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Why is my dog scratching with black spots on inflamed skin?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Maltese | Female | unspayed | 4 years and 10 months old | 4 lbs

Bella has teeny tiny black spots on the side where her skin was inflamed, it lasted for about 3 weeks but it's gone after I put a tinsy bit baby powder for itch relief however the black spots appeared right after she had the powder on & I stopped putting it on her. What could it be? She's been scratching & right now doesn't have any protection on her. I was thinking about NexGard Spectra or Advantix. I was thinking about getting antibacterial and antifungal shampoo. Thanks!

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Ricardo Fernandez, DVM

Veterinarian, Veterinary Oncology Resident

Published on April 12th, 2018

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing her allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. 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!

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