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Why is my dog scratching and losing hair after flea treatment?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | unspayed | 1 year and 4 months old | 30 lbs

Losing hair she scrathes a lot. I used a tube of flea medicine on her and it got worse. Any suggestions?

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jenny, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on October 9th, 2017

They can scratch from environmental allergies or food allergies. Depending on where the scratching and hair loss is can sometimes helps determine what the cause maybe. Treating her for fleas is a good start to eliminate that as a problem. You can try a food diet with limited ingredients such as a single meat and single carb such as royal canin rabbit and potato. If these do not help then you will need to talk to your vet about a skin sample to check for mites then allergy testing or allergy medicine to help keep it under control

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Debi Matlack

    Veterinary Technician

    Published on February 11th, 2017

    The hair loss at the application site can happen due to the hair becoming more brittle after contact with the product. If the skin there looks otherwise normal, this could be what is happening. If the scratching started abruptly after application of the flea product, then a reaction is possible. If she was scratching before, then I would suspect a food allergy. Food allergies in dogs is usually due to a sensitivity to the protein source in the food. If the scratching has been ongoing, I recommend asking your vet about doing a food trial. Get a prescription diet containing a protein source your dog has never been exposed to, such as duck, salmon or venison. Feed her that exclusively, no treats or anything else that could contain protein that she could be allergic to. If the skin and scratching clears up, food allergy is the probable cause.

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    Answered By Susan England-Foster

    Veterinarian

    Published on July 21st, 2017

    This is most likely an allergic reaction to the fleas. Most times when a pet has fleas the skin becomes infected with bacteria or fungus. I recommend taking gizmo to a vet to have his skin examined and start medications to resolve the issue. you can try an over the counter medicated shampoo two times a week too.

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