My dog has bumps and scabs on his head, what should I do next?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Male | unneutered | 9 months and 30 days old | 40 lbs
My dog has bumps and scabs on his head
4 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on November 22nd, 2017
Hi there and thank you for using Pet Coach to address your concern! Poor Dip! It looks quite uncomfortable for the little guy. I would recommend having this looked at by a veterinarian. It appears to be what we call Demodex, which is a skin mite. This mite is typically picked up from the mom when they are puppies and because their immune system is not fully developed at this point, it can be difficult to keep these mites (which normally do not cause disease in an animal with a healthy and strong immune system) under control. Your vet will need to scrape the skin with an instrument or blade and look at the sample under the microscope to help confirm if this is from mites or not. The other possibility is that this could be a bacterial skin infection that needs an antibiotic and topical medications for treatment. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns!
5Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
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Published on July 28th, 2018
This may be a bad hair follicle or seborrheic gland abscess or a tumor. I suggest you make an apointment with your vet who will examine your dog, remove the scab and clean the area and then be able to see what is causing this skin problem. If it is a seborrheic cyst or gland abscess or a tumor it may need to be removed surgically.
13Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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Published on April 7th, 2018
Poor guy! This sounds and looks like it could be either an allergy or a skin parasite. Scabies is the skin parasite I'd worry about. And allergies to food or the environment (like human hay fever) are both possible. I would recommend starting with a "skin scrap" by your vet to look for parasites, and then talking about diagnosis and treatment of allergies. Good luck!!
3Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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Published on May 26th, 2019
Unfortunately there is not much we can tell you from looking at photos. Many skin diseases present similarly with the same clinical signs. Here are some ideas of what it could be: * mange ( very common in younger animals) - a skin scraping can help diagnose * bacterial pyoderma ( can take weeks to months of antibiotics to clear up ) * fungal infection * alabama rot * auto immune disease - like pemphigus * severe allergies * etc..... More testing is going to be needed to figure this out. You can't just keep trying different medications to see if anything will work. You need a diagnosis and then you will know how to treat appropriately. I would do a skin scraping to start - if negative then I would do a skin biopsy.
2Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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