Why is my dog scratching painful rashes on her ear and foot?

Related Answers from Veterinarians

• 

  Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

  Veterinarian

  Published on November 2nd, 2017

  You should never give paracetamol to a dog, it is toxic and will not help skin irritation whatsoever. This is probably due to a severe allergy, although it could also be fleas or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat her with a high quality flea treatment (e.g. advocate or advantage), then get her to 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 discovering the cause of the allergy. Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair the skin lesions (steroids and antibiotics). simultaneously you should start her on a prescription hypoallergenic diet for at least 2 months. Hopefully you will see some results after all this, if not you and your vet should consider putting her on a long term allergy treatment (Atopica or Apoquel).

  

  1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

• 

  Answered By C. Rathjens, DVM

  Veterinarian

  Published on May 29th, 2019

  I can't diagnose it from the picture, but it looks suspiciously like superficial dermatitis (a "hot spot") caused by bacteria on the skin getting out of control and causing a sore. This can be caused by fleas or an allergic reaction (like hay fever in humans), or being wet for a long time if she just had a bath and has a thick undercoat, or even from scratching or licking herself. It could possibly be a reaction to the flea medication, although that is rare and would tend to occur in the location you applied the flea treatment. I would recommend taking her in to the vet to have it looked at. If it really is superficial dermatitis she'll need antibiotics (either a pill or maybe just a medicated bath). If it's not superficial dermatitis, the vet can do some testing to see what else it could be.

  

  1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

• 

  Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

  Veterinarian

  Published on February 28th, 2018

  This is probably due to a severe allergy, although it could also be fleas or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat her with a high quality flea treatment (e.g. advantage), then get her to 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 discovering the cause of the allergy. Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair the skin lesions (steroids and antibiotics). simultaneously you should start her on a prescription hypoallergenic diet for at least 2 months. Hopefully you will see some results after all this, if not you and your vet should consider putting her on a long term allergy treatment (Atopica or Apoquel).

  

  1Pet Parents found this answer helpful