My dog has itchy skin and wounds. How can I treat the infection?

It looks as if your dog has a skin infection, most commonly caused by an allergy, a skin mite (Demodex) or fleas. 

The allergy could be a due to a protein in your dog’s food or an environmental allergy like to dust, pollens, grasses, etc. 

The allergy causes your dog to itch and chew at the skin which breaks down the skin barrier. This then leads to infection. Skin infections are typically characterized by large areas of hair loss, redness, crusting, flaking, and pustules. A thorough skin examination by your veterinarian should be able to determine the cause of the itch so it can be treated appropriately. Your dog will most likely need antibiotics to help clear up the infection and possibly an allergy/anti-itch medication like Apoquel, Atopica, or Cytopoint to give some relief while the infection clears up. A medicated shampoo may be beneficial as well. I would also recommend he be on a good flea control routinely too. Once the infection has resolved a long term allergy medication (like Apoquel or Cytopoint) can be given on a regular basis to prevent any future problems. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.


Thank you for submitting your question regarding Shadow. I would start by bathing her frequently. I would recommend using a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner such as an oatmeal or fatty acid based formula if possible. This can help to relieve itching. I hope this information helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. This is quite severe and warrants therapy. The likely secondary infections need to to be addressed and the itchiness also need to be addressed to prevent this issue from getting worse. Medications like prednisone can be used for the itchiness and antibiotics for the infections. In the meantime, you can use an e-collar in the meantime to prevent further self-trauma. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. 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!

Bo may need to be on antibiotics in addition to the steroids to help clear up any skin infection present. The skin infection causes them to itch as well. You may also want to try a medicated shampoo 2-3 times a week to help the skin heal up faster as well. You could also try using an E-collar (cone) to prevent Bo from chewing and placing a tee shirt around his body to prevent damage from scratching. The tee shirt should be light and loose enough to prevent trapping moisture like you vet was concerned about.

It looks like Sushi has a skin infection at this time that should be treated with antibiotics. There is nothing that will “cure” allergies. It is constant management in these cases. If the apoquel worked well for him then you may want to consider having him on it long term. There is also another product called cytopoint. It is a once monthly injection. I would encourage you to visit with your veterinarian regarding this injection. But most importantly the infection needs to be treated at this time. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

This looks like an infected skin wound. It is possible that the wound was due to some sort of trauma or it could be because Noah was scratching. Either way, Noah will need oral antibiotics in order for this wound to heal. It is unlikely that any topical treatment alone will help.

It looks as if your dog has a skin infection, most commonly caused by an allergy, a skin mite (Demodex) or fleas. 

The allergy could be a due to a protein in your dog’s food or an environmental allergy like to dust, pollens, grasses, etc. 

The allergy causes your dog to itch and chew at the skin which breaks down the skin barrier. This then leads to infection. Skin infections are typically characterized by large areas of hair loss, redness, crusting, flaking, and pustules. A thorough skin examination by your veterinarian should be able to determine the cause of the itch so it can be treated appropriately. Your dog will most likely need antibiotics to help clear up the infection and possibly an allergy/anti-itch medication like Apoquel, Atopica, or Cytopoint to give some relief while the infection clears up. A medicated shampoo may be beneficial as well. I would also recommend he be on a good flea control routinely too. Once the infection has resolved a long term allergy medication (like Apoquel or Cytopoint) can be given on a regular basis to prevent any future problems. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.