Why is my dog still scratching her neck after flea treatment?

If your dog is scratching that often, I would be concerned something is irritating her. She could have fleas or an allergy causing irritation, but we would also be concerned about itching in the ears (can look like they are scratching the neck when they are trying to get the ears) or the oral cavity (teeth). You can try looking at the ears (into the ear canal) and mouth for any signs of pain/discomfort/discharge/odor. If these are present, a visit to the vet is in order. If they are not, then you could try starting a flea preventative. If no improvement is seen, then a visit to your vet is needed.

Looks like your little lady is giving herself some hot spots there. If there is a hot spot forming under the hair then the best thing to do is to remove the hair and cleanse the area with an antibacterial solution. Some dogs require topical and/or oral antibiotics and other dogs benefit from some steroids to stop the itch. Most hot spots are secondary to underlying allergies (inhaled/environmental, food, or flea). If seasonal environmental is most likely. The best way to help her would be to see your family vet to have the areas addressed topically and so that medications can be prescribed to treat any infection and stop the itch. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

She may be uncomfortable from the itching and inflammation. I would recommend speaking with your veterinarian about additional prescription medications and topical ointments you can use to help relieve the discomfort. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Allergies, either to something in the environment or less often to food, would be the most common cause of itching if Charlie is on a prescription flea preventative. He may have a secondary skin infection as well since you are feeling bumps. Mange can cause hair loss but usually isn’t significantly itchy.

You have to treat the environment as well, as fleas don't live on the dog, they live in the home. If you haven't treated your home, that could be why Kobi is still scratching. Wash his bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a spray to kill fleas in the house, such as Indorex, or a flea bomb would work well to kill the fleas in the home. I hope this helps.

If you’re noticing increased itching in that area and you found a flea, you may try switching the flea prevention to see if that helps. Fleas can become immune to products. The top products on the market are oral products such as Nexgard and Simparica. Most pets can use these products but you should talk with your veterinarian before switching. They are administered once a month and at this point appear to work very well. If the itching goes away, then you know it was related to flea bites. Best of luck.

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). 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.