12/06/2008 by Arielle.

I am seeing so many itchy pets coming into the surgery (not to mention itchy, sneezing staff with hayfever). It is that time of the year when clients are being so diligent about their flea control, but there is another cause of itching in pets.

I have written a whole article about atopy and its treatment as we see so much of it. http://www.kill-fleas.co.uk/atopic.htm

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17/01/2008 by Arielle.

I had a case today of 2 cats that regularly received their program injections and still had fleas. It is common for cats having twice yearly program injections to still get ‘hitch-hiker’ fleas from straying out of their area or other animals may visit their home.  In this case however, the owners had even given Capstar tablets which to me are the ultimate tablets to kill fleas.

Program will actually reimburse these cases and needs to hear about them as it is a very good and expensive product. I was then forced to give the poor cat some more flea drops (Advocate in this case). They are all safe and can be used together but is obviously all very expensive!

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04/12/2007 by Arielle.

I just felt so sorry for Inca when she stepped out of her basket today (or rather skulked out as Siamese cats do). Inca has suffered with an allergic skin all her life and is on a permanent dose of steroids to stop her from licking and scratching herself raw.  

She returned a few days later to find that Inca’s skin which is normally kept under control with the steroids, had erupted and she really looked terribly moth-eaten and so sorry for herself. The owner at least now knew what she was severely allergic to and she was determined that not another prawn would pass Inca’s fangs.

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14/11/2007 by Arielle.

Poor Slick - our 1 year old Labrador cross has an allergy to house dust mites. I am very reluctant to give her cortisone as she is so young; anti-histamines and chinese herbs (Phytopica) had no effect and she has been having efavet tablets daily for over a month. These contain all the essential oils for skin and are very pricey. As you can see from the photo, she is still so itchy that she scratches herself constantly and has a bald belly.

We went for the expensive tests to find out what she is allergic to. Thankfully she is insured. A small vial of the house dust mite allergen arrived a few weeks ago and once a week, I give her a tiny injection to hopefully densensitise her. She hides under the sofa now when she sees me with my little insulin syringe!

I was so excited today to buy a new hoover. (These small things that make one happy!!). Our old hoover was not very strong so I have bought an expensive german one called a Sebo that is allergy specific - I hope it works. My daughter and I have washed out the old one  -  a trusty Vax which just was not powerful enough. I will now list it on ebay to sell it.

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