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Why is my adopted dog scratching and biting her bleeding nipples?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Large (61lb +) | Female

Our family recently adopted a 1 1/2 year old dog. She is offen cought scratching and nibbling at her self. I noticed that she often bites her nipples. Now they are bleeding what should I do?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

Veterinarian

Published on January 28th, 2019

This is probably due to a severe allergy, although it could also be fleas or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat Cassie with a high quality flea treatment (e.g. advocate or advantage), then get her to 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 discovering the cause of the allergy. Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair the skin lesions (steroids and antibiotics). simultaneously you should start her on a prescription hypoallergenic diet for at least 2 months. Hopefully you will see some results after all this, if not you and your vet should consider putting her on a long term allergy treatment (Atopica or Apoquel).

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