Cheez-it has some straggling fleas, he is on advantage and has been biting behind his legs the last 3 days. I checked him but it is really hard if not impossible with his puppy fur to see his skin. I found 3 little marks, that look sort of like healing pimples on his back leg, one has a little black head to it. It doesnt look like a living thing, but could it be a tick? I check him for fleas everyday, and my house is treated and so is my yard, but there is no avoiding the fleas as we live near the beach that has many feral cats and such. He gets chewing and will not stop no matter what I say/do. What should I do? and how do I know if that blackhead is a tick?? Im going to make him a cone this evening out of corrugated viynal sheeting so he will at least stop chewing for the time being.

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Oh, I did find a few little "flea dirts" near his butt, they must not like his upper parts because of the advantage? He doesnt appear to have fleas, but every once in a while I see one, and check the rest of him. It's usually when we come in from outside. But if I see one, I guess that means he has more.
I don't think it's a tick. You can usually see legs and otherwise tell a tick is definitely a "bug".

You could spritz the spots with a Pet Relief Anti-Itch spray (fairly inexpensive at pet supply stores). I use it when Charlie gets "itchy paws" and chews on them a bit. It has something in it that tastes bad too to keep the dog from chewing. I've tried it on myself on itchy bug bites and it doesn't sting, but takes the itch away quickly. So now we both use it. LOL

Hard to say what the "pimples" are. Could be a flea-bite allergy, ringworm from the feral cats about, skin yeast, sarcoptic mites....too many possibilities.

With the cone to keep him from chewing and an anti-itch spray to soothe the skin, see if the spots start to improve in a day or two. If they don't improve, or if they start spreading or you start to see hair loss around the spots, I'd take Cheez-it in for a skin scraping.
James, I dont think it is a tick. Sounds like perhaps he may have got in to ants? For minor itches and irritations I have used extra strength Gold Bond powder a few times daily. Seems to dry the area and discourage the licking. Typically ticks are pretty easy to identify. Some are small and brown/red, the others are grey and become quite large when engorged. Purchase a flea comb....easy to find fleas if they exist.
I guess Im going to go get a flea comb and some gold bond! He is really chewy, it's amazing, he probably takes a chew every minute at least. Im afraid he might get tapeworms again from flea-consumption. The thing on his butt, I cant tell what it might be. Mabye a tiny little scab? He is definately starting to chew his hair out back there. He is going to hate his new elizabethian collar, I already know it.
The black head thing sounds like either scab or flea "dirt". you can purchase spray that can relieve the inch, poor cheez-it :(
Is it possible that it's an allergic reaction to something he is getting into? That might be something to keep in mind as well. I say treat it for a few days, and if it doesn't clear up see a vet.
ohh and just to add, maybe you should switch the type of flea/tick medication too!
The blackhead thing is a scab or a tick and I am just blind. I flea-combed him all over, his armpits and everything, oh what a tast that was. He must have ate 3 milkbones in the process. I also Gold-bonded his back-legs his butt, and his front paws and arm-pits. Pretty much every thin-skin and creviced area on him. I found a single flea this whole time, thats all. The flea comb works good but it's still hard to get through his puppy fur to see his skin. I got him some Oatmeal anti-flea/tick shampoo and if he doesnt feel better tomarrow with the constant powdering he is getting a bath. But only his back-side because he just has his advantage applied and his top half seems fine and flea-less. While I had him pinned I trimmed his nails by myself finally. That wasnt too bad once he finally settled down but he was not having the file near him. So I effectly just sharpened his nails for him, a walk on concrete will solve that.

Any other skin-soothing ideas?
I can't wait to hear of Cheez-it's adventures wearing his new cone! Poor baby. Give the medication a chance to work. It'll take a couple of days for his skin too calm down. He could be one of those unfortunate dogs that has an allergy to flea bites. If so, I would recommend Frontline spray. You can apply it before you go on walks with him. The spray helps by keeping the fleas from getting to him in the first place. With the advantage, the fleas will still get on him, but die after biting him. You would be able to confirm if it's a tick, by now it would be filling with poor Cheez-its blood and getting bigger. The scab is probably from where he nibbled himself.

Poor baby!
I think it is a scab, but I saw this pic...

And he has three of those little marks on his back leg but one of them has a little black pencil tip sized thing on it.

Is the frontline spray available at petsmart or is it RX? That would be something I think we could definately use due to our location on the water.
Water = Fish
Fish = Cats
Cats = Fleas
Fleas = ouch! (Not to mention the other nasty-cat related things) I think 5 or 6 of them are this lady down the roads who has "outside cats". That concept blows my mind, if your not on a 10 acre farm, do not have "outside cats" because I dont want your "outside cats". I think of it as a pet cat, that uses the neighborhood as a litterbox then comes in for the night.
On a dog, that looks like a reaction to a flea bite. On a person?????? measles!!!!! The Frontline spray is OTC and should be available at most independent pet suppliers. (might let your fingers do the calling and check around. Also, call your vet and ask if you can use it now, since you already applied the Advantage. The spray will also work for 30 days, but loses its effectiveness more easily with frequent bathing. So it's a toss up. I preferred the spray because it is easier to apply and didn't make his coat look gooped up where I applied the "spot on stuff". I only use the stuff during the summer months, but ticks are a big issue here because of the woods and brushy countryside. I think fleas are more of an issue where you are.

Regarding the "Cat lady", has anyone spayed and neutered the cats?? Unless someone does that the problem will only get worse!! Lucky (NOT) you.
I am sure that those few are her "pets" and probably spayed, they have collars on, but who knows. I have seriously thought about trapping them and calling animal control, but I would hate for them to end up put to sleep.

I will look into that Frontline Spray as a suppliment to advantage. I'm not sure if we have ticks here to be honest, I have never even seen one except for pictures. I imagine those are always pretty extreme and have been attached for a while. Either-way Cheez-it is getting Lyme vax when he can, you never know. There are woods around here somewhere.

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