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Why is my dog biting her skin and has scabs despite flea meds?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | spayed | 1 year and 1 month old | 17 lbs

My dog, Keda, has been nibbling on her skin for the past couple of weeks. I didn't think anything of it cause I thought she just had an itch, but yesterday I noticed little scabs on her (presumably from her biting there). She's been on heartworm and flea/tick medication since i got her 4 months ago, so I'm not sure what it could be. Also, my roommates have a dog as well (who's also on flea/tick meds), should they be concerned? Or should I keep them seperated? Thank you so much

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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

Veterinarian

Published on December 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). 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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    Answered By Dr. Elizabeth

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Depending on what flea prevention you and your roommate are using will determine if fleas are a potential problem. Separating the dogs will not likely help since they live in the same house and parasites can travel around on shoes. Those spots on Keda 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). 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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