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My dog keeps itching and scratching. Could it be fleas or allergies?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Dachshund | Male | neutered | 17 lbs

Hi, I have a daschund rescue. He's about 7 years old, and 17lbs. My question is he itches a lot, constantly scratching, even after baths. I have not applied any flea medicine. Any suggestions? If flee medicine is the solution, any suggestions on which one? Thank you!

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

Veterinarian

Published on April 3rd, 2018

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, 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.

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    Answered By Megan, DVM, CVA

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Poor Dimitri! This could be secondary to environmental, food, or flea allergies or a combination of these three. I would definitely recommend to get him on a high quality flea preventative. I like nexgard, comfortis, and bravecto. You can also talk to your vet to see what they carry. Most over the counter flea preventative don't work well and cause a lot of reactions. You can try a calming shampoo like duoxo's calm shampoo. You can also give him Benadryl twice a day. See link below. If these suggestions don't help, I would have your vet take a look at him. If he has a secondary bacterial or yeast infection, he may need antibiotics or anti-fungal meds to help him. Your vet will also be able to start him on a stronger allergy medicine like a steroid or apoquel to help control the itching. I hope this helps! https://www.petcoach.co/canigive/dog/benadryl/#!

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