Skin issues

Question
Hi Jannie, I have a 10 month old female boxer/ pit mix so im hoping maybe you can help me even though she is not pure breed. About 3 weeks ago we noticed a small bump on her bottom lip. since then we have noticed it gets worse and worse. also she has been itching like crazy and we noticed at the base of her tail she is either losing hair or biteing herself until she looses her hair in that spot. It worries me that she may have mange or something like that. she is on purina puppy chow and has been since she was able to eat hard food. im taking her to the vet next week because i believe she might be pregnant. Could pregnancy cause this?? Thank you in advance!

Answer
Hi Kiri,

There could be many possibilities....

Pregnancy has nothing to do with her lip or her chewing on her tail/backside.

Allergies can cause skin irritations and even lesions.

Puppy Chow is junk.

Boxers must have all natural dog food (your case, puppy food) with NO CORN AND NO CORN GLUTENS. These cause allergies in Boxers.

Research "all natural puppy food" Online and choose one that you can afford and buy easily. Also, PetSmart offers a lot of good brands and is local.

Until you get her into your vet, which I highly recommend, you can bathe her in Aveeno Oatmeal Bath (for humans) or look for an oatmeal bath/shampoo for dogs. Oatmeal reduces and eases itching.

Mange is a possibility, food allergies are possible, and fleas are possible. Nervousness is a possibility too. Has anything in the household/family dynamics changed recently to cause nervousness? Just a thought....

You can use people Benadryl for the skin allergy too. But only 1cc every 6 hours.

Get her to the vet, change her puppy food, and bathe her with oatmeal.

Let me know what the vet said and the puppy food you chose.