Why is my dog scratching and licking so much?
There are a few common causes of dogs being itchy. these include allergies, fleas and other parasites, food allergies, irritants, and infections secondary to these problems.
Although it may be tempting to ignore your dog scratching, or look for home remedies, it’s important to understand that it often becomes more difficult and expensive to treat itchy pets if left too long, as well as the dog continues to suffer. There is a lot of misinformation around, especially on social media spread by companies trying to sell their own products, so please seek advice from a trusted vet promptly. Left untreated, many itchy dogs develop secondary infections (bacterial and yeast) which increase the itchiness and make the dog smell, as well as the potential for significant self-trauma, ear infections, aual haematomas, etc.
How to we diagnose an itchy dog.
There are multiple factors which tell us what may be causing the dog to be itchy, so the first step is to get a thorough clinical history. How old is the dog? Where is the dog itchy? What time of year is it itchy? Has it happened before or is this the first time? Are they on flea prevention? What breed are they?
Are they on flea prevention?
If a pet is on good quality flea prevention, we can quickly rule out fleas and potentially several other parasites. We will generally still check for evidence of fleas to be thorough, but it is uncommon to see flea problems when on quality flea control.
Where is the dog itchy?
The location of the itch can often tell us a lot about the cause. For example, pollen and food allergies often show up as itchy bellies, paws, armpits, and ears. Flea issues will generally be over the rump. Mites (such as sarcoptes) will largely affect the face and paws.
How age affectes the diagnosis.
When we see a dog which is itchy on the belly, armpits, paws and ears we normally suspect an allergy. Food allergies and pollen allergies can look just the same, so we can’t tell the difference by just looking at the dog. We find that for dogs under 12 months of age around 50% of them will respond to hypoallergenic food trials, where as dogs over 12 months of age only respond around 10% of the time. This means that food sensitivites are more commonly diagnosed in dogs under 12 months of age, but we still need to consider this for all allergic dogs.
What time of year is the dog itchy?
Pollen allergies are the most common cause of itchyness in dogs. As with hay fever in people, pollens are more likely to affect dogs in spring and summer. If a dog becomes itchy in spring, we will normally treat symptomatically until the pollen levels drop. If it doesn’t recur until the same time the following year we can conclude a pollen allergy is present. If the itching continues once treatment stops we will investigate non-seasonal allergens such as food, dust mites, and other environmental causes.
What breed are they?
Some breeds are prone to certain skin issues, so the breed of dog may dictate our initial thoughts and actions. For exampel, Bulldogs are very prone to mite infections, so we will perform skin scrapes to check for mites in these dogs. OTher breeds such as “oodles” have a higher risk of pollen allergies, while Husky breeds may get a condition called “zinc responsive dermatosis.
How do we treat itchy dogs?
Our first step is to get a diagnosis of the most likely causes. This is done by looking at clues from above, while also perdforming skin scrapes, skin and ear cytology (checking for infection), and considering food trials (these need to be done carefully to get accurate results so should always be done with veterinary guidance).
If we find evidence of infection on cytology, we will treat the infection. Bacterial and yeast infections are very common in itchy dogs (allergies cause the skin to produce more heat and moisture, which these micro-organisms love), and can contribute a lot to the itchiness. If we don’t clear the infection we are unlikely to stop the itch. Where possible we will use topical treatments such as ointments and shampoos, as we want to only use antibiotics when strictly necessary.
We may use immune-modulating medications such as steroids (topical or systemic) or cyclosporin, and other drugs such as JAK inhibitors or monoclonal lokivetmab may be very good at stopping the itching.
Antihistamines can be trialled and will help in around 30% of cases.
We will also ensure good parasite control is used. Even if fleas aren’t the main cause of the itching, they will contribute to the problem so need to be cleared.
For the more severe cases we may consider referral to a specialist dermatologist, or take biopsies to confirm a less common disease. This may lead to immunotherapy or other treatments as indicated.
If your dog is itchy we recommend booking an appointment promptly. You can make an appointment by calling the Bunbury Vet Clinic on 97215999, the Eaton Vet Clinic on 97250399, or you can BOOK ONLINE HERE
