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My dog is scratching, losing hair, and has irritated skin. Allergies?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | unspayed | 15 lbs

Hi, my female dog is scratching a lot and lost hair in a couple little spots on her butt. I have treated her with flea treatment and i'm not seeing fleas, however her belly and inside of her hind legs skin look irritated ? Allergy? Should I try benadryl?

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4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Elizabeth

Veterinarian

Published on November 11th, 2019

Those spots on Lily could be several things including allergies, skin mites, flea bites or a bacterial infection. You can try adding in an omega 3 fatty acid supplement for dogs, this can help improve the skin health. You may also try changing her diet to something like Royal Canin or Nutro as they are aimed at skin health. You can wash the lesions with soap once a day and rinse well (don't wash her whole body, just those spots). You can also give an anti-histamine (call your veterinarian for selection and dosing instructions). Protect the areas from licking or scratching and she may need to wear an Elizabethan collar at all times. If the lesions don't start looking better within about a week or if they get worse, have her examined by the veterinarian who may prescribe medications. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Kevin Sanada, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on March 5th, 2018

    A fungal infection would not be expected to be itchy, but allergies definitely are. The Zyrtec can be helpful for some allergies, but he may need stronger medication to help relieve the itch. The pattern of hair loss along with the history of intense itching is most suspicious of fleas. I would make sure he doesn't have fleas and give treatment if necessary. Below is a link to a good article about fleas. https://www.petcoach.co/article/5-tips-to-get-rid-of-fleas/ Lastly, there are mite infestations that can cause this same problem of itchiness and hair loss. Your vet can check for these and provide the necessary treatment. In each case it's best to have your vet recheck Skitties, so they can identify the exact problem and ensure he gets the most effective treatment. I hope that helps and Skitties gets better soon.

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

    Veterinarian

    Published on August 19th, 2017

    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 (advocate or advantage), 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). 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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    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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

    Veterinarian

    Published on June 2nd, 2019

    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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