home Audience 2 The dog has itching all over his body. The dog has severe itching near the tail and at the base, on the back, which can be treated at home. Treatment of stress, skin diseases and greasy tail

The dog has itching all over his body. The dog has severe itching near the tail and at the base, on the back, which can be treated at home. Treatment of stress, skin diseases and greasy tail

Dogs, like people, have allergies that cannot be treated. The dog's body may be overly sensitive to a certain allergen, causing itching. Your dog may be allergic to certain foods, flea bites, grasses and pollen, soap or hay. First you need to correctly determine the cause of itching, scratching or other inflammation on the skin. Therefore, your task (and the task of the veterinarian) is to find out the cause and find an effective treatment.

Steps

Watch for allergy symptoms

Pay attention to which parts of the animal's body are more susceptible to itching. Is there any area on the body that your dog scratches most often? Maybe your pet is constantly gnawing and licking its paws or belly?

Most often, the reaction to the allergen is a rash around the back and tail, on the stomach, and on the paws.

Examine the animal, does it have any bright spots on its skin? If there is, it is possible that the itching is so severe that the dog has to literally “gnaw” through the skin. Keep in mind that the itching may come on suddenly and get worse throughout the day or night. The skin in these areas will be pink, moist, hot and painful. There may be small wounds on it, from which something sticky will ooze. If you notice such wounds, it means that the animal urgently needs veterinary intervention, otherwise the wound may become infected.

Observe the timing of the itching. Perhaps itching appears at certain times of the year. You may notice itching after walking in a certain area or after eating. Be observant, any information will help the veterinarian determine the cause of the itching.

Monitor the general health of the animal. If your dog has a strong foul odor, is drinking too much, or is acting very strange, contact your veterinarian immediately. You will need to have blood and stool tests done so your veterinarian can make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment.

Every time you see your dog itching, take notes. Write down the time and circumstances (where the dog was just, what he ate, what part of the body itched). This information will help your veterinarian determine possible causes of itching.

Check the animal for sarcoptic mange. Sarcoptic mange is caused by scabies mites. Ticks live on skin where there is no hair. For example, in the ears, elbows or stomach. Your dog may develop red spots on the skin in these areas. Sarcoptic mange can cause skin damage and discomfort because the mite causes itching.

Sarcoptic mange is highly contagious and can be transmitted to people and other animals.
To diagnose sarcoptic mange, your veterinarian will need to take a scraping of the dog's skin.

Check the animal for demodicosis. Demodectic mange is caused by small mites. Typically, these mites do not cause skin problems if the dog's immune system is functioning normally. Demodicosis is most common in puppies because their immune systems are still developing. To diagnose this disease, your veterinarian will need to scrape the dog's skin.

It is important to understand what is causing the itching. The dog may be showing signs of some other illness, which will confuse you. Alopecia (hair loss) and Cushing's disease may be comorbidities.

Treatment of itching

Discuss possible treatment options with your veterinarian. Due to the wide variety of causes of itching, there are a number of treatments that your veterinarian can prescribe. Some pets feel better after taking antihistamines, while other pets will need a short course of hormonal medications. ,

All medications prescribed by a veterinarian must be given to the animal strictly according to the instructions. Medicines will help eliminate the cause of itching and speed up the healing process.

Your beloved pet is susceptible to various diseases, the consequences of which can negatively affect the dog’s health. If the animal suddenly begins to itch more often than usual, while licking or gnawing on the itchy part of the body, then this behavior should in no case be ignored, since the dog can scratch the area of skin until a wound appears and cause an infection.

If your pet's behavior has changed and he begins to behave more nervously, often shaking his ears or rolling on the ground, it is necessary to identify the reasons for this strange behavior as soon as possible. You can determine and understand why your dog is constantly itching or gnawing at itself after a thorough examination of the animal. The causes of itching may be the following:

Presence of insects: fleas, ticks, lice, lice;
Stressful state;
Allergic reaction;
Infectious diseases.

The accumulation of fleas under the fur is a common problem that contributes to the appearance of itching. These insects look like black specks.
We are talking about lice if round transparent bubbles are noticeable at the ends of the wool hairs.
If a dog itches and chews on an area of the body where the hair looks like it has been cut, these are signs of a lice eater.
Particular attention should be paid to the detection of mites, which also cause severe itching. These insects not only make the dog itch, but they can also infect the animal with an infectious disease - encephalitis.

Stress causes itching

After examining the dog, it turned out that she did not have fleas, but the pet was still itching. In this case, there is a possibility that the itching is caused by nerves. A dog is susceptible to stress in much the same way as a person, and the symptoms of this condition are identical. Especially if the animal is constantly being trained or is in service. When a pet wants to have its belly or other parts of the body scratched before going to bed, and shows signs of anxiety, this is a signal of nervous overexcitation. There are no difficulties in treating a dog for stress; it is enough to provide the animal with a good diet, complete rest, protect it from strangers and exclude group walks for a while. Your beloved pet will definitely recover and stop scratching itself unnecessarily, but this will take time.

Allergies as a source of itching

Allergies are one of the most difficult to determine causes of itching in dogs. If the animal's face or paws are constantly itching, spots are visible on the skin, the fur is breaking, and mucus is secreted from the nose, then the pet may be allergic to something. Almost everything that surrounds us contains substances that can cause allergic reactions, this can be food, dust particles, pollen, water and much more. In such a situation, self-medication is useless. A veterinarian will be able to immediately identify the substance causing the allergy by taking a blood test, but if such a measure does not yield anything, then further determination of the allergen occurs by excluding the likely primary sources of the disease.

Itching may occur due to the dog bathing in water with various impurities of metals, hard salts and other elements, as well as with low-quality detergent. If your pet develops dandruff, you should stop using shampoo and wash your pet in plain clean water. This will not only protect your dog's skin from damage, but will also wash away all the dust and dirt from the body.

Itching is a characteristic sign of various diseases

It is important to understand that a healthy dog will never constantly scratch itself; lazy scratching of the ear after sleep is quite normal. But if this process turns into chronic tearing of the skin with claws, then this becomes a reason for an immediate visit to a veterinarian. Due to itching, a dog can introduce a lot of infections into its blood that cause various diseases. Below is a list of possible diseases.

Lichen

One of these infectious diseases is lichen. The symptoms of lichen are similar to those caused by subcutaneous mites. The dog's face and paws are initially affected. The pet itches convulsively and circular bald spots form in the place of scratching. There is no point in undertaking treatment without a doctor’s recommendation, therefore, if such symptoms are detected, you should contact a veterinary clinic to accurately determine the original source of the disease.

Wet or dry eczema

It is also possible to contract wet or dry eczema. The dog is not immune from this disease, since the causative agents of this disease constantly live in the animal’s blood, but they are suppressed by the immune system. Initially, the symptoms are expressed by characteristic severe itching and gnawing of fur, up to the formation of bleeding areas or dry skin. Unfortunately, there is no universal solution to this problem, so it is necessary to treat the animal individually, referring to blood tests.

Disease of sebaceous gland hyperplasia - “greasy tail”

This disease is accompanied not only by the appearance of itching in the animal, in the area of the sacrum and anus, but also by the formation of acne in the form of black dots on the skin. In the case where the hyperplasia lesion is localized under the dog’s tail, the dog, while in a sitting position, may fidget on a horizontal surface, for example, on a carpet or grass. As the disease progresses, the affected areas of the animal's body lose hair. At the same time, the pet’s back and sacral part of the spine are constantly itching, and acne tends to appear in the ears and in the abdomen. If such a disease is quickly identified, there is no need to visit a veterinarian; it is enough to follow the rules of caring for the dog and clean the pores in a timely manner.

If your dog is itching a lot, you should not ignore it, even if there are no fleas on its fur, itching can be a symptom of a serious illness. In addition, by scratching the irritated area, the animal can create wounds on the body through which the infection can enter the bloodstream. Before using this or that treatment, it is imperative to determine why the dog is itching if it does not have fleas.

Possible reasons

When a dog itches but no fleas are found, the reasons may be:

Scratching the skin in the area of irritation not only injures the skin, but also causes hair loss; the animal’s body becomes a favorable environment for dandruff and infectious fungi. In this case, the itching itself can only be a symptom of one of the very serious diseases:

Allergy

Why does a dog itch if it doesn't have fleas? The cause may be a food allergy. If the body has an allergic reaction to any food ingredients, the pet begins to scratch its ears, head, and tail. Redness of the skin is observed in the groin, armpits, abdomen, and may be accompanied by a rash and areas of skin with wet surfaces. It should be noted that food allergies are not subject to such factors as seasonality. Both a small puppy and an adult dog can experience an allergic reaction to food.

But not only food allergies cause skin itching; in the spring and summer, atopic dermatitis occurs in young animals aged one to three years. A dog itches a lot with a contact allergy, as a result of long-term use of medications, for example, ear drops - in this case, the dog begins to scratch its ears, and the resulting wounds become an excellent place for infection to attach.

Important! Under no circumstances should you make a diagnosis yourself, much less give any medications as treatment. Only a veterinarian can prescribe medications, otherwise you may not only fail to achieve a positive effect, but also provoke a deterioration in your pet’s well-being.

When diagnosing an allergy, a veterinarian cannot immediately determine its type, since similar reactions have similar symptoms. But different medications are prescribed for different types of allergies, which is why correct diagnosis is important. To date, no analysis scheme has been developed to identify the character; the species is identified using a certain algorithm, which takes some time. The process includes a special diet to identify food allergies. If regulation of nutrition allows you to get rid of symptoms, then the diet remains for life. When redness and itching do not go away, atopic dermatitis occurs. Medications are prescribed to treat atopic dermatitis.

Scabies and lice

Trombiculids (red beetles) and demodicosis

Ixodidosis (tick-borne toxicosis)

Ear scabies

When itching bothers you, but no fleas are observed, there is a possibility that the dog’s skin is damaged by the Otodectes mite. This microorganism predominantly colonizes the dog's ear canals and causes ear scabies.

Treatment of itching in dogs

Even if fleas are not found in dogs, treatment for itching should be mandatory. Only a veterinarian can prescribe therapy after a thorough examination of the animal and analysis of the diagnostic results.

As a preventive measure, it is important to monitor the hygiene of the animal, wash the bedding, and avoid contact with street dogs. In addition, all diseases should be treated in a timely manner and do not forget about preventive vaccinations.

Itchy skin in dogs has become an increasing concern for dog owners in recent years. There are many causes of itching in dogs. Itching in a dog can appear on a wide variety of parts of the body, to the point where patches of itching in a dog can spread throughout the body. And yet, the most common areas where itching occurs in dogs are usually the ears, back, tail and anal area.

During itching, the dog scratches itself with its claws, rubs against various objects, scratches the skin at the site of itching until it bleeds, as a result, scabs form at this place.

The dog itches - causes of itching.

Ticks in dogs usually affect areas where short hair grows (ears, belly, elbows). The most common diseases in dogs are:

Fungal and bacterial diseases.

Among fungal diseases, itching in dogs can occur with ringworm,. The presence of a bacterial infection in dogs can cause itchy skin (streptococcosis in dogs, pyoderma).

Food and non-food allergies.

A dog itching is one of the symptoms of dermatitis ().

Worm infestation.

The presence of worms in dogs often leads to itching in the anus. With worms, a sick dog often rubs its anus on the floor, ground, and various objects. See our article for more details.

Stressful situation.

Itching in a dog can appear as a result of severe stress, especially if the dog lacks proper attention from its owner.

Your dog may experience short-term itching as a result of numerous mosquito bites while walking. It is necessary to keep in mind that simultaneously with a mosquito bite, your dog can get such a dangerous disease as.

Clinical picture.

The main symptom that provokes the appearance of itching in a dog is the presence of various skin lesions in different parts of the body, the presence of a pink or reddish tint at the site of the itching, the affected area of skin is usually painful and moist upon palpation, and we note an increase in local body temperature. Change in the dog’s behavior – the dog becomes restless, actively scratches the ear area with its paws, rubs its muzzle and eyes on various objects, scratches the perineal area, etc. As a result of severe itching, papules (outlined significant elevations of skin with a diameter of less than 1 cm), pustules (a blister filled with leukocytes), scratches, and areas of skin with no hair appear on the dog’s skin. With chronic itching, there is often thickening of the skin and roughness at the site of the lesion.

Diagnosis of the causes of itching.

If, as a result of diagnostic studies, the source of the itching is not identified, then it becomes necessary to exclude the allergic nature of the skin itching. For this purpose, your dog will need to be switched to another food for 6-10 weeks, where the amount of food allergens is limited. You should choose foods that the dog has not received before, or received only occasionally. Changing the brand of dog food. It is necessary to keep in mind that allergens often contain animal proteins (beef, chicken, fish, dairy products), cereals (all grains, except rice), food additives (stabilizers, preservatives, dyes, aromatics - meat flour). Allergens are rarely found in lamb, horse meat, potatoes and rice.

The specialist will also, during a clinical examination and history taking, eliminate the seasonal nature of skin itching, while prescribing medications that have a therapeutic effect on seasonal itching.

Treatment of itchy skin in dogs.

Basic principles of treatment.

If the disease was not correctly recognized, then inadequate treatment will lead to distortion of the symptoms of the disease and may cause the appearance of new symptoms.
The use of simple biologically active substances in the treatment of itching often leads to faster recovery than massive exposure to highly active substances.
The correct choice and combination of medications speeds up treatment.
Treatment of the affected skin area should be gentle.
The use of a bandage has a bad effect on skin regeneration processes, so the dog must be distracted from licking with other drugs.
If severe itching occurs, the following measures should be taken before using glucocorticoids: frequently bathe the dog in warm water for 5-10 minutes. Calm the dog with sedatives (sedating antihistamines, acepromazine), diphenhydramine. Put a collar on your dog.

In the case where there are large lesions on the skin and severe itching, the sick dog must be prescribed corticosteroid hormones, which can reduce skin itching within a few hours (cortisone, hydrocortisone, prednisolone, dexamethasone and many others). Considering that hormonal drugs have serious side effects, they cannot be used for more than one week.

When treating itching in dogs, antihistamines are used, which have much fewer side effects. Among the antihistamines used in the treatment of skin itching in dogs are diphenhydramine, suprastin, tavegil, diazolin.