Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Dog | Papillon | Female | spayed | 12 lbs
My dog is about 9 years old. She is very itchy and has these red spots on her skin and she also has been crying consecutively for hours at a time. She hasn't been given any flea or other medication recently. What could this be?
1 Answer
Published on May 14th, 2017
Typically, itchy red skin with hair loss is caused by either fleas, mites (mange), ringworm ( actually a fungus) or allergies. For me, the most common one of these is allergies. Dogs can have allergies to ingredients in their food or to things in the environment. They need to be seen by a vet who can rule out the other causes I mentioned, and then take the appropriate course of treatment. Some dogs will improve greatly on a hypoallergenic diet, others need immunosuppressive drugs. Often these guys have secondary bacterial infections that require antibiotics. I'd recommend an appointment With Lylas vet ASAP to get this sorted out, and get her some medications to help her feel better.
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