My dog has red scabs around her vagina after heat. What could it be?

Question

Missy developed little red scabs on and around her vagina soon after her 2nd menstrual cycle. She doesn’t bother them, and I tried gently scraping them off as suggested by a vet but they did not come off. After looking more closely doesn’t appear to be her skin pigment and more so just scabs. What do you think this is? Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | unspayed | 1 year and 6 months old | 8 lbs

Ricardo Fernandez, DVM · Accepted Answer

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is likely saliva staining. Often times licking usually means itchiness which in turn could potentially be due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing her allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

My dog has red scabs around her vagina after heat. What could it be?

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