What causes my dog's dry, itchy skin in winter and how to help?

Question

My pup has always had fairly dry skin. I try to make sure to brush him daily and use shampoo for dry skin when bathing him, the shampoo seems to help for a few days post bath. But now that it’s winter his skin is very itchy and dry, is there anything I can do to help him? Pet's info: Dog | Cockapoo | Male | neutered | 1 year and 1 month old | 23 lbs

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

Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be 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, 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). If everything is ruled out oatmeal shampoos can be quite useful in association with food supplements to maintain healthy skin (Coatex). 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. Please find the time to give us a feedback about the consultation as that will be used to improve our service.

What causes my dog's dry, itchy skin in winter and how to help?

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