What are these scabs on my dogs skin?
He is a 70 pound pitbull mix and only this summer while brushing him or petting him- i keep finding these large(in height not width) black scabs yet if you pull them off there is just a red area underneath, no blood, puss or any sort of infection. Why does he keep getting these seemingly out of nowhere? so far he has gotten three, one between his shoulder blades, one almost the same spot but further down the back, and another in the middle of the back on near the spine. He is a little over 1 and a half years old and has a shiny, red/tan coat which sheds a bunch but has never had scabs. He has also always itched ALOT, never breaking the skin but biting and itching everywhere. I also treat him monthly with K9 Advantix so it shouldn't be anything like that as he is mostly an inside dog.
The question was answered by :
justin_in_time :
Ok well he may be getting these things called "hot spots". They are very annoying to a dog and they are somewhat nasty to look at. If you take him tot he vet he/she will give him this special cream for the "hot spots". If not then get ice, wrap it in a towel, and then you just put it over the spots for about 5 minutes each. I hope everything turn out all right.
August 5th, 2007 at 11:57 pm
Ok well he may be getting these things called "hot spots". They are very annoying to a dog and they are somewhat nasty to look at. If you take him tot he vet he/she will give him this special cream for the "hot spots". If not then get ice, wrap it in a towel, and then you just put it over the spots for about 5 minutes each. I hope everything turn out all right.
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August 6th, 2007 at 12:09 am
Could be flea allergic dermatitis.
My Jack Russell is like this. She is treated for fleas but she is so sensitive that if one flea so much as jumps on her and bites her she will just erupt into sores and scabs and bite herself until she bleeds. Its a constant battle and we end up back and forth the vets all summer for antibiotics for her. Its an allergy to the flea's saliva apparently.
Biting and itching is a typical symptom.
Even if they are treated it only takes one flea bite and they can pick that up just from walking down the street and passing another dog - our Jack Russell is mostly inside too (she's elderly) but she gets this allergy every year without fail.
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August 6th, 2007 at 12:09 am
i would say bugs check for bugs may even be something like a mosquito bite or something. also do you give him a bath allot that can cause that because baths dry out their skin i think its every 2 weeks you give them a bath or every week check with the vet if you like. also it may be cuts or scratches from him hitting it or something. also if you have any other animals that increases the possibilities of these marks because they may play and scratch each other. also if he is scratching he may have broke skin a bit and you might not have noticed. i would say check with your vet for a most specific answer. but he would probably tell you not to worry about it it's no big deal thats my guess but you can still ask and i must say i would recommend it. also does he go on any nature walks or running about in the morning or something. that could cause it as well.
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August 6th, 2007 at 12:13 am
I think they are hotspots. I am currently treating my black lab for those. I didn't even know he had them, but the vet ended up shaving both sides of his face (poor thing) and they are about the size of a quarter with a bunch of little ones around it. The vet gave me some Nolvasan to wash the area with and it's been about 3 days and the hotspots are going away.
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