Question by Ally: Itchy scabs all over dogs skin?
Its my parents dog and I don’t see her as often as I would like. For a while now she’s had a spot on her side that has itched her, but it wasn’t really discolored but it kept scabbing over, we though it was because she was scratching at it and it lost the hair because of the scabbing. They were putting neosporin on it and a bandage. Over the past week/week and a half its gotten a lot worse and spread all over the rest of her body. She has a vet appointment, but does anyone else know what this might be and what might be causing it? She’s an almost 15 year old Bichon. Only thing she’s had in the past were food allergies which she’s on natural balance duck and potato for.

Pics when bathing her:

Since people are restating vet I’ll be more clear, vet appointment is tomorrow afternoon. We already had the appointment before I posted

Best answer:

Answer by Jojo
There’s no telling what it could be.
It could be mange or some other skin parasite or bacteria.
A trip to the vet is a good idea and should happen ASAP.

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Question by luvmylillie: PLEASE HELP!! My dog has severe itchy skin!?
I have a 4 year old mix. She has medium hair. I moved about a year and a half ago from Ohio to Tucson, AZ. I have noticed over the last 5 months that she is itching more and more. I know it is probably associated with the weather; my skin is dry too. However she itches constantly and cries and moans when she does, she always wants me to scratch her all the time. I have tried medicated shampoo, she gets evening primrose oil in her food, i have given her benadryl. I took her to the vet a while back ago and they told me she has allergies. Unfortunately I cant afford to take her for tests, etc right now. I feed her dry food and I make a rice and chicken mixture for her food (since the canned dog food scare). I have spent hours researching online, I took the day off work to cut her hair, bathe her and do whatever I need to do. My dog is my world and she is miserable, someone please help. My goal is to get her to the vet in a month, but until then I am desperate, I will try anything

Best answer:

Answer by jenn n
You should try a soothing oatmeal shampoo. This will provide her skin with a lot of moisture. This will not solve the problem but hopefully it will relieve her from some of the pain. Maybe speak to a local groomer, they can usually give you pretty good advice as well. But please get her to the vet as soon as you can for the test.

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Question by EllisFan: Why is my dog so itchy?
My poor 2 y/o golden retriever has been suffering from a skin condition of some sort since around March of this year. He had little bumps under his fur in several places on his skin, and he would scratch and chew at them until they became scabs.

The vet originally told us he just has “allergies”, and told us to give him an antihistamine everyday, which we do. It doesn’t help. This problem hasn’t ever gone away, and its December. All airborne allergens should be frozen off by now anyways… live in the midwest and its been well below freezing more than 10 times at night so far.

We tried a limited ingredient diet too, in case it was his food he was allergic to…no luck there either. Never got better.

No, he doesn’t have fleas or ticks, and yes I am sure. The vet checked, too.

WHAT ELSE COULD THIS BE? I feel like we are getting no where, and the poor guy is miserable. Just looking for some other things to ask the vet about…

Oh and no it isn’t mange, we checked that.
About the limited ingredient diet – They have dog foods that are for dogs with food allergies i guess, and they only have one kind of protein and one kind of carb. This particular food is Duck and Potato (by Royal Canin)
No new things i can think of…we have all hardwood floors, no new cleaners or anything…

Best answer:

Answer by Girl from the North Country
You said you tried a limited ingredient diet; does this mean you changed his protein source? I.e. from lamb to fish or something along those lines?

Maybe you’ve already explored this, but you could try another protein/carb source until you find something that works. My dog has food allergies and so I had done a little research. See attached link. Our dog is on fish and potato…there are various protein sources out there….venison, kangaroo, etc. Also, be sure to have your dog on the diet for at least 12 weeks to notice an improvement–we noticed around 8 weeks. You’ll see all of this in the link.

Also, vets can do allergy testing on dogs just like they do on humans. If you’re willing to spend the money on the tests, you might be able to figure it out. Good luck! It’s hard to see our buddies suffering!

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Question by Raven: My dog has a large itchy spot on her back the vet and I don’t know what it is can you help?
My dog is on front line through out the year. She gets treatments for all 7 worms 6 months of the year. So no parasites.

Well she has had this itchyness since September. It acks like it is one of her special spots but she has never been a dog to have them don’t know why.

This is when we started to knownest this. We went to a friends house in September to help with watching the house then helping with the kids. We where there for 5 days I know I got bit a few times when I was there but couldn’t put my finger on what it was. Well the dogs got bit too. We treated the dogs like they had allergies to the other dog food that our friends had for their dogs. Well she hasn’t been to their house since Octorber. And she is still itching like hell. I have checked her skin for bite marks nothing. I have treated her skin with shampoo that treats itchy skin nothing. The vet doesn’t know what to do as of yet. He wants to see her again but I can’t afford it till I get my taxes. Then we are having her shots and everything checked out again. Please if you have any ideas what could be making my dog itch please say so.

My friends dogs are acting the same way as my dog raven has been. They treated their dogs but they are starting to get bit now. This sounds bad but I wonder if they have human fleas. Just guessing. Not really sure.

I am figuring that raven is highly allergic to what ever got her and she hasn’t been able to get rid of it and the vet is going to try something more intence next time. That is why I need to wait till I get my taxes so I can pay for it.

My younger dog had the same problems after we stayed there in September but he got over it after a month. If we go with the dogs he starts to itch for a couple of days then stops. Thanks for your help.
The Vet thought it could be the Front line at first but we have never had the problem before with it. So he gave us the shampoo that was for itching.

She is going to be 7 years old in April and I hope that the vet can get rid of this soon I feel bad for her because when she plays with my other dog she will literally attack him if he bites her back. I know it hurts her when he does that.

So you know this itching spot is not small it takes up most of her back. And like I said I have checked her out and so has the vet. She isn’t loosing hair so it isn’t mange.

Tired the oil in her food doesn’t work.
First of all she doesn’t have fleas, she hasn’t had them since she was 15 weeks old. As soon as I put my dog on front line I haven’t had any problems since. So it isn’t fleas

Best answer:

Answer by Julissa
I’d watch it for a few days and see if it got any worse/better. It sounds like the skin is a bit dry, so you might try adding some oil to her food.

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Question by ishyboo: My beagle mix seems to have itchy dry skin… Advice?
I have a beagle mix I believe the other half is collie, based on his coat, neck and facial structure.

He has always been very itchy. We had to get him a hydrocortosone shot in january when he was chewing the skin off his back legs. I got hydrocortoson spray, but he hates for me to spray it on him and it doesn’t last long. I’m not sure if it is his skin or an allergy. I dont believe it is fleas, because i never see fleas on him or in the bathtub when I give him baths.

He seems to extra itchy after a bath which makes me believe it is dry skin. I am using an oatmeal shampoo that doesnt seem to work. He itches all day. He makes his skin red with all the scratching. Anyone have any advice that has been thru this? I have never had a dog with a problem like this.

I was told to give him benadryl to see if it is an allergy, but i would have no idea how much to give him!
he actually has no dandruff or flaking of any kind. just scratching incontrollable constantly!

Best answer:

Answer by Kate
I have a beagle and he had horrible dandruff. We finally took him to the vet and discovered that he had a skin infection. We were very surprised because we also thought it was in allergic reaction to something. Our vet prescribed an antibiotic that cleared his infection. Now, he is dandruff free and has been for the last year!

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