hair biting
im not sure why, but he is pulling out small mats and redenning the skin. i sprayed the area with anti-itch stuff, but is there anything else i can do? |
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| Dancer bites at herself too, sometimes she'll chew her whole foot for half an hour straight! I thought it was fleas, and I thought it would stop when I re applied her advantage flea drops but it didn't. It's not as bad as it was, but I wonder if it is habit now? |
| Jack may have mange. His doctor will have to do a skin scraping to see if they can find the mange mites (they are not always obvious).
You can also give him EPA (fish oil). This is good for the skin and may help lessen the itching. Jennifer |
| Can you see any red dots on his belly? Mopsey has them, but only on her belly and upper thighs. She bites the area, too. My vet said to give her some children's Benadryl twice a day for four days. It seems to be working. He said it might be grass allergies, or she is getting bit my ants when she is lying down. If it comes back, I would consider food allergies, and switch her food. Just my experience, hope it helps. |
| Could be summer allergies, too. Every August the paw chewing begins and the sound is enough to drive me to drink. It's been especially bad this year and started mid-July. Benedryl may help keep the edge off.
Jil |
| well the thing is its nowhere but on the front of his shoulders. he isnt biting himself bald, just pulling on the hair
would triiming him down save him some of this itching? shaved sheepdogs look cute too. |
| Dogs can chew hair when they are nervous or due to some physical irrigation. The irritation could be from insect bites as someone has already mentioned, allergies (more often feet chewing, but not always), and a physcial problem called Cushing's Disease. Most likely it is not the later, PHEW!
Yes, I'd clip the hair, wash with a skin soothing shampoo (oatmeal), add some fish oil to the diet....or oil fish such as mackerel or sardines and continue with the anti-itch spray/cream or Benedryl. Watch the skin, more bumps and redness and I'd begin to worry about mites and mange. If the skin is wet or smelly, consider hot spots. Try to determine if there's an allergy at work here: grass, mold, ???? Try washing his bedding.........or wash in a different product....soap allergy? This will take some real dectective work. Good luck. |
| the spot it wet too, but i assumed that was from licking, what does a hot spot mean? |
| Hot spots can be caused by a fungal infection, like ringworm, or not ringworm, or an infection of the skin either because of the licking and chewing, or after the licking and chewing. Stress, change in diet, allergies, insect bites, almost anything can lead to hot spots. My golden retriever Sam used to get hot spots all the time, I don't remember why, but we used to put warm, used tea bags on them for a few minutes a few times a day, and it seemed to help. I don't remember if that was an old wives tale type of advice or if the vet suggested it, but either way, it did help. |
| They can also bite because of fleas. Have you seen any signs???
The other thing to consider - if he has some mats (and the shoulders are common places for them) - they may be irritating his skin and/or hurting him. Shaving won't necessarily help - if it's a skin reaction to something - he'll still have a problem hairless - but it may give you a better picture of what's going on. |
| update:
jack had a few fleas on him. it turns out he also had a nasty allergic reaction to those few fleas. he's been benadrylled by the vet and is getting a new flea treatment starting tonight. thanks for the help again all, if anyone has a similar case, i suggest seeing the vet, they knew right off the bat what it was. funny, i had never heard of a dog allergic to fleas. |
| Yes, it helps dry out ooozies on the skin. My brother was born with some crusty oozies on his face, hands, etc so my mother would make up extra strong tea and wash the areas with that. Later, when he came down with it again, she used Mazon ointment and the squeezed out tea bags.
I had forgotten about that! Thanks for the memory jog. |
| Hi Ed, Our first sheepie Dudley had an allergic reaction to one flea bite. He was so uncomfortable. He had prednisone to take and maybe an antibiotic this was in the '80's my mind can't remember all details. LOL One thing he had was a medicated bath soap and conditioner, that worked right away. Having my cat at that time he too had to have a bath as preventative measures. We used flea and tick powder in the carpet and then vacuumed it all up in easy these littler critters were in the house. That was our one time flea event. Sending you well wishes. |
| Fleas can be nasty things! I can't stand them.... over the years we have managed to stay flea free for the most part, but it seems every few years there is an increase in the number of pets having a problem with them. The same goes for most bugs I guess.... there are years when it seems there are so many more than usual. |
| unfortunately, jack is growing so fast that he outgrew the advantage i put on his back, it wasnt enough to keep away all the fleas the local parks had to offer.
not that i mind how big he's getting. today brings big improvement, which is nice for the both of us, we rest a little easier knowing he's feeling better. |
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