Question:
Is it possible for children to get fleas like a dog does? My Soon-to-be-ex
hates it that I have a dog for our daughter and says that she has fleas from
her. I have never even seen my daughter scratch her head and he says she does
it all the time (he has standard visitation).
A few months ago he subjected our daughter to all kinds of blood and allergy
tests (without my knowledge) hoping she would be allergic to the dog and I
would have to get rid of it. A doctor prescribed allergy medicine for her only
because he said she had a rash and sneezes and sniffs all the time. The allergy
tests came back negative for all the typical allergens (even dogs). I took her
back to the doctor who prescribed the medicine to hear from her why she
prescribed the medicine. She said the only reason why she prescribed the long
term treatments is because he (her dad) said she had chronic symptoms (which
she doesn't). I am ticked off at him, of course. But I was also angry that the
doctor prescribed the medicine despite the allergy test coming back negative
and because he SAID she had symptoms even though the doctor didn't see any when
he brought her. I told the doctor I have her most of the time and have not seen
the chronic symptoms he claims she has. THe doctor told me then she did not
need the medicine.
So, now he says she has fleas and says its from our dog. He said her teacher at
school saw a flea in her hair. This is new to me. I never even see her scratch
her head. I use flea medicine on our dog (the drops you put between her
shoulder blades). I know this medicine doesn't prevent the fleas from getting
on the dog, but the will die if they bite the dog.
Any help is appreciated. I'd like to keep the dog. I know he is just trying to
find an excuse for him to have the dog taken away from us.
Answer:
If I remember right, fleas can & do bite humans, but they don't particularly
like humans as hosts. Otherwise, kids playing outside would pick them up in
flea-infested yards the way dogs do. If your dog had fleas, I think your
daughter would more likely have flea bites on her legs, from fleas in the
carpet jumping onto her, rather than in her hair, or possibly on her arms and
trunk, if the dog sleeps on her bed. Check with your doctor -- but I think it's
far more likely that you'd see the evidence of fleas (strange little bite
marks) than a flea itself.
You could also have your vet check your dog for flea bites, and follow vet's
advice on getting rid of them in the house, if any are found.
I'd also check with the school to see if the teacher actually did see some sort
of bug in her hair. If so, it was more likely to be a louse than a flea, I
think -- head lice outbreaks are very common in schools, and are unrelated to
the issue of pets.
You might tell your ex- that frequent head-scratching is usually a symptom of
lice -- and let him know what kind of housekeeping and laundry measures that
will require on his part.
