Does my dog have allergies or fleas???

Question

My dog doesnt stop scratching after i bathe him in flea soap. I've tried dishwashing detergent a few weeks ago, also store bought flea shampoo.

He uses front line plus and K9-advantix dont seem to work. yes i put it on his scalp and i dont bathe him afterwards. I also put on a flea collar a few days ago... i bathe him once a week, he is a shih tzu

I already flea bombed the whole house a few times in the last few months(i found some fleas on me last week)

so the question is, do i assume it is not fleas that he is sratching b/c he still scratches after i bathe him?

i have already started switching his food to non-corn..... btw he is 10 months old.

Answer 1

I think you're bombarding this dog with too many products, it's probably irritating his skin!

You're not supposed to wash an animal before or after using Frontline - it will wash off the skin oils the Frontline requires to work. Also, washing in dishwashing detergent will not be helpful to the dog's skin!

There's a simple way to discover if the dog has fleas - flea comb him, preferably over wet white paper. You will see black flakes/dots on the hair on the comb, or falling onto the wet paper and turning red if the dog has fleas - these are flea dirts.

If you can find no evidence of fleas, take the dog to a vet so they can help you work out what the problem is. Stop using dishwashing detergent and flea shampoos - stick with just Frontline or Advantage only for your flea treatment.

I think the fact that the dog scratches after you bathe him indicates what your bathing him in is causing the irritation. Don't bath him for at least a week, see if it makes a difference.

Allergies are not always to food.

Chalice

Answer 2

Chalice has given you some great advice. I took care of a Lhasa/Shih Tzu mix for over 10 years who had severe allergies. First off, it's possible that your baby may have a flea allergy because fleas inject their saliva under the dog's skin when they bite which can cause the allergy. Allergies can be either food-based or environmental based. Some other signs of allergies are constant foot licking, red, irritated paws & skin, especially in the puppies groin area. Please be alert for ear problems because my boy's allergies manifested as chronic ear infections. One of the things you may want to try is a food elimination diet which will help determine if the problem is food-based. Your regular vet should be able to help you with that. If the regular vet doesn't feel that they can handle what will need to be done to determine what may be going on & if you are anywhere close to a vet speciality clinic, I would suggest a referral to a vet dermatologist. My regular vets tried to help my boy for something like 3-4 years with his allergy problems & chronic ear infection. The poor guy was averaging 3-4 ear infections a year. After trying everything they could, the regular vets sent us to a vet dermatologist & for the first time in a very long time my boy was actually much more comfortable & went nearly a year before he had a flare up. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I'd say he's allergic to something -- perhaps even something in the flea shampoo. Also, you may be bathing him too often and that has irritated his skin. I'd suggest asking your vet for some kind of treatment for skin irritation, since you've probably eliminated the fleas. (I had a Persian cat once who lost all her hair because of a flea allergy and had to take some expensive medicine to quell the itching even though she didn't have fleas any more. Giving her pills was not fun, but she felt much better afterwards.)

Answer 4

He could have skin allergies. Using the flea soap, shampoo, dishwashing detergent....could have really dried out his skin. The only way to tell is bring him to the vet so that they can take a skin scraping and see if anything comes of that. Bring a list of everything the dog has used on his skin too, that might help eliminate some things.

Answer 5

Could be skin allergies, especially this time of year.

Try getting an oatmeal dog shampoo (it will usually say for itchy or sensitive skin) Dont use people shampoo because it could dry out the dog's skin and make the itching worse.

If the skin on the dog's back, right above the tail feels warmer than usual to the touch, it is probably allergies.
Benadryl pills help too. Just give 1/2-1 mg per pound.

Answer 6

properly, have you ever sprayed the domicile for fleas? my canines as properly has flea hypersensitive reactions and seasonal hypersensitive reactions. If the damaging element continues to be itching, make advantageous there are actually not any FLEAS contained in the domicile, additionally spray the backyard, ask your vet what form of spray you ought to use, i recognize there is a few style of spray out ther that would kill fleas contained in the backyard it is risk-free. have you ever taken him lower back to the vet yet to do the different hypersensitivity exams on him to make advantageous its not in basic terms fleas yet with a bit of luck not the rest on account that he continues to be itching? i might purely in case. I hated seeing my canines itch that plenty, she lost an excellent sort of her fur, quite during the summer season, yet shes plenty greater suitable now, yet she had to have a depo shot not too in the past, it began in lower back.