Just reminding everyone,

Warm Summer, and now 100 plus degrees for days at a time, dont forget your pets!

Our house is old and doesnt have A/C. I Put out cool bowls of water next to her bed every hour or so.

Im currently trying to save my German Sheppard/Husky Mix's Life after Dehydration and a Flea infestation nearly took her life in the middle of last week.

IN a matter of a Day and a half, she went from healthy and active to not able to stand or walk.
she urinated on herself because she couldn't get up to move, and I checked her gums and they were BLEACH WHITE. which is a BAD thing.

I told my mom that she was becoming anemic.

We decided to Give her a bath to cool her off and the water coming off her was Immediately DARK brown. (flea feces), then We took her to the emergency Vet at 1Am Thursday.

The Vet immediately commented about the flea infestation. This Vet was kinda snotty, seriously suggested we put her down because she wouldnt survive another 48 hours, and I was waiting for the words "Criminal" to come out of her mouth, but our house is clean, the fact that the fleas over ran the yard, and the dog isnt very active in the summer, the fleas attacked her and stayed on her, in a 90 degree house with a steady food supply they breeded to 6 Digit Numbers on the dog alone.

Blood test revealed her Red Blood cell count was down to 5, (supposed to be 45-60), They immediately started her on an Aggressive Flea treatment and blood transfusions.

Took friday off work to goto Home Depot and get the internal./external treatment spray, to my surprise there was 10 or more people in Home Depot with the same problem, one guy doesnt even have pets, he was walking from his house to his car and getting bombarded by fleas, and carried them into his house, where they fed on him and his family.

Started spraying Friday during the day, when we got a call from the vet, after the double shot transfusion (2 transfusions back to back.) her RBC only went up 1%, and she started urinating PURE blood, which was a new development, i understand Im not a Vet, but I merely commented on the fact that a body can reject blood for whatever reason. and gave them the OK to start another transfusion.

Went back Friday Night to visit, she immediately got up and walked for us, we took her outside where she urinated more blood. walked around the back room a few times then decided to lay down in the middle of the lobby, so I carried her back to her space, she wasnt eating or drinking, but when I was there I was able to feed her by scooping up the food with my fingers and putting it up to her face, she also was drinking while i was there.

We talked to a different Vet friday night, who completely dis-agree's with the other Vets opinion that it was "Auto Immune blah blah blah Anemia", because of the dog's age. She believes there my be an underlying cause (possibly Cancer), but im hoping that it was just a case of the fleas in strong numbers drained her to this point as a result of her inactivity in the summer (laying around trying to keep cool, in the winter time she's a completely different dog.). We talked to the Vet for about an hour, she suggested we visit a few times a day because she seems to do better when we visit, (less depressed looking etc.). She also said she has improved a lot from when we first brought her in, which she also mentioned her RBC and PCV numbers were below the threshold for her to even be alive when she was brought in. I also told that vet when we took her outside she pee'd blood, and suggested it was possible she was rejecting the transfusion. She had another Blood test scheduled for Midnight.

Saturday Morning we called and the Vet said her RBC numbers had doubled and her PVC numbers had stabilized.

we visited that evening, and she walked from the back to the front, wagging her tail when she saw me and my mom, we took her for a walk, we went the long way to the "doggie yard" this time, she found the car and walked towards the car and stopped by the door with a look on her face like she felt like she was ready to go home. we walked to the doggie yard and she urinated darker yellow/orange (instead of the normal blood). She had alot more energy as we sat in the exam room for about 3 hours yesterday, she was acting like her normal self. she walks up to you if you sit in a chair and wants you to pet her and stuff. after about an hour she calmed down and layed down on the floor, still looking a bit weak. The Vet on duty finally came to talk to us and it was the vet that was on duty when we brought her in Thursday night, and she had a completely different tone to her voice, she pretty much got a middle finger courtesy of my dog's strength.

The plan is to finish treating the house as much as we can and bring her home tonight if her numbers are stable and in good enough condition.

So,
With the 100 Plus Degree week we had, and warm winter that didnt kill any from last year, the Fleas had launched an all out attack on the yard and home, Im currently in the process of treating the yard and home. The Yard with SpectraCide and the inside with Flea Foggers, and Carpet Treatment.

Hopefully the treatment of the house and yard gets the fleas under control and this winter is cold enough to kill them off.

Awh lovely dog, and good to hear she is pulling through! We got a flea problem here in UK as well, sodding things running rampant everywhere it seems :/ but yes do not forget your pets people

We bring our dogs in during the heat of the day. They each have a kiddie pool that we keep full of clean water, so they can cool off when they are in the yard. They love em.

They used to have a pool (4 foot) and she would normally go outside and literally jump to clear the side and land in the pool, (completely ignoring the ramp/deck.) most of the time she stays indoors, only going outside to do her business and maybe for a jog/walk down the street and back.

It wasnt even funny how many fleas were on her, even though she was treated with the quarterly front line treatment.

not having an A/C allowed them to breed in extreme numbers in the house.

SZ,

So sorry to hear, hope she pulls through. That vet needs to get over themselves. All it takes is one rainfall or just enough moisture to bring those flea eggs out of dormancy and you can go from nothing to a full-on infestation in 48 hours.

We have six dogs, two cats, we live in a rural house and we live on two products.

1. 500mL Frontline spray bottle. This is the more economical and practical method of using this particular flea control if you can't afford Comfortis. And we can't. A few quick sprays every week and when I bathe them, there's not a speck of flea dirt on them.

Frontline 500mL Spray Bottle

2. Siphotrol Premise Spray. This stuff is completely safe for any fabric on upholstery and doesn't smell all that bad after it calms down. We use it on furniture and their bedding. It friggin' works!

Siphotrol Premise Spray

I've had it so bad I had to use Sevin dust inside the house, but it killed EVERYTHING and the dog could finally rest. I was finding dead scorpions for months after dosing my house with that stuff, but desperate times...

SZ, keep us posted. Hope she makes it.

Very cute dog, hope she will be fine again.

We used to used Sevin when we moved here in '89

But as my dad retired from the Navy in '95/96, he started doing budget cuts (AC being one of them), as the unit was crap anyway, and kept causing Issues as it was wired incorrectly by previous owners.

Im hoping if i treat the yard and home it will control them until the temps cool off.

the Cat in the house has next to no fleas on him... be he hides on shelves and actually eats on the shelf above the TV in the den (4 feet from the floor.) TBH i never see him on the FLOOR.

I was using the Purple Can Raid carpet spray last summer ($11/can) and it worked. so I'll bombard the carpet with it after I Treat the floor boards with Ortho Barrier and Vacuum. If that dont work, I'll look into those products linked.
Raid Flea and Carpet Spray


Dad also suggested Sevin, but i told him that I would get SpectrCide Sprayers first that way i can spray the outside of the house and work my way out.

Spraying the inside first then treating the lawn, then re-treating the inside.

I talked to my dad about getting two 10,000 BTU window units and cool the house from two points of origin instead of one Big unit at ($138/per season) trying to cool the entire lower level from one point of origin, get two 10,000 BTU units on opposite sides of the house at $146 per season, might actually save money because dual units will be able to cool the house quicker (attacking heat from 2 points). He's still against it saying that window units wont work in his house and it will cost too much. He's disabled and has had a stroke, so trying to talk to him is not fun, you can say whatever you want, and he'll just be concerned about money, and he's already riding my ass about how high the vet bill is already and the amount of money Im spending on the treatment of the house. (even though Im spending my money and taking days off of my job to do all this).

Forgot to mention,

Saturdays, since most normal Vet Offices are Closed, was busy at the Emerg. Vet Clinic, as I was in no hurry I told them I'd wait, (was there from 3pm to about 9pm), I waited in the waiting room for about 2 hours. and they were getting dog after dog coming in, 8 out of every 10 dogs were similar to my case (dehydrated + flee infestation).

hopefully if I pick her up tonight they give some of them Pills to kill the fleas, as she went from a 6-Digit infestation to nearly zero over night... I think I want a few of those for emergency cases if it happens again.

We were brushing her yesterday and the floor was being littered with dead flea bodies... at least the nurse thanked me for sweeping them all up for her.. lol.

Hope she makes it Skate.

LOvely dog. Hope she fully recovers quickly.

Cheers,
Slug