Flea bite Dermatitis

[purrbuddy]

My sweet new shelter cat, Smokey, is an absolute love. He has flea bite dermatitis (from the shelter-- a clean, well-run shelter.. just many cats in one building, even with flea preventative, fleas can happen anyway) which I am treating with week 2 now of Clavamox pills hidden in food or Pill Pockets, plus an antibiotic ointment rubbed gently into scabby spots. He's shaved a bit too, and wearing a lovely soft elizabethan cone collar (the nylon type that looks like a rounded cape) to help healing.

How long did flea bite dermatitis take to resolve once your cat was on Clavamox and treated with Revolution and in a flea-free environment? Did his/her fur grow back okay? Did the itching stop soon on the Clavamox?

Thank you so very much for sharing your experiences. I'm supporting Smokey with FortiFlora timed between his Clavamox doses, and carefully adding salmon oil to help bring down any inflammation. I'm also giving him nightly Reiki treatments. Any other ideas?

 

[momofmany]

Clavamox is an antibiotic, and it usually isn't given for flea bite dermatitis unless it is a very bad case where the vet suspects a bacterial infection from the dermatitis. More typically, a vet will give steroids to help with the inflamation and itching from the dermatitis. Your poor Smokey must have a bad case!

Once the fleas are gone, his dermatitis should clear up pretty quickly (probably a couple of weeks) and his hair will grow back. If it doesn't, then he may have other allergies (perhaps from food?) that you would need to identify. Hopefully this will only be flea dermatitis, because isolating allergies can be maddening!

I can't say that I've had a cat with flea dermatitis (I start Advantage the first sign of fleas each year), but I have had dogs with serious cases of it. Even with Frontline, the dogs pick up fleas from the yard and it takes a bite from the flea to kill them. You can treat the pet, treat your home, but sometimes it's impossible to treat the outside. I had to use all types of ointments on some of my dogs over the years to keep them comfortable.

 

[purrbuddy]

Thank you for your reply, Momofmany! Yes, it's a bad case. I'm grateful that his fur will grow back once this clears up. I will just have to be patient. Thank you for sharing your experiences with me! Dpgs indeed do get this you're right. Smokey now has been switched to only grain-free food, so perhaps that may help too. Thank you again for your input.