My dog has black scabs with pus. Are they from allergies or infection?

The bumps are most likely due to a bacterial skin infection based on your description. These infections usually happen due to some irritation or excessive moisture on the skin. It's best to have a veterinarian look at this, so they can determine what treatment is necessary and possibly find the inciting cause. You can help the infection right now by giving her a bath with medicated shampoo (you can find this at the pet store). Gently massage the shampoo into the skin for 15 minutes and rinse well after bathing. The bath can be repeated every day until the infection starts to clear, then can be reduced to once a week. I hope that helps and Fred gets better soon.

Poor Rocko! This looks like it could have a bacterial component and likely an allergy component to it even though he isn't itchy. I would have your vet take a look at him and see if he could benefit from a few weeks, possibly even a month, of oral antibiotics. Your vet can also prescribe him a stronger allergy medicine like apoquel or a short course of steroids to see if this will help. I would continue with the medicated bathe twice a week. I would also add in some omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin E to help heal his coat from the inside out. I hope this helps and he starts to feel better soon!

This is probably due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Dermatitis or a skin infection can look as your describing. An antibiotic prescribed by your veterinarian may be necessary. If Rascal is itchy he may also need a medication to stop the itchiness and help the skin to heal. I recommend having your veterinarian examine Rascal to get his skin treated appropriately.

These small scabs, or crusts, could be due to an injury like a fight/bite wound or could be due to an allergy. Allergies can cause a dog to be very itchy and can lead to a skin infection that can look very much like the pictures you have shared. If the spots are widespread throughout the coat I would recommend taking Magic in to your vet to be examined. If there are just a few spots, then you can try treating them topically with some antibiotic ointment to get them to clear up. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. This does look severe and it would be best to have him evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!