My dog was scratching his lower back furiously for the past few days to the point I knew I had to do something. I've been laid up in bed and only managed to go to the health food store to get unpasteurized apple cider vinegar, per the postings here, because the store had no doggie medicines.
I cut the vinegar with water, half and half, and sponged the mix on his back up to his neck, because the itching had spread upward. He is a small dog with short hair and so I just soaked the area and rubbed it with my fingers. Within minutes he stopped scratching. He did lick himself for a while off and on but then he want to sleep and didn't constantly wake up to scratch furiously like he had been. He didn't have raw or even red areas but there was a a tiny amount of granular material that might have been frass (bug doodoo) on the surface of his fur. The material was too uniformly small to have been some kind of skin or scab shedding.
I've given him four or five applications over the last few days and his itching is markedly reduced, to the point he doesn't scratch at all for hours. There is still a very tiny amount of the frass-like material but I have not seen anybody occupying his fur. And again, he has no redness or raw areas. Another interesting point is he's never had any skin-related conditions ever and he is eight years old. This came out of the blue and in a major way.
Replied By Janet (Manchester, United Kingdom) on 09/07/2009
One of my four cats has had a skin problem on and off now for quite some time. It seems to come on every six months and I usually have to take him to the Vet for a steroid injection which does help but I have to do this every six months and as I have four cats it is quite expensive. At the moment Ginger is going mad scratching and pulling his fur out. His back is red raw but at the moment the Vet is not affordable. I have heard about rubbing with ACV but I was a little concerned that it would burn his raw skin so have been afraid to do this. Has anyone out there got the same problem and knows of a natural remedy please?Replied By Angela (Sacramento, Ca) on 09/08/2009
For raw hairless fur rub an anti-fungul cream on your dogs back. hair will grow back. it works on my dog. rub it on entire area where hair is missing and watch how fast it clears the skin.Replied By Janet (Manchester, United Kingdom) on 09/09/2009
In reply to Angela, many thanks. I just wondered what type of anti-fungal cream you use?, as I am in the Uk. Do you use cream for people? I have purchased an 'anti itch' cream but so far it does not seem to have helped much. I feel so sorry for my poor cat... he will be bald before long! Any more suggestions please?Replied By Stephanie (Eugene, Or) on 12/23/2009
I have a 7 month old puppy (a St. Bernard/Black Lab mix, coming in at roughly 95 pounds now), and over the past 2 months or so has been nibbling, furiously, at his backside, around his haunches and the start of his tail. My boyfriend and I noticed it and took a look at his skin, and he started getting small scabs around those areas he was nibbling. The vet attributed it to fleas, but Duke didn't have any fleas; someone suggested changing his food, but that didn't help either; I rubbed plain, unscented moisturizing lotion to the affected areas, and it seemed to help temporarily, but eventually the nibbling started all over again. I feel so bad for him, because it keeps him up at night, and I can tell it irritates the heck out of him. Any suggestions for stopping whatever is itching him, or does anyone know what could be causing it? Thanks!Replied By Sarahc (New Canaan, Ct, Usa) on 12/23/2009
Hi, yes one of my dogs when through this about a year ago. Same small scabs on his rear end, top of tail. I bathed both dogs, worked temporarily, changed the food of the itchy and scratchy one. I also flea combed both dogs every day and never saw one flea dropping! A friend told me her dog was infested with fleas and it was a really big issue for everyone, so I figured possibly he had one flea running on him that I couldn't find. Even though I hate to put chemicals on him, I applied 1/2 a bottle of Advantage to his neck and a small spot on the top of his tail and the obsessively scratching stopped within 12 hours. I put the other half of the bottle on my other dog just in case. It worked. I'd guess you have a flea issue!Replied By Ambercleveland (Indianapolis, In) on 01/27/2011
Specifically in regards to pets that look like they are scratching to the point where they have scabs, if you are feeding and watering them out of plastic bowls, switch to stainless steel. I had a dog that had a similar problem, turns out she had an allergy to something leaching into the water from her plastic dog dishes.Replied By Danielle S. (Duvall, Washington, Usa) on 08/09/2011
My name is Danielle and I have a 11 year old pug and for months now is constantly itching his chest and chewing on his front legs. There are huge hairless spots on his chest and are sometimes bleed and are really raw. They are also forming scabs. Recently I noticed he is getting it behind his ears too! I dont think its flees or ticks cause he is an inside dog. I have tried to regrow his hair and it started to work but he kept itching it and it didnt help much after that. I havent tried much and I need some advice on what to do!!!! Something to stop the itching and regrow the hairless areas. I dont know if its because of his old age or something else but I need some advice to ease the ithcing and scabbing PLEASE.Replied By Julie (Coventry, England) on 08/28/2011
HI, has he recieved any shots in the last 3 months if so that could be the reason give him homeopathic Thuja 30c to detoxify. If not it could be mites, sometimes ear mites are transfered when the dog scratches his ear. Either way I would use Thornit powder. We have it here in England. It is simply wonderful. I advise all my clients to use it. If you can't get any email me and I will try to sent you some.Replied By Rocky (Guam (usa)) on 09/02/2015
Daniielle, don't rule out fleas or ticks because you say you have "indoor pets". Even one trip outside can expose your pets to these parisites. Fleas can be hard to spot, more often then not you will see their droppings (looks like little flakes of black sans) before you see them.
I would first try the ACV dip/rince first, and then some antibacterial cream for exposed areas. If this does not help you should seek advise from your vet.
