We've been going round and round with allergies and fleas for a couple of years now. My oldest (indoor) cat and (outside all day) beagle have never had a problem until about 3 years ago. Our 95lb.,4 year old german shepard is so allergic he goes bald 9 months of the year on about 3/4 of his body. We've tried dips, steriods, and spent $76 on a packet of pills that didn't work!! What got me thinking was the chlorine smell of our tap water when I filled up their main bowl. That got me thinking about the chloramine being toxic to fish...what about pets? I haven't found any good documentation. So starting yesterday all cats and dogs are on vitamins ( with the dogs having extra cranberry extract/flaxseed/garlic mix) and bottled water filtered by reverse osmosis. Our city water started adding chloramine about 3 years ago, plus bumping up the chlorine probably because of the contruction they've been doing. I figured I won't see any results until the 1st of the year.
Has anyone else noticed health concerns from changing city water supplies?
ps...my best friend has pure breds (Goldens and Clumbers ), does RAW food diets with supplements, and the two things we have in common is that the dogs have allergies of no real known source/cause and we all drink city water.

SadieMay,
You can buy "Frontline" or "Advantage" at the vet and you put it on your dogs (and they also have it for cats) between their shoulder blades and it does work to keep flees off.
Ellen

my husband i the manager for or water comapny here in town and i asked him to look it up for you. they use cholerine here but he said if you can smell it is is to high because they can not even smell it in there when it leaves the plant you may want to call and talk with someone about it!!

I have well water. When I get water from a restaurant or someone's house that's on tap water, I can always smell the chlorine but most people don't because they're used to it. It is not great to drink chlorine or chloramine. They are disinfectants. I guess it's better than getting bacteria and diarrhea though! If you have city water, I recommend either paying for a filtration system in your house, at least for drinking water or drinking bottled spring water for you and the animals. If bottled water does not specify where it comes from, it is probably just bottled city water with chlorine so keep that in mind.

I use Frontline on my outdoor cat to control ticks, and it does a pretty good job. I used it on my dog when he was alive. It may make allergic reactions or skin conditions worse though. Frontline or Advantage should control fleas but you also have to clean up around the house, washing all bedding and such. When I got my first cat, in 1982, she had fleas. I was only 10-years-old so I hand picked off the fleas! Back then, flea collars were the only treatment and didn't work well.

My dog used to have similar scratchy and yucky skin problems. A few times, the vet determined it was actually a fungal infection which was cleared with fungal medications. When we first got him, he had scabies (mange). Later, when he was scratching like mad, the vet said it was allergies. I examined him at home and found some red things, barely large enough to see. I put them under my microscope. They had eight legs and moved around. Aha! I brought them to the vet who said they were chiggers. Have you ruled out fungal infections, mange, and chiggers? If so, then usually what's recommended is a change in diet. Many dogs are allergic to certain meats for example which is why lamb is usually used for dogs with allergies but there are other meat options to try. There's no reason your dogs should suffer. Medications aren't good long term but short term, steroids would stop profound problems.

I've not heard of tap water causing allergic-like symptoms.

Contact your local water provider for a water chemistry report to see what is says. They are required to give you one. It should include chlorine/chloramine levels.

The first vet I saw with the shepard said 'cant see any mites', but went thru all the dips anyway. That AND the steriods didn't work for him, soon as the pills stopped, so did his growing fur. The 2nd ( older partner that has ALL my babies for 30 years) said he had larvae floating in his blood stream. I've done the Frontline, Advantage..all topical treatments, nothing works. That's why now, I'm working on them from the inside out. lol Everyone seems to be pretty quiet today, the boys had their first cranberry/garlic burger this morning. I think they have heartburn. lol Our tap water is loaded with chlorine smell, I'll have to check into seeing about info on it...thanks all.