TSA & Topical Flea Control

This week has been full of travel adventures for by Shilo and myself as well as my roommate and her SDIT Blaise. First my roommate took Blaise on his first plane trip. He handled the flight and security well ( though he is not to fond of turbulance, but who is?). My roommate had an interesting experience with TSA that both she and I think should serve as a cautionary tale. Being blind she can go through the metal detector, but this time she was flagged for increase screening. When the TSA agent swabbed her hand the machine said she had an unknown substance on her hands, but the machine didn't know what it was. Translation, the substance was not a typical compound used in the making of explosives, but it wasn't something typically found on a person's hands in daily life. My roommate remembered that she had put topical flea control on Blaise the night before and the residue was still in the top of his coat. She explain to the agent what she thought it was and showed them her dog's coat. Fortunately, everyone was happy with this explanation and she was cleared through security. My roommate remember Blaise was due for flea prevention as she was doing her packing and didn't want to take him south without being sure he was protected, so she put it on him never imagining it would cause her difficulties getting through security. Most topical flea preventatives take about two days to fully integrate with the oils in the dog's fur.

So if you are preparing to travel, put it on your prep list to be done at least two days before to ensure your service dogs will be fully protected against parasites and the TSA won't be concerned.