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Dog still itching ears & face with red skin/hair loss. What to do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Male | unneutered | 7 months and 19 days old

My dog seams to be itching his ears a lot. As a result of this I think he has rubbed/scratched his face a lot too. He has red patches on his face just under his eyes of dry, sore and red flaky patches of skin plus the hair there has gone. Could this be from itching his ears or something more. How can I stop this happening and is there anything I can put on his skin/ ears to help. He already has ear drops from the vet but he's still itching badly.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Karly Macon, DVM, MS, CVA Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

Veterinarian

Published on April 9th, 2017

Itchy ears are most commonly a sign of allergies. Your dog may have food allergies, environmental allergies, or parasitic/bacterial skin infection. If he hasn't had a skin scraping to rule out parasites, or skin cytology/culture to look for bacterial or yeast infection, these things should be done. Some dogs actually have skin tumors or autoimmune skin disease that is causing the itching, and those dogs need to have fine needle aspirates or skin biopsies taken for diagnosis. Also, you should try a veterinary prescription allergy diet like Hills z/d for 8-10 weeks fed exclusively to treat potential food allergies. It's really important to feed ONLY the prescription diet during this time. Also, I have had great success with the oral pill Apoquel for some allergies as well, and this is a medication that is much safer to use long-term than steroids like prednisone. If this course of diagnosis and/or treatment is not possible with your current veterinarian, pursue a second opinion somewhere else. If all of these options are explored and your dog is still itchy, it's time to visit a veterinary dermatologist specialist.

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    Answered By Ricardo Fernandez, DVM

    Veterinarian, Veterinary Oncology Resident

    Published on August 15th, 2018

    Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. Medications like Apoquel or prednisone can be used to help decrease the itch. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

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