Puppy scratching and biting excessively, but no fleas. What's wrong?

Question

My puppy has been scratching and biting more frequently. He is on trifexis, and there is no signs of fleas or flea dander. any idea what else this could be and what I could do to relieve his itch? Pet's info: Dog | Labrador Retriever | Male | neutered | 4 months and 11 days old | 80 lbs

Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS · Accepted Answer

This is probably due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment (even if you already treated...Comfortis could be a good option), then ask 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 to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Puppy scratching and biting excessively, but no fleas. What's wrong?

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