My 5-month-old pitbull has a rash on her lower abdomen. Is it serious?

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Maze's rash looks very severe, I recommend having her seen by a vet as soon as possible. I notice that her belly is freshly shaved, if she was recently spayed, this may be due to an allergic reaction to the disinfectant used to prepare the skin before surgery, or even a chemical burn, and is likely painful. Your vet will be able to provide medication to keep Maze comfortable and get the swelling down.

Hello, and thank you for your question. Poor Skye. My guess is this is a severe allergic reaction as well as secondary bacterial infection of the skin. If ointments and benadryl are not helping, she will require stronger, oral medications, to control the inflammation and treat the infection. This will require a visit to the veterinarian. I would recommend this visit within the next 12-24 hours, given how uncomfortable this looks for Skye. In the meantime, you could try giving Skye a bath with a gentle aloe and oatmeal type of shampoo, just to give her some temporary relief, and hope to wash off any surface allergens that may be irritating her skin. Rinse off the shampoo thoroughly with lukewarm water afterwards, and pat dry (don't rub). I hope this helps, and your little girl is feeling better soon.

It sounds like your pit has a allergic dermatitis and he may have licked or scratched the area so badly that a deep pyoderma (skin infection) has now formed. He will definitely need to be seen by your veterinarian for strong medications to stop him from licking/scratching the area and then a short course of antibiotics to clear the infection. You should do it then work with your vet nearing to find out what it is he has an allergy to. Here is a website link on canine allergies to help you further. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1535

If the rash is not itchy, and she does not seem bothered by it, you are ok to wait a few weeks to see if the medications help or if it goes away on its own. If it is itchy, Baile may have allergic skin disease or a bacterial or fungal infection that needs to be treated by your veterinarian. Hope that helps!

This is a skin infection. Medicated baths sometimes help but fair skinned dogs are more prone to allergies and skin infections. To clear this up she probably needs oral antibiotics for several weeks. This is not contagious. Some dogs develop this when laying in a moist area, or on something irritating. Please take her for a veterinary exam to confirm the problem and get medication to treat this. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for your dog.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This looks like a focal infection. You can try to use a medicated shampoo containing chlorhexidine twice weekly for 2 weeks. If there is no improvement or in the meantime this appears to be getting worse, have her evaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Good luck and have a good night!

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.