Last week I noticed my Yorkie was scratching herself more than usual. Most dogs have the occasional issue with dry skin, especially a week or two after going to the groomers – but this time it was different. She wouldn’t stop scratching at her belly and the sides of her belly. Every few minutes I would hear the thump, thump, thump of her leg hitting the floor as she went vigorously at herself to scratch and itch. She did it in the middle of the night, she did it all day. I couldn’t understand what was going on or what was causing her itching. Then when I looked at her little underside I saw red marks, blotches and even tiny scratches from where she was itching so badly. Something was going on and I wasn’t sure what it was.

Did she have fleas? (I didn’t see any bugs or flees or bites)

Did she have poison ivy? (most dogs don’t get poison ivy and it didn’t look like it either)

Was it a tick? (nope, I check her daily and she didn’t have any ticks or signs of having had one either)

I knew that my dog needed relief and fast. It scared me that I had never seen her itching and scratching so badly before and her poor body was red and irritated. She also started to bite her hind legs and lick them. I made an appointment to bring her into the vet for the next day. In the mean time I wanted to do something to soothe her poor skin. I washed her belly with a 99% natural oatmeal shampoo which is known to help calm and soothe irritated skin on pets. I washed just the belly area and she did seem to feel a bit better. I also put some antibacterial ointment on the two tiny scratches she had caused in her skin from her repeated pawing at herself. My poor baby was in so much discomfort and there was nothing I could do. I had a feeling though it might be allergies, since pollen and allergies have been really bad this year in New Jersey for humans – maybe it was doing the same thing to pets and animals?!

So we got in the car the next day and headed to our vet. The vet I use for Lola is in Montville, New Jersey and it is called the Montville Veterinary Group. The staff and doctor there were so amazing with her and even though my dog HATES the vet (the poor thing gets anxiety so bad she shakes and pants as soon as she walks in the door of any doctor office), she was calm and such a good girl with their team. I highly recommend them if you live in the area http://www.montvillevetgroup.com/ 

Once we got into the exam room the team started to ask questions. This was the first episode like this my dog has ever had, she is now a little over 3 years old. She started to itch about 1 week before and it just got worse and worse. Her eating pattern was the same. She was drinking a bit more water than normal but it is the summer and that’s expected. The doctor took a blood sample to rule out lyme disease and any other diseases she could contact from bugs or parasites. She was all clear with that test. After examining her skin all over the doctor said her skin was pink all over which is a big sign of allergies. Also, she had no bite marks so it was not ticks and after doing a comb test on her coat she showed no signs of fleas.

The doctor said this year 75% of her patients in the summer months have pets who have allergies. As with humans, dogs can develop new allergies after a few years. Even if they have never had allergies before, at around 3-4 years old they can start.

After looking at Lola’s skin the doctor was convinced she was having allergies or an allergic reaction. She said this could be due to environmental factors like pollen, dust, etc or an allergy to food. My dog eats mostly human food (bad, I know!) but thankfully this incident has pushed me to only feed her meat and now she is on Royal Canine food for Yorkshire Terriers. This will help to narrow down if it was food causing her reaction/allergies or the environment.

Click to buy and learn more about Royal Canine Dog Food for Yorkies

Lola was prescribed a special shampoo called Virbac Allermyl Dog Shampoo to do every week. I had always thought to only bathe her every other week or every 3 weeks since so much literature said more than that would cause dry skin. The vet said this was not true and that I should wash her once a week with this shampoo to help remove allergens. You wash them and let the shampoo sit for 5-10 minutes and then rinse out. I also let Lola air dry since I didn’t want to irritate her skin with a blow dryer. The shampoo and bath seemed to make her feel a lot better too.

Click here to buy Allermyl Dog Shampoo

Lola was also put on a 12 day course of an antihistamine & steroid pill. This was to help her stop itching and to stop the flair up. I have to say that after the second day on this medication her redness was almost gone and her itching and scratching was almost 80% gone! After 5 days her little tummy is back to normal color and her skin is no longer pink and irritated. The vet said if she was scratching I could put a small t shirt on her to prevent her from scratching her skin. I didn’t have to do that but it’s a good piece of advice.

If your dog is itching and scratching and you aren’t quite sure what is causing it, go to your vet to check out their skin. They might be able to determine the issue just by looking at them, or they may have to run some tests. If after a few days it didn’t go away on its own, it might be allergies. Some dogs have to stay on antihistamines for longer periods of time if the allergies are bad. Thankfully I have Pet Plan USA pet insurance who helped to cover some of her vet bill as well.

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