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Dog Allergy Treatment: Hot Summer Days Make for Red Itchy Skin

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So, it’s been average around 90 degrees for the last couple of weeks and it’s just plain hot outside. The dogs are out during the day but the spend the nights inside.

Hot Spot

One day last week I noticed that Belle had an inflamed spot on her belly that she kept scratching at.  Some of the hair had been scratched off of this spot too. Well, we sprayed it with hot spot spray to try and keep her from scratching at it. We continued to spray it for a few days, and it seemed to go away.

For the last three days though, she has started scratching at multiple spots and they are covered with so much hair, that I can’t get the spray to hit the skin well.  I heard her scratching herself around 3 this morning. So, I took her to the vet to check things out.

Now, she has a flea allergy, so I thought that might be what it was again, but I didn’t want to self-diagnose and treat. It occurred to me it might be allergies again, but we haven’t had that problem since we moved into the new house.

Allergy Symptoms in My Dog

So here are the symptoms she exhibited

  • persistent scratching
  • red, bumpy skin in places – especially on her belly, where her legs meet her torso, and some in the hindquarters
  • bright pink inside her ears
The vet looked her over and combed through her fur with a flea comb. There didn’t seem to be any fleas or flea dirt, so he diagnosed her with allergies. I’m not sure why they would flare up this year, but all the humans I know are suffering terribly from allergies this year, so maybe the dogs are too.
The dog allergy treatment recommended by the vet is 25 mg of Benadryl (Diphenhydramine) twice a day. Belle was about 39 pounds, the dosage will be different based on your dog’s weight and size.  I’m also going to pick up a cream rinse that is supposed to help with the itching. Wish me luck!

 

Comments

  1. How’s your Belle doing? I’m having an issue kinda like this, I have a chihuahua and the hair right behind her neck fell off, and was really red, she was also getting scabs (idk if from scratching or other things?) she hasn’t had a flea problem or we haven’t seen in dirt, eggs, etc. it’s my girlfriends dog and she’s getttimg really worried, do you think you have any suggestions on what it is or if it’s the same thing belle had?

  2. Belle is doing fairly well – she and her brother just got over a 7 day bout of stomach virus. It was not fun, but I’m glad they are both over it.

    When Belle had the skin irritation, I did not see any flea eggs or dirt either. It was the vet that noticed it and made the determination. Now if I start to see any hot spots on her, I immediately deal with any flea issues since that is the only time hot spots appear on Belle.

    I would go ahead and take your dog into the vet to see if they can pinpoint the problem. It might not be fleas, but it could be an allergic reaction of some sort to something else.

  3. You said that the vet didn’t find any fleas on you pup, and she was diagnosed with allergies and recommended Benadryl. Did it work to relieve your dogs itching and red spots?

  4. Hi! Sorry for the delay. Belle had adverse reaction to the Benadryl, so I had to stop using it. It turns out that she was very sensitive to most medications from our vet or OTC. The medicated shampoo helped and I bought some hot spot spray as well, but we had problems with hot spots a few times.