my dog keeps chewing herself and scratching till she is almost bald vet gave her cortisone and i gave her flea

Question

i gave her flea bath and fleadrops been going on for about 4 months

Answer 1

Its probably not fleas try oatmeal shampoos or ask your vet for prescription anti itch shampoo. Hopefully its seasonal because if the dog has already had a cortisone shot and it didn't help you might be out of luck. Good luck!

Answer 2

Did your vet discuss the possibility of allergies? Cortisone will usually treat the symptoms ie. itching and scratching, but unless the underlying cause is remedied, your dog will just break out again after the shot wears off. Consider talking to your vet about ruling out common allergy issues like food allergy, environmental allergy (atopy), contact allergy among other things. Are you sure that there are no fleas on or around (in the house) your dog? Do you use Advantage or Frontline. Try not to use flea products that you can get off of the counter or from feed stores, they are not as effective. Sometimes, flea baths and flea meds are just not enough when it comes to controlling the flea population. Treating the home and the yard is also part of the flea treatment regime. In the meantime, you can ask your vet if you can give your dog some antihistamines after the shot wears off since you don't want your dog to get cortisone shots all the time.

Answer 3

A-lot of times a food allergy can be the culprit, even if you have been feeding her the same stuff for years. Try to get her on a diet that doesn't have corn, soybean, or wheat in it and see if the problem doesn't go away. I work at a pet store and we get that question about 12 times a day and most of the time it's a bad quality diet. Even Science Diet, which is "vetrinarian recommended" is a bad food, the first or second ingredient is corn. You can also give her a little bit of benadryl every once and a while to help the itch.

Answer 4

Fleas are definitely a problem, but your dog might have dry skin which make her itch and scratch and bite. Try giving her a bath and use baby shampoo. Make sure you get it all the way down to her skin. Also, put vegetable oil on her food. It'll help her skin a lot.

If nothing works, it's time to take her to the vet to check her for food allergies, seasonal allergies, or some other problem. It's a hassle, but that's what we take on when we get pets. All they ask in return is that we love them.

Answer 5

If its not fleas, it sounds like she may have severe dry skin.. What type of dog is it? How big?? . I had a Rottie who had really dry skin and I would put a tbls of oil in his food everyday and it really helped. How much you would use depends on the size of the dog though.. Don't bathe her alot because it strips the oils on her skin and will dry it out worse. You said the vet gave her cortisone,, what did he say might be the cause?

Answer 6

There is a shot-not cortisone-my vet always called-Liquid Gold. It always helped my dog 100%. Ask your vet about it.
Also keep your dogs anal glans clean. This works wonders. (search-canine anal glans)
Get yourself a good medicated shampoo-use this first.
Then rebath w/a good flea shampoo. Once the dog dries-apply Frontline drops.
Now if your area is heavy w/fleas, you must treat it b/f the drops will work properly on your dog. AND- talk to your vet about use'n the Frontline more than once a month.

Answer 7

She may be allergic to the flea medication and or the food you are feeding her...a lot of dogs are sensitive to corn and beef in commercial dog foods (even canned).
Try an oatmeal bath (seriously)and chicken or lamb & rice food.
Pet stores and vets offices sell those items...ask an associate or the vet for the best brand for your dog.

Answer 8

I did everything for my dog that I could think of - she finally lost all of her hair in every spot that she could get to to chew. Her tail looked like an oppossum tail - it was awful. I thought it was fleas, hot spots, etc. I even thought she was allergic to carpet. Turns out, she was allergic to her dog food. Now, we buy her food that has no wheat or rice in it. It costs a lot more at Pet Smart - but she grew every single bit of her fur back - and it is thick and soft again. She doesn't chew on herself any longer, and she plays again. She was miserable!

Answer 9

see a different vet... they should take a skin scraping and analyze under a microscope to see if she has mites. If not, possibly a nervous condition. Also, you should only use dog shampoo on her, try switching brands-One with oatmeal might help- and make sure you rinse very very well! Two or Three times for good measure. Ask your vet first, but Sebex(antidandruff) shampoo could help.

Answer 10

Benadryl will give temporary relief. However, my vet recommended claritin once a day for my boxer. He's been on it for almost two weeks and has not had any problems with itching or scratching as he had before.

It may be worth discussing with your vet.