she doesn't have fleas , she has been bathed in a shampoo that is suppose to make her hair soft she has been checked for fleas bugs and we can't find anything that would cause an allergic reaction but she just constantly scratches is driving me nuts if I tell her to stop she does for a few minutes and she only does it in the house but there is nothing new in the house anybody have any ideas thanks

Allergies, dry skin, dry Air??

As I sit here watching my cat scratch, I can confidently say, your dog is probably allergic to what everybody else is, pollen of various sorts.

With cats, when they are allergic to airborne things and foods, they itch. I get her a steroid shot about 4 times a year and in between I had a compound pharmacy do up some transdermal benadryl or chlor-trimaton to keep the scatching to a minimum. There's nothing that can be done if the animal goes outside.

Check with a vet, I had to have my cat tested to see what she was allergic too, it turns out she's allergic to many foods that she had been eating and if it's green and outside, she's allergic to it. I joke that she's the only cat in the world who's allergic to herself.

Tink gets hives....check her skin and see if there are any welts...if so, talk to a vet regarding dosage...Tink has to take Benedryl. Very important...Do NOT give dogs liquid Benedryl...it is full of alcohol.

I googled and there is some great information here:
http://www.petmd.com/dog/general-hea..._bite_and_lick

my dog has allergies to grass or something in the grass. The vet told me to give him an allerge pill, Benadryl. It works. Barb

My dog has food allergies and itches incessantly. I had to change his diet to a hypoallergenic diet, which consists of only fish, potatoes, peas, and carrots. His itching is much, much better now. He is also on special compounded allergy medicine twice a day.

Definitely take your dog to the vet... there is so much that they can do!

My son's dog is doing the same thing. They have had him to the vets numberous times. The vet gave him medicine and a spray for the areas bothering him. They also give him benadryl. Algergies. Unfortunately, that is the only thing the vet has come up with. I feel sorry for the dogs. My son's dog is scratching himself raw.

yep, dogs get allergies too. This happens twice a year for us.

It would help to know what kind of dog. LWDs (little white dogs) are notorious for being allergic to just about everything. I have a westie and I have to be very careful what I feed him. He is constantly rubbing his face with his paws and on the carped. My vet had 1 client that had to import dog food made with kangaroo meat because he was so allergic! There are meds that you can give him but I would first look into his diet and make sure his food has no corn, byproducts, or fillers.

yep..all of the above...

Moira was diagnosed with environmental allergies last year. She lost all of the hair on her underside,her tummy was red and inflamed, she itched so bad she had open spots on her legs. Finally I found the one elusive flea. Moira is allergic to fleas, not grasses, detergents, etc. Not a fun allergy to have, but maybe more easily avoided than other things. Let's hope the Vectra D works this year.

Our lab had the itches too. Took her to the vet, changed food, they gave her some kind of histamine, and we even rubbed baby oil on her tummy. We also gave her fish oil. Her coat got so shinny - still had the itches - but not as much.

My little dog had the same thing happen last fall. The vet said it might be a thyroid condition. I did not believe it and had him treated for mites....the same kind that gets in the ears of floppy, hairy dogs ears. My dogs skin is very thin and he can get cut very easily. I figured it was the same kind of skin in most dogs ears. We treated him with flea and tick medicine like Frontline but it also killed mites. I think it was called Atvantage??? No more itching and his fur grew back in about a month. Hope you figure it out, it's very frustrating. Oatmeal baths seemed to help to soothe him.

I would not go the cortisone / prednisone / steroid route unless your dog is miserable and nothing else helps. Every shot of this drug shortens their lives. Research it before you make a decision.

Now, having said that, here is what you need to do (I have a fox terrier with horrible skin itchies).

Start by giving him benadryl tablets, helps a lot.

Try changing his diet to premium quality - no chicken or beef. I suggest duck, fish, or the like, with no corn or wheat. Supplement diet with salmon oil or similar and perhaps some ester-C (careful with the C, can cause loose stool, introduce gradually - DO NOT USE REGULAR VITAMIN C as it's hard on the tummy, ester-C only).

Bathe with cool water and an itchy skin shampoo. Do not bathe too frequently, it just dries the skin out and causes more itching. If the allergy is caused by pollen, the bathing helps remove it. Try using a leave-in conditioner - again, look for anti-itch.

I have never been able to cure my terrier's allergies but I have been able to get them under control to where he hardly ever scratches.

My male doxie has allergies...he gets a half benedryl every morning. Have to make sure his food contains NO corn or byproducts. He gets Fish Oil on his food every morning. The fish oil sure helps. He will scratch and lick under his front legs until it is raw. My female doxie isn't bothered with allergies.

Hope you find a solution soon.

If the skin is redish pink on the belly then it's a skin problem. The vet told me to use Head and Shoulders dandruff shampoo (I used the Equate brand) to cure it. Works great. Medicated dog shampoo is good but dandruff shampoo is cheaper, milder for the skin, and smells better. My dog doesn't scratch now. The groomer said she has a lot of dogs that only use dandruff shampoo so she was fine with using it on my dog too.

My dog was scratching a lot. The groomer said the same thing happened to her dog, and the vet suggested vitamins, and he hasn't scratched since. I bought the vitamins, and not scratching. I have no idea what one thing has to do with the other, but he is a happy little dog now. I bought "Pet-Tabs" at the local Petco.

My shitsu had the same problem and we eventually couldn't stand it anymore, as she had been bathed in flea stuff ect...so I finally took her to the vet and she had biting lice...yes biting lice, which you can see other than it kinda looks like really tiny spots on her skin, not her hair....The vet gave us stuff and, we shaved her down, bathed her again, and gave her meds. it didn't take long before they were gone. lots of work, as you have to vacum, wash all the dog's bedding, and if your dog sleeps with you, you have to clean your bedding also....in the mean time, you can give them a 1/4 of benadryl as per the vet....

Like everyone else its allergies and it can be to anything just like people. Our boxer it took us 5 different foods and finally blood tests to determine what he was allergic to. His allergies are way off from what other dogs allergies are, he's allergic to milk, eggs, rice, oats, duck, barley, catfish. So we had to put him on food that is completely grain free - that can get costly but we finally found a food for him where he no longer scratches or chews his paws non stop.

Blood tests for allergies can be pricey ours was %200 but at least we found out what the problem was I would suggest doing the same thing - get them checked

My advice is to take the poor thing to the vet before you start administering "maybe it's this" and "what if it's that" home remedies. It could be any of the conditions everyone has suggested, but please just don't experiment. Find out for sure and end this dog's suffering!

My dog's problem was dry skin, my son's dogs (3) had all kinds of allergies to things inside and outside and my sister's dogs had thyroid problems. It pays to check!

One of my daughters used to raise Chows. One of them scratched herself bloody in one spot, so on the advice of friends she rubbed Avon's Skin so Soft on it. Hair came in so soft and lovely DD had the dog stripped and rubbed her all over with Skin so soft often.

One of my cats was scratching a lot so I rubbed some coconut oil on her fur and rubbed it in to the skin. That helped a lot. I also use it on my own hair.

Ah, the food, Moira does best on fish based grain free. Canidae GF Salmon worked best for her when she had skin issues before the fleas. The antihistamine - her vet had just come from a dog allergy seminar when she presented with allergies late last Summer. He said research shows that chlorotrimton works better for dogs than Benedryl. I got hers from Drs Smith & Fosters for $5 for 100.

We had to have Woody's blood tested also after trying every antihistemine out there. He's a big dog and was up to 4 Benadryl a day (and still functioned). Since I've taken him off the foods the test showed he was allergic to, he never chews or licks at his paws (which went on 23 hours a day!!) He's allergic to certain pollen and golf course grass (there goes his career!) too. Yes, the test was costly, but looking back at all the money we spent on useless drugs (to him) and now he doesn't have to be medicated, it was well worth it in the long run. Not to mention the fact that he feels SO much better. And he knows that his name is Woody, not "QUIT!!".

I read somewhere that wheat causes itching . I think the food allergy advice is accurate...but what it is for each individual dog, who knows.

Mine would lay in the grass on her tummy and get these bumps on her that were puss you could bust them very easly the vet said it was allergies so I started using an medicated shampoo from the vet you had to leave it on for ten min that took care of it no more bobo's

Do take to the vet, one of ours suffered terribly, but thankfully we found she was allergic to meat, she is on a fish based food now and all her hair has grown back and the skin healed up lovely. Also watch for cleaning products that turn cloudy when you add them to water as they are toxic to pets.

The dog could have a thyroid problem. The only way to find out is a blood test. Could also have an allergy to something outside. Dogs can have Benadryl (same pills as people).
The dog food change is a good one. We use the brand "Taste of the Wild". It's about $42.00 for a 30 lb. bag. Many times it's the grains in the foods that give dogs problems. This food comes in buffalo, Salmon, & a fowl type. It has been great for all 3 of our dogs.
Another thing that we have had GREAT success using is people "BASIS" soap. $1.25. It's a bar soap. It has alot of fatty acids. I make a lather of it after the dog is wet & make sure I rinse with just warm water very well so no residue is left on the skin. I also do their feet only in a bucket sometimes because that's what is the worst for ours.
This soap works great for allergy & allergy/redness rashes on dogs.

My lab mix has lots of allergies to foods and environmental things. She used to scratch constantly until she was raw. Benedryl helped a little but not much. She is now on a special non-steroid allergy med and a special diet. We buy her Blue venison or salmon or lamb. She is now doing really well. No more scratching or discomfort.

excema
maybe food allergies
We had a dog that needed food made with lamb meat.

I agree. We go through the same thing with our shiztsu. He takes Benedryl (1/4 a tablet, I think) when it gets bad.

ETA - we use oatmeal shampoo on him when he gets groomed. That also helps.

We use the Taste of the Wild food as well and he's been great with that, we also put some salmon oil on his food to help from his skin getting dried out I believe its called Dr. Maggie's

Fleas or skin allergy. There doesn't have to be anything new that causes an allergy - we develop allergies from stuff we have already been exposed to. Perhaps it is the carpet.

She may have dry skin. How big is she? - if she is small to medium size, put one 1000 mg fish oil capsule in her food each day. If a large dog do this twice a day.

I have a rescued airedale. His coat was like wire when we got him and he scratched. Now he doesn't scratch and his coat is very soft.

The fish oil is good for her heart too. We have given this to our dog for years now.

Meanwhile til you get it under control, maybe you can ask the vet if you can give her something like Benadryl. Poor dog must be uncomfortable.

My pup used to scratch alot also. Even to the point of getting hot spots. I finally figured out that he has grain allergies and is also allergic to chicken so you might want try putting him on a non-chicken, grain free food for a couple of months and see if that helps. It is amazing how many dogs are allergic to chicken and unfortunately chicken is a major ingredient in most food. Hope that helps.

Have you tried giving her some benadryl to see if that helps? Early in the spring one of my dogs was doing the same thing. The vet said that with all the rain and heavy pollen this year, he probably had an allergic reaction -- it worked.

It a good possibility that it is her diet. We had a shitzu that scratched all the time and had red skin until we changed her food to a a food for sensitive skin. We had her on Science Diet prior to this so we thought we were giving her the best food but it did not agree with her skin.

9 times out of 10 its an allergy to grass I am unfortunate enough to have a dog and a cat that suffer from this Vet says a 1/2 of a Benadryl every day will help ease the constant scratching .Both of my sweeties are under 7 lbs so I will give them only a 1/4 and hope it works.

Avon Skin so soft is highly recomended by area vets. Dry skin is mostly the reason, sometimes it is physcological? ;-)

it may be allergies, food or enviroment