I agree, I'd be looking for a new vet too. Just the shaving comment as prevention would send me running. Although shaving the site of hot spot might actually be beneficial as it will allow air to reach the skin and health faster. But I wouldn't shave to keep from using a monthly flea/tick topical. If anything, wouldn't that make it so much easier for the fleas to bite?

With the essential oils, do you think the smell bothers him or is it just a negative association with being sprayed that will send him running? Instead of using a spray, have you tried taking his collar off and putting a single drop of the oil on his collar and then put his collar back on? That's what I do with my dogs.

That's probably a good call on giving Capstar to both dogs just to be sure the other doesn't harbor any lingering pests that will transfer to Frankie.

I hope Frankie gets better soon and you can get him off the Prednisone.

Wish I was closer by you. Your vet seems like she's my kind of doctor, even if some don't appreciate her. My family thinks I'm nuts, but I'm looking into holistic vets. Or at least a vet who listens to me and actually takes a closer look at my pooch.

As for the essential oils, I think it's the smell he doesn't like. You know, it smells pretty and he'd rather roll in mud than smell pretty.

Let me know if you find one Dee. I have a nice vet but would really like to find a better one. Hollywood Animal Hospital is amazing but they're not holistic. If i'm going to pay a lot, I'd rather pay a holistic vet.

Hope this comes up properly but I found this list of holistic vets at this web site for south FL:

http://www.holisticvetlist.com/index

Just click on Florida in step 1 then submit.

Thank you so much for that link. There are two not too far from me so I will give them a call in the am.

Kristina- I was so going to send you a message asking who you use. I figured you were a little further south. I'm in Boca. I used to go to the VCA in Tamarac and I really liked them. When I moved I just used my moms vet since that was the first vet Frankie saw anyway. It is literally across the street. I just feel like he just blows me off and makes excuses for things I know are not right. For example, Frankie used to excessively drink water. It was crazy. Then he started peeing in the house again, but it was as if he couldn't help it. The vet said it was psychogenic polydipsia (aka crazy drinker) and wanted to give him anxiety meds. I asked for a urinalysis first. And guess what......UTI! Treated UTI and symptoms went away. Kind of like treating/preventing the source of the itch will make the scratching stop, duh.
There is a place for traditional medicine and I hope to find a vet that has a good balance of both. I'll let you know what I find, but you let me know too. I don't mind traveling if it's worth it.

Last evening I pulled a few of those little suckers off of Frankie, both dead and alive. Is the fact that they are coming to surface a good sign, does this mean the Capstar is working?

Pulling off dead ones is definitely a good sign!

2nd day I haven't found any fleas!!!!!
Thanks for all of the input.

Thank goodness, that's the kind of news we want to hear!

Please excuse me while I go off for a minute........

*($#@%^$@%*.............I am so mad right now I am on the verge of tears. I posted yesterday in the ACV thread that I didn't find any fleas, but today I found several. I have been checking him thoroughly every day for any sign using a flea comb and all. So you can imagine how time consuming that is with a husky. I am so upset over this. I am in the process of bombing my entire surroundings because I have no idea where they are coming from. I am at my witts end and I am losing my friggin mind.
Thanks for letting me vent, off to buy more cleaning products and all new bedding

Sorry to hear you're still battling fleas.

Are you using any chemical flea prevention that kills ALL life stages? Actually just to clear things up, what all are you doing for Frankie with regard to flea prevention?

There are more things that you can do both chemically and other more natural methods of control that you can combine as well. Have you tried using food grade diatomaceous earth in the yard, carpet and Frankie's coat? Will he tolerate you spraying his coat with a 50/50 ACV/Water mixture?

Also I know you said that he doesn't like the essential oil spray, so would he tolerate it if you put a bit of essential oils on his beds and in areas that he normally goes?

Since Frankie seems to have FAD and is struggling with this it might be a good idea to combine both chemical and non-chemical prevention.

I'm so sorry you and Frankie are going through this, I know it is a huge pain!

Here's what we have done so far since the last episode.....
-2 Capstar treatments each for both dogs
-Treated the yard with professional chemicals (my dad gets the professional ones from work)
-washed all bedding etc, just to be safe even though crazy vet said not to worry
- added ACV 3-4x/week to food
- bath with natural chemisry flea shampoo followed by earth bath tea tree oil and aloe shampoo (I have bathed him this was since I had him)
-still using sentinel, but I added a topical flea treatment too (ultra guard or something, but I may need to look into a new brand) just added this week
- alternating between epi-pet skin treatment spray (lavender scented) that is suppose to repel and kill fleas as well as treat irritated skin and ACV 50/50 spray- Frankie hates both but is tolerating it
-Daily brushing and flea checks
-Frankie also swims in the pool with a salt water system so gets treated/sprayed upon drying to prevent dry skin and replace what was washed off. He went swimming on Sunday since his skin was clear. It's his favorite thing in the whole world and killed him when he couldn't go in.
- I am looking at different carpet/furniture treatments now. Thank goodness we have mostly tile throughout the house and only carpet in two bedrooms.
I am willing to try any combo at this point. Thanks for letting me get out my frustration

Wow, with all you're doing you would think fleas would not be a problem. I wouldn't put my faith in anything put out by Hartz (Ultra Guard).

Sentinel only stops the development of flea eggs so you might want to consider switching to something else but that would probably require doing separate flea and heartworm prevention. I would look into a chemical flea product that kills several flea life cycles at the very least, not just eggs and not just adult fleas.

Some common topicals and what flea life cycles they protect against:

Frontline kills adult fleas only.
Frontline Plus kills adult fleas, flea larvae, and flea eggs.
Advantage II AND Advantix II both kill adult fleas, flea larvae, and flea eggs.
Bio-Spot kills adult fleas.
Bio-Spot Defense kills adult fleas, flea larvae, and flea eggs.

The bolded products listed above kill the entire flea life cycle.

Hartz UltraGuard Pro does claim to kill the entire flea life cycle. It may or may not be worth using, I just tend to be wary of Hartz products in general.

Food grade diatomaceous earth is a safe flea repellent that can be spread in the yard, sprinkled on the carpet and vacuumed up, and even put on the dogs coat (sprinkled on and rubbed in).

I know I went a little overboard. Besides his allergy, it totally grosses me out. I treated the house with Bio Spot yesterday and washed all of my son's stuffed animals too, just in case.

I am going to switch from the sentinel. I don't mind separate treatments, the problem is that my vet wouldn't give it to me.
So I have some referrals for new vets that I am setting up appointments with.
Can I just buy Frontline and heartworm meds without a script? I am very weary of the ultra guard too, but it was kind of a panic moment and that was cheap and readily available.

I really do appreciate your support. Most people think that I am just nuts and don't see what the big deal is. But for one it really does gross me out, two-Frankie is miserable, and three- it's really affecting everything we do. We have not been to the nursing home in over a month because I can't bring him with fleas and/or open wounds. Most people just say shave him, but I am determined to conquer this.
Thanks again