Why is my allergic dog suddenly biting tail, licking bum, and itching?

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Itchiness in dogs, especially on the tail or tail base, can be caused by allergies, such as to fleas, food or environmental allergens. Other causes of itchiness include bacterial infections in the skin, mites such as demodex, and/or fungal infections. Please ensure that Cookie is on a consistent flea and tick preventative medication that was prescribed by a veterinarian. Flea medications/treatments that can be purchased from a food or pet store or online are not safe or effective in dogs. The house itself must also be treated for fleas, with very frequent vacuuming and even "flea bombing". If Cookie is already on an appropriate flea medication year round, I recommend having her examined by a veterinarian for an exam and skin scrape to evaluate for the presence of an infection and/or mites. I hope this is helpful!

Poor Lola! She could be biting her back and tail because of fleas, mites, ringworm, or allergies. If she isn't up to date on her flea treatment, she will need a spot on treatment such as Advantage or Revolution. You will need to disinfect the environment as well. If she is up to date on her flea treatment, I recommend taking her into the vet for an exam tomorrow. The vet can do blood tests, skin scrapings, and use a Wood's lamp to diagnose allergies, mites, and ringworm. Once the cause of the biting is found, the vet can prescribe the appropriate treatment.

Hi there! There are a number of different things that can cause hair loss and a skin rash in dogs, so it's hard to say what might be wrong without being able to examine her and run some tests. If the hair loss is mainly around her lower back and tail, the most likely culprit is flea allergies - so if she isn't already on a good flea preventative like Nexgard or Bravecto, this is the first thing I would suggest. If you're positive that she doesn't have fleas, other possible causes of these symptoms would include other types of allergies (food allergies, or an allergy to something in the environment), a bacterial or fungal skin infection, or skin mites (mange). Wheat allergies are one type of food allergy, but it's actually far more common for dogs to be allergic to proteins like chicken or beef rather than grains or wheat - so this is possible, but not nearly as likely as some of the other possible causes. Treatment will depend on what the underlying problem is, so it's important to get a diagnosis first in order to know how to treat her. I would recommend taking Bear to the vet for an exam when you are able to. He/she can do some simple skin tests if needed to help diagnose the problem and get her started on appropriate treatment.

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!

This is probably caused by an allergic reaction. first of all make sure you de-flea Fenton regularly every month with a high quality spot on (ex. Advantage) as fleas are by far the most common reason for these reactions. If the fleas are not the problem, it could be an allergic reaction to food or an environmental factor. this is more complicated to treat and will sometimes require medications such as Steroids, anti histamines or cyclosporin in order to stop the allergy.

There are several conditions that can cause these symptoms. You'll want to try to keep the area as clean and dry as possible and prevent any licking. This will help prevent any secondary bacterial or yeast infection from forming. Be sure to visit your local Veterinarian and request a Skin scraping exam. This will allow your doctor to rule out any mites, mange, or fungal infection. Your doctor should be able to prescribe a treatment plan to clear this up pretty easily.

Considering the signs you described and the pics, this presentation is likely to be due to an allergy, although skin infections or mites could be responsible for it as well. First, to rule out skin parasites, I would recommend to ask your vet to prescribe a good quality flea treatment and perform some skin tests to rule out infections and mites. If all the tests are negative, allergies can be considered and treated.