6th Edition

Welcome to the April 6, 2008 edition of the dog blog carnival.

Dog Care

David presents Kindness Is For The Dogs posted at Toxic Kindness, saying, "A heartfelt plea and suggestions to prevent the needless death of millions of dogs every year."

Dog Stories

Sassy at Dogs Rule and Cats Drool is pouting today as you can see in her post The Heartbroken Kitty

Ishtar presents » Does aggressive have a tender side? Esther Garvi: aka Ishtar News posted at Esther Garvi.

Tony Clements presents the simple and the difficult posted at tuesdays, saying, "saying goodbye to my buddy reggie."

Daniel Lafleche presents Sell Sheet Sampler: Cool Video Clip about the Entrepreneur Behind ?Doggie Daycare? posted at The IPEX VIEW Blog, saying, "A fun video post that looks at how one woman turned her love for dogs into a successful business."

Lindsey Moore presents The Super Fickle Pickle: January 2008 posted at The Super Fickle Pickle.

Dog Tips

Michele Pulis presents Human Foods Toxic to Dogs posted at Learning through Life.

Kent Tay presents Dog Problems - Mouthing posted at Dogs - Man's Best Friend, saying, "When your dog uses your hand rather than a bone as a chew toy, you may have a potential problem. Nip mouthing in the bud!"

Tip Diva presents Tip Diva | Top Ten Tips - Getting A New Pet posted at Tip Diva, saying, "Tip Diva has had many animals over her lifetime, including fish, cats, dogs, gerbils and prairie dogs. Having a pet brings a lot of love and fun into your life, but also brings a lot of responsibility. Before buying or adopting a pet, there are many factors you should consider and steps you should take."

Dan Stein presents Tips For Renting With Pets: Finding a place to live with your dog posted at The Dog Guide, saying, "A short guide written to aid renters with pets. It can be challenging to find an apartment or condo that allows dogs, so I compiled these tips to try and make the process a bit easier (I have been doing it myself for over 10 years!)."

Kay Stephenson presents Have a New Puppy? Ten Things You Need to Know posted at Dog Dialogue.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
the dog blog carnival
using our
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Stay Tuned - The Dog Blog Carnival is Coming Up

The Dog Blog Carnival is coming up this weekend. If you have a post that you would like to submit, the deadline is Saturday night. Submit your posts here

Will this be the last edition of the Dog Blog Carnival? The Carnival is looking for new hosts. If you would like to host the carnival you can contact me via the page above and let me know. It's not difficult to host and you get links back from all of the participants.

Field Trip to the Dog Show

Julia and I took a short field trip to Raleigh, NC to the dog show last week. We wanted to see the different breeds competing and being groomed for competition. It's always good to pick up tips and pointers from the professional handlers and breeders who compete weekly. They groom differently than we do for pets but there are still ideas that we can use. I thought I would share a couple of the pictures that I took before my camera died.


These are the Bernese Mountain Dogs in the show ring. The judge looks at their conformation and the way they trot to select the best dog.
These are the English Bulldogs. They are so cute.


This is a Shih Tzu getting ready for the ring. They spend hours brushing and drying their coat. You can see that he has his moustache rubber banded up to keep it out of his water when he drinks.

We had a great time and learned a lot. We got to drool over all the beautiful dogs and even got in some shopping.

The Dog Blog Carnival - St Patricks Day Edition

Welcome to the March 16, 2008 edition of the dog blog carnival.

Waldo presents Waldo and His Leprechaun saying "Waldo wants to dance a jig in his St Patricks Day hat"

Dog Care

Christine Wilhelm presents The Cat / Dog Log: Be aware of what's in your dog's treats posted at The Cat / Dog Log.

Christine Wilhelm presents The Cat / Dog Log: Does your dog have separation anxiety? posted at The Cat / Dog Log.

Theodore Pappas presents Remembering Susan Butcher (Champion Musher, 1954 - 2006) posted at Britannica Blog, saying, "What's interesting about this post is not so much the post, linking to Britannica entries on the ongoing Iditarod dogsled race and its four-time winner Susan Butcher, but the comments, which feature a pointed debate on the issue of sled dogs and the accusation by some activists that the race animals are abused. The Chief Veterinarian of the Iditarod counters the accusations in detail."

Allie presents My Dog?s Microchip May Have Given Him Cancer posted at Allie's Answers, saying, "Think before you microchip. It may not be as safe as it seems."

Laura presents Grow Old With Me... at Children & Chocolate and Other Paths to God posted at BeutlerBlogger.

Dog Pictures

Sonja Foust presents Midnight Snack posted at Sonja Foust, saying, "Sydney the black lab enjoys watching the consumption of a midnight snack."

Gloria presents No More Pictures!! posted at Saddeyezz Scraps & Snaps.

Alanna presents What's one more animal....???? posted at Fare all'uncinetto.

Dog Stories

Lalaine presents Hello World! posted at Eating with Mocha, saying, "This the story of my baby Mocha. :)"

Silveral presents Celebrity Pets – And Their Owners. | Celebrity News, and Gossip posted at Celebrity News, and Gossip.

General Dog Stuff

Debie presents Save a Schipperke posted at Dogs Dollars & Sense, saying, "Here is a chance to win a new laptop, router and printer AND help rescue dogs at the same time.Check out this story of the woman and the Schipperke!"

Country Groomer presents Why Responsible Breeders Do Not Support Anti Pet Legislation saying, "This is a look at why responsible breeders are fighting spay/neuter, anti breeding, anti pet legislation."

Humor

Madeleine Begun Kane presents May I Please Have Your Paw In Marriage? posted at Mad Kane's Humor Blog.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
the dog blog carnival
using our
carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page. The Dog Blog Carnival is looking for blogs who would like to host the carnival for future editions. You can apply on the Carnival Page or leave me a comment here. It's easy and lots of fun.

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