Has anyone had any success with treating scabs from biting, scratching, licking? Our little guy, Reese, has been suffering with this problem since last November. He has been at the Vet regularly and she convinced us that Reese has food allergies. I have switched his food to Hills Prescription Diet - ultra ZD (which is for allergy symptoms) and still no luck.

He scratches and licks his paws non-stop. His nose, head and under his chin have scabs and he is sore to the touch if I try and put any of the antibiotic on them from the Vet. I backed off on the bathing (I was doing it once every one to two weeks) and I have bought the Canadian Medicated Shampoo from the Vet.

Help...has anyone else had this problem. The food doesn't seem to be helping, he has been on it now for 6 months. It isn't fleas or ticks either. Any suggestions?

There are many reasons why a dog could be scratching especially enough to create hair loss and or scabs. I am not a fan of Hills Prescription Diet as I do not find the quality of food is good but for certain medical reasons short term it works if the diagnoses is right. Have you tried adding wild salmon oil daily? Try it for 3 weeks and see if you see a reduction of scratching. The issue with scratching is it can also become a habit even after the issue is gone bu you shoudl see a reduction till no more. I also do not like the shampoo but prefer something like Pure Paws Oatmeal shampoo and conditioner as it is great for the skin. I find the medicated stuff helps leisons and there may be a need but it also leaves the skin quite dry and lends a different issue.

My girlfriend has a dog that has allergies and she uses a special shampoo and everything. One day when I was taking care of the dog she got completely muddy. I decided a bath wouldn't hurt but after the bath she scratched and scratched. I finally returned her to the tub and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed with cool water. After that -- NO scratching.
I thought I had rinsed her pretty good the first time but she really benifitted by the extra rinses. I now rinse my Havanese for a long time before drying her and so far we have had no issues.
Just a thought...extra rinses are a lot cheeper than vet bills :-)

Rinsing does matter and we all think we have thoroughly rinsed them but that does take time. I use a bathing beauty to make sure it's all out but a sprayer can do that - just would take longer.

Hi Dawna,
Our dog Fidel has skin issues/allergies. We have experimented with many different foods, shampoos, dog dermatologists, you name it and have gotten to a state of being able to more or less manage the issues now even though they don't seem to go away entirely for very long unfortunately. I have a few ideas to try if you want to e-mail me (well, as to what works with our dog anyway! which is a combination of shampoo, ointment and diet changes).

Hello,

Thanks to all who posted replies. Sorry I haven't written back, we were in Florida for a month and life has been crazy since returning. We took Reese to Florida with us, and the scratching didn't ease up but he loved all the family being around every day!

I have now taken him off the Hills Prescription Diet as it wasn't helping. I decided to try the Blue Buffalo as it came recommended by a friend, but the scratching persists.

I will buy the Oatmeal Shampoo and Conditioner and see if that helps.

Any other ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks again!