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Why is my dog so itchy with sore ears & crusty skin? Is it contagious?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 60 lbs

My dog is itchy all over, her ears hurt and she has crusty sores all over. What is it and is it contagious?

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1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on December 24th, 2017

Poor girl. It looks like she has an ear infection and possible allergies. She could have allergies to fleas, something in the environment or a food allergy. This doesn’t appear to be contagious because I don’t see any hair loss areas and the lesions look more like secondary bacterial infections due to intense itching. Take Coco to your vet for an ear exam and testing to determine what kind of ear infection is present so that the appropriate prescription ear medicine is recommended for her. She will also need allergy medication,m. Ask about Apoquel which helps treat for both environmental and food allergies. Here is also a website link that talks about pet allergies more in detail. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=2604 In the meantime you can go to your local pet store and purchase a regular ear cleaner, which can help remove some of the debris and stop it from at least getting worse, and an aloe based or oatmeal based shampoo to help alleviate some of the itching. Benadryl can also be given to help with some itching in pets, although it won’t cure it by any means. Once at the vet ask about purchasing a high quality flea preventative as well, if she isn’t currently on one. https://www.petcoach.co/canigive/dog/benadryl/ Best of luck with your pet Coco and her allergies. I hope she feels better soon.

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