My dog has severe skin allergies & scratching. How to help affordably?

Question

Hi we have a 3 year old lab. He is constantly scratching and gnawing at his skin, he has bad hair loss, scabs and sores especially between his legs and a large lump has now appeared on the side of his face, his ears are also very dry, irritated and smelly. Unfortunately we can not afford to take him to the vet is there anything we can do or use to ease the pain and itching? We have had a couple visits to the vets before but they all insist its an allergy and prescribe him antihistamines. Pet's info: Dog | Labrador Retriever | Male

Ricardo Fernandez, DVM · Accepted Answer

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! He likely does have an infection. The issue is that anti-histamines while may help, are unlikely to be a longterm solution. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his 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 severe skin allergies & scratching. How to help affordably?

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