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Why is my dog itchy, licking paws, hungry, and has stomach issues?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Toy Poodle | Female | 9 years and 7 months old | 12 lbs

Severely itchy, excessive licking/chewing of the feet and groins, hungry all the time, persistent burping and stomach noises

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

Veterinarian

Published on May 19th, 2017

This is probably due to a severe allergy, although it could also be infection or mites.

First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment (advocate or advantage), then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation.

 If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy.

 Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Food allergy can cause gastrointestinal upset as well (burping and stomach noises). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair the skin lesions (steroids and antibiotics). Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Jessica Keay, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    I am sorry to hear about Onyx! You don't mention if she has any skin lesions or hair loss. It is possible these two conditions (skin issues and increased appetite) are unrelated. One medication condition we worry about in dogs who have developed an increase in hunger is Diabetes. With this condition we often see increased thirst and urination as well, but sometimes that is difficult for owners to notice until they know to watch for it depending on their pet's set-up/lifestyle. Other causes for increased appetite could include intestinal disease causing malabsorption of nutrients (such as inflammatory bowel disease). We can also see dogs that seem to eat lots and don't lose weight with endocrine disease such as hypothyroidism. Most common causes of Itchy skin include external parasites (such as fleas, mange mites) and allergies sometimes with secondary skin infection (allergies can be environmental such as pollen/dust or food, infection can be bacterial, yeast, or both). Some diseases, such as hypothyroidism, can be associated with hair loss and skin problems. I would recommend a visit to your vet for a good physical exam, a blood panel to check for systemic illness, and depending on the appearance of the skin a skin scrape to check for mites and skin cytology to check for bacteria/yeast may be performed. Treatment and additional testing will depend on what the exam/preliminary tests reveal.

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