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New dog has red, itchy skin. What can I use for relief before vet?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered | 2 years old | 20 lbs

We adopted the dog yesterday. His skin is very red and he is constantly scratching. I do not have an established vet because he's new. I called about then they couldn't get me an appointment until next week Thursday. I think he needs something to relieve the itching until I can get him in to be seen

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1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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

Veterinarian

Published on October 23rd, 2020

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). Douxo PS Calm shampoo (over the counter product) can be tried in the meantime in order to relieve itch. 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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