Why is my dog constantly licking her vulva? Should I be concerned?

Licking and biting excessively at the vulva is often a sign of a urinary tract infection, vaginitis, or certain types of allergies. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do at home to treat any of these problems effectively, so I would recommend taking her to the vet tomorrow for an exam if possible - she will probably need prescription antibiotics or other medication to treat the problem.

I am sorry to hear about Stella! I would recommend that she sees her veterinarian for an examination. We can have dogs get infections of bacteria or yeast in the vulva area, but we can also see this symptom as a sign of a urinary tract infection or some urinary incontinence. Your vet can examine her and check for signs of infection, and based on their findings make a treatment plan. Your post states that your dog is spayed, if she was not spayed we would also be concerned about the chance of a pyometra, or infected uterus, which would need to be seen right away.

Sometimes the genitalia can experience hyperpigmentation after a heat cycle. Some sort of infection is also possible and a physical exam is needed to tell the difference. I recommend to call your veterinarian who is most familiar with Zoe. They may recommend an exam. Best of luck.

Poor girl. The brown staining is saliva staining from her licking. THe vulva also looks to be a bit swollen, likely b/c it is irritated. I would suspect that Aira has some vaginitis here. Visit you vet and they can prescribe some antibiotics to hopefully clear this up. Also if she is peeing more than normal and drinking more water, a urinalysis is warranted to check for a UTI. Until you can get her seen, you can wipe her vaginal area with baby wipes to help remove some of the debris and soothe some of the irritation. I hope that your fur baby Aira resolves her vaginal infection soon. Best wishes and take care.

Hello, sorry to hear about Ollie. Occasionally, female dogs can have a hooded vulva which can cause a dermatitis around the area which may elicit itchiness and a mild infection. Other causes such as allergies and fleas can also contribute to being itchy around that area. I would inspect the region and if you see dark brown pigmented fur or red skin, I would make an appointment with your veterinarian to have her evaluated. Hope this helps and best of luck

Some dogs do have allergies that can make them focus on the vulva and sometimes they can even end up with an infection around the vulva. You could use a warm washcloth to wipe daily to see if it will help. If she’s not improving in a few days or if you start to notice urinary issues I’d recommend having your vet examine her.

Hello, thank you for your question. So, there could be more than one thing going on. All of which Ukie should be evaluated by a veterinarian for. Scooting on the floor is typically consistant with full anal glands, which need to be expressed. Sometimes dogs will lick there genital area if they have a urinary tract infection, which will usually also be acccompanied by frequent unproductive attempts to urinate, straining to urinate, and/or blood in the urine. Another thought is that some dogs can have too much extra skin around the vulva causing it to be “recessed,” which is a fancy way to say the vulva has a skin fold around it. That skin fold can create a dark, moist place for yeast and bacteria to grow and become itchy. We also can’t rule out a primary skin problem. I recommend having Ukie seen by her veterianarian to get to the bottom of her uncofortableness. Hope this helps, I hope Ukie feels better soon!