Why is my dog scratching until his skin is red and raw? Help!

Question

Why does my dog scratch himself so much so bad is stomach and legs are red raw? And what can I do to stop it? Pet's info: Dog | Staffordshire Bull Terrier | Male | neutered | 40 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). 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!

Why is my dog scratching until his skin is red and raw? Help!

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