My dog has flaky skin, scabs, red spots, and itches. No fleas. Why?

You will need to take your dog to a veterinarian for a skin exam. Your dog could be suffering from an allergy, mites, fleas, a bacterial or fungal infection. each of these requires a different treatment, so it is important to find out what is causing the itch. Your vet will do a thorough exam and maybe a a skin scrape. He will then discuss the options with you and then prescribe medications, possibly give an injection to stop the itching.

Poor Gabby sounds like she has a lot going on at the moment! It could be that these bumps are due to an allergic reaction, which is why she is scratching a lot. She could also have a skin infection, fleas, or mites. I would have Gabby seen by a vet today. The vet can determine what is causing the bumps and the scratching, and can treat her for it. Until you can get her into a vet, you can try giving her an Epsom salt bath or an oatmeal bath. Either may temporarily help with her itchiness.

Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be 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). Hope this answer was helpful, but 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. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Coco. I recommend that she sees a veterinarian. Scabs can indicate a bacterial skin infection. If this is the case, she will likely need an oral antibiotic or a medicated shampoo. In the meantime, you can bathe her with a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner such as an oatmeal or fatty acid based formula to soothe the skin. I hope this information helps!

It is hard to say what is causing Bacardi's problems. The third picture you included looks like pus, which would indicate infection and would need antibiotics to treat. Some dogs can be allergic to fleas, and it may only take 1 bite to make them itchy all over. If you are seeing scabs from where you applied a flea medication or flea collar, it may be irritating the skin so I would recommend removing it and bathing with dog shampoo thoroughly. Causes of itching in dogs include fleas or flea allergies, mites, or skin infection. The hair in the second picture looks like normal shedding to me, but if you feel it is weird for Bacardi, it could be caused by inflammation or from the extra itching she is doing right now. You can try a shampoo like Dechra MalAcetic Ultra Shampoo, but if it doesn't respond in a day or two, Bacardi should be seen by a vet as she may need oral medications to control the itching.

This looks like it is most likely an infection in the skin. It is very common to start out red and crusty like this. The black spots are usually a reaction to irritation and the skin gets more pigment. Most of the time, infections in the skin are secondary to allergies or anything else that causes inflammation in the skin. I would recommend an evaluation by a veterinarian and a skin scraping. The skin scraping will look for mites, yeast and bacteria. This way, the veterinarian can choose the right type of treatment. Often, these infections need to be treated with oral medication. I hope this helps and that Chappie gets better soon!

Typically, itchy red skin with hair loss is caused by either fleas, mites (mange), ringworm ( actually a fungus) or allergies. For me, the most common one of these is allergies. Dogs can have allergies to ingredients in their food or to things in the environment. They need to be seen by a vet who can rule out the other causes I mentioned, and then take the appropriate course of treatment. Some dogs will improve greatly on a hypoallergenic diet, others need immunosuppressive drugs. Often these guys have secondary bacterial infections that require antibiotics. I'd recommend an appointment With Lylas vet ASAP to get this sorted out, and get her some medications to help her feel better.