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My dog won't stop itching after flea treatment. Could it be dry skin?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Female | spayed | 39 lbs

My dog won’t stop itching. She did it some, and then ended up accidentally being exposed to a lot of fleas. I got her treated, there are zero fleas now but her itching has gone into double time. She is currently on antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection n small seroma from spaying. Could she have dry skin issues? How could i remedy this?

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5 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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

Veterinarian

Published on July 12th, 2019

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). 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. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Ana M, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Thank you for submitting your question regarding Rosie. I recommend alerting her veterinarian to her symptoms as she will benefit from a prescription to stop the itching. If the itching is allowed to continue, she will not only feel miserable, but she will likely cause wounds on her skin. In the meantime, I recommend bathing her with a moisturizing shampoo such as an oatmeal or fatty acid based formula to help soothe the skin. This can provide some relief. I hope this information helps!

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    Answered By Ricardo Fernandez, DVM

    Veterinarian, Veterinary Oncology Resident

    Published on December 1st, 2017

    Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! You can use a product called Capstar which helps to kill a lot of fleas at once and you can give it concurrently with your flea preventative. Also, consider vacuuming the house daily to every other day. Other types of allergies such as food and environmental allergies should also be considered. 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!o

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

    Veterinarian

    Published on December 20th, 2019

    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 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). The following products can be found online and can be tried as a first line approach: Douxo PS Calm shampoo, Essential 6 spot on by dermoscent, Krillex Krill oil chews. 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. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

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    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on November 27th, 2016

    Poor Ricky! He sounds extremely itchy, and I would get him into a vet first thing in the morning. He may be suffering from severe allergies, and likely needs steroids to control the itching. Steroids can only be prescribed by a vet, and he should be examined for the cause of the itching. If he did have fleas, he may have a flea allergy that resulted from the infestation, leading him to continue to scratch after being treated. Steroid would help with this response. Another possible cause of his itching could be mites, which would not be treated with a change in food or Frontline. The vet can do skin scrapings to see if mites are a possible cause of his itchy, and can treat accordingly. You can give Ricky an Epsom salt bath or oatmeal bath tonight to see if that helps give him some relief, and definitely take him into the vet first thing in the morning.

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