Itchy Skin

Question
I have a 6 year old Pekingese. She seems to not be comfortable in her own skin. She "digs" and scratches at herself all hours of the day. What can I do to make her more comfortable?

Answer
Most dogs that dig and scratch are suffering from FAD or flea allergy dermatitis. Fleas are still the major cause of itching an scratching in dogs.

If you are not on a flea program now you need to contact your vet about putting your dog on Sentinel or some other long acting flea control. Sentinel keeps your dog protected from heartworms at the same time as it is working to eliminate fleas in the entire environment. My pets have been on it for over 13 yrs and my two acres of land has no fleas at all on it.

To knock down fleas right away use a spray like Ovitrol which also kills the adults, eggs, and larvae. These are your biggest problems with fleas, not the adults.

Diet is another cause of itching skin. Good quality diets such as Science Diet Sensitive Skin formula have been proven to stop itching dogs after three weeks. It takes that long for the food to get into the system.

Inhalant allergies are another cause of itching all over.

Your Peek needs a trip to the vet to determine the cause of the itching and then you can start on a course of action.

Her diet can be changed without a trip to the vet but be sure to transition her slowly over 7 days as the bag tells you to do.