My Yorkie scratched her face raw. What to do? How long to heal?

First, place an e-collar (cone) on her to prevent further scratching. Keep it on her 24/7. You can take it off when she eats or drinks, but monitor her closely so she doesn't start scratching again. Next, have her seen by your veterinarian. The licking, biting, scratching and hair loss may be due to allergies ( https://www.petcoach.co/dog/condition/canine-allergies ). These can be difficult to diagnose since there are many causes (inhaled, environmental, food, fleas). Discuss allergy testing, food elimination trials and antihistamine use with your veterinarian. The doctor may prescribe medications to treat the wounds and stop the scratching. https://www.petcoach.co/dog/condition/food-allergies/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/4-great-strategies-for-relieving-your-dog-s-allergies/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/seasonal-allergies-in-dogs-what-you-need-to-know/

If Prudence is wearing a collar, take it off for a few days. Check her over for fleas. You can place booties on her feet or a baby onesie on her to prevent scratching. This will allow healing to begin. Have her examined by your vet to diagnose skin infection or mites. If she has fleas or evidence of fleas such as flea dirt, you will need to treat her and the environment. Frontline Spray can be used on her safely. You will need to read labels of other topicals preventatives since most have age and weight restrictions. You can also discuss safe flea control with your vet.

Hello, sorry to hear about Luna. It looks like she has intertrigo or skin fold pyoderma. This is generally a superficial skin infection from excess friction and moisture of the skin folds that leads to excess growth in normal skin bacteria/yeast that then becomes a local infection. What you may need to do is place an e-collar over her head so that she is not scratching at the area and then you may apply a light film of triple antibiotic to treat the infection. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. From you picture it appears that this may be infected which may require veterinary treatment. Until then, an E-collar may be helpful to keep her from scratching. Many vet clinics, pet stores and feed stores have these for sale. Keep her chin clean and dry, and be sure to wash food and water bowls daily. Stainless steel or ceramic bowls are best as plastic may hold bacteria that can worsen infections on the chin or muzzle. Do not use alcohol or peroxide on the lesion, a mild antiseptic such as chlorhexidine can be used to help clean it.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! At least on this picture this looks very superficial and it is very likely that it will resolve on its own as long as the area is kept nice and clean. If you have noticed Dexter licking at it, an e-collar to prevent that would be ideal. Otherwise, this should continue getting better. If no major improvement in the next week or so, have him evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment which may include antibiotics. Good luck and have a great day!

That lesion could be many things including an abrasion that is healing, a bacterial infection or something like ringworm (which humans can get). That's good that she is not scratching at it. You may monitor it at home. If it is not getting better after a week, if it starts looking worse or if she starts rubbing at it, have Bella examined by the veterinarian. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Once the fleas have been treated, the area should heal by itself provided Bo does not continue to scratch or lick it. Keep the lesion clean and dry to prevent infection. If it has has not healed in five to seven days, or if you notice the lesion getting larger or oozing pus, you should have Bo checked out by a veterinarian for treatment.