Question:
We have recently brought home our new baby beagle! He is almost 10 weeks old and is scratching all the time, and it is making his fur thin out (on his right side only).

He does not have fleas, I just think that it is dry skin. It is not raw or bleeding. We have put vegetable oil in his food in hopes that it would sooth the dry skin, but that is not helping.

Do you have any suggestions on what I can put in his food or give him or put on the skin?

Thanks

Answer:
Just because he doesn't have fleas, doesn't mean he doesn't have a parasite! My puppy came to me with a case of scabies, which is not only extremely (even painfully after awhile) itchy for the dog, it is also easily passed to humans. If he's itchy where his fur is too, there's a good chance this is what he has. They can't be seen by the naked eye, and I think you should probably go to the vet as soon as possible and until then wash everything your puppy's been in contact with, and you and any family members should have hot showers or baths and watch for symptoms in yourselves.

If he's particularly itchy in the areas where he doesn't have much fur, it might be an allergy to his food. A few weeks after the scabies (fortunately my husband and I didn't get it!) Casey started itching again, and it turned out that he had developed an allergy. Nothing about his eating habits had changed, it just developed and I had to do some detective work to figure out what the culprit was.

Either way, I think you'd better get to the vet quickly -- not just for his health but for the sake of your family's health too!

Answer:
Would our other dog catch this too? Our pup has been with us almost two weeks, and neither my husband nor I have symptons and either does our older beagle.

It is only one area of his fur, would this be common in an allergy?

I was thinking because he is scratching so much in the one area it has rubbed the fur down in that area. It is like when a human scratches one area it will get really red, and you can even pull back the skin.

Answer:
Nope, it is not under his colar, it is the side of his body. In between his back and front legs.

I called the vets this morning and they said to try an oatmeal based shampoo. I am worried about him because the scratching is getting pretty crazy, but at the same time I don't want to over react because it is not raw, bleeding and gross (I don't think that I am over reacting, but three people have told me I am this morning)

Maybe I should call the vet and see if Charlie could be seen tonight, that way it would ease my mind.

Answer:
If they share the same sleeping/playing areas, your other dog would probably get it too. It might take some time to show up in a family member or a second dog (according to the research I did -- I'm not an expert). But if it's just one relatively small spot, it doesn't sound that much like either of the problems Casey had. It still sounds like something the vet should see though, or if you're lucky maybe just a call to the vet will do. If you're new to this site, you may not realize that actual vets don't usually respond to any posts here -- just people with varying degrees of experience. Most of us came here at first expecting to hear from a vet (misleading title, eh?) but stayed around anyway, because there are some extremely helpful and experienced people posting here.

I'm not actually one of them!!! I've just had a lot of bad luck with my itchy puppy!

Good luck, and please post with any developments!

Answer:
Sounds to me like you're not over or underreacting! Your poor puppy isn't in serious danger, but he must be quite uncomfortable. I hope that it's easily solved (and not too expensive!). Good luck!

Answer:
Thanks for the info. I am going to call the vet again and see if I should bring him tonight.

Answer:
I have called the vets and they said that they would be able to see me right after work.

I will let you know tomorrow what they have said.

Hopefully it is an easy fix!

Answer:
It's possibly something on the bedding too that is irritating him. Does he have a blanket or something that has been washed with a detergent and fabric softener?

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