Ask questions and share about your pet's health to help others.
My rabbit keeps scratching her ears with her back leg and shaking her head. However, she doesn’t have scabs and her ear seems clean so it can’t be ear mites. What’s wrong with her?
I have a 9 week old German Shephard puppy that is itching and scratching. Apparently all if them from the litter are. Ive washed him in oatmeal bath for puppies and someone suggested they were allergic to the food (blue buffalo puppy, chicken formula). Ive started to change his food, but I dont know what it could be!??
I have 2 other dogs and they don’t do this.
I would get to the vet right away, for many reasons? First and foremost, to have the puppy thoroughly checked over… this could be parasites, which are possibly contagious to your other dogs. It could also be a reaction which also needs to be treated. 9 weeks is young to be away from mom, in my opinion. Please bring your puppy to the vet right away for a thorough exam and puppy visit.
They were at the vet at 8 weeks, for their shots. They didn’t have any concerns for them being away from the Mom. She stopped nursing, seemed early to me…. where would they have gotten a parasite? The mother father are fine.
You just brought puppy home? You need to get him to YOUR vet for a wellness visit, within the first week of bringing puppy home. 8 weeks is the legal minimum for puppies to leave littermates in Maryland. If this is the beginning of mange, demodex is on every dog – it will cause rashes and skin irritations in dogs with suppressed immune systems. Seriously, get your puppy to your vet and bring this up with them. 🙂
As for the food, I would throw out Blue Buffalo entirely. There have been issues recently with lead poisoning, and in the past with melamine. I would also ask the vet about food options.
I am not a fan of blue buffalo either. I would be worried about fleas, scabies and infection. Allergies are unlikely at this age. See your vet.
my dogs has been poisoned, 3 weeks ago, 6 puppies died as well. 2 puppies survived and one of them started showing a lump on his back last night. they are 6 weeks old. the mother did scratch them – not sure if the scratching could have infected the little ones please help
Hi, I’m so so sorry! How dreadful that someone would do that. I assume you are certain they have been poisioned? They couldn’t have eaten a toxic plant or something? Whichever way your dogs have become you MUST take the ones that are still alive to a Vet URGENTLY. If you don’t you could well lose them all. They really should have gone to the Vet as soon as you saw symptoms and they died. Please please taken them all to a Vet NOW. I do hope they survive…but it is unlikely without professional treatment.
my french bulldog is scooting, Scratching, and barking at butt what could be wrong she has also developed hives from soap allergy about a week ago could that be the issue
could be allergic to flea medicine…
In some cases it is a tail fold pyoderma or anal sacs or allergies. Your vet can help identify which.
My cat, Mitsi, is 18 years old. She doesn’t have any signs if the urinary tract infections or lumps or bumps. She has no problem going in her litter box though occasionally she trips and pees when she is getting in the box (it’s only 4 or 5 inches high).
To be more specific with her scratching, she has done it for years but now she screams and pees when she does it.
She’s peeing on everything now and a couple times a day, I don’t know what to do anymore.
My family doesn’t have enough money to take her to the vet and due to her age they probably wouldn’t let me, but thank you for any help!
She has no problem eating or drinking and she pukes every once in a while as she’s always done. Besides the scratching and peeing , she’s just like she’s always been.
I would be worried about kidney disease and hypertension. Your vet can help with these. I am sory for the delay. the site was down. best wishes
At first we thought it was food stuck in his ear so tried to comb it out last night. Today he’s been scratching his ear. It’s become worse and become a scab/sore.
Try mixing about a teaspoon and a half of salt with a bowl of warm water and wash it with that. Salt water works miracles☺️
At 10 weeks old he should be seeing his vet about every 3 weeks for vaccinations etc, so I would make sure to show this to your vet during his next appt. However, if the area gets worse I would schedule an appointment sooner.
Good Luck
Good day! My dog doesn’t eat, her tooth was broked and her gums becomes pale in color she’s only drink water. Because she always scratching her teeth in the wall. What can i do? Please help me
Bon, pale gums is an emergency. It means something isn’t right with the blood or blood flow. Please see a vet now.
It cost too much if im getting her in clinic?
If you don’t it might cost you her life. Pale gums is a serious matter. At least call them and ask. At least have physical exam done and you can then discuss what else needs to be done.
Thank you so much for your help
My dog’s eye was swollen shut, I flushed it with water and it worked but it’s still swollen…she keeps trying to scratch
To the vet with you, first thing this morning. There may be a scratch on her eye. Don’t delay on this – eye problems can go downhill QUICKLY.
My parents went away yesterday and ever since my dog has been acting weird. Keeps scratching at the carpet has been sick. What’s the best thing to do?
So lately I’ve been thinking about getting another dog. My current dog is a Chihuahua and possibly Rat terrier mix; he’s about 13 years old. Before I got him he used to have another chihuahua he always hung around with, but that was when he was around five. He only barks when there is someone making noise outside or that get too close to our fence, the same goes with barking dogs or ones that pass by our house. Other than that he is very friendly with strangers, especially when they come into our yard. He does however, have an issue if dogs come onto his territory, like most dogs do. He has never been to a dog park and has gone to a pet store a couple times, either for shopping or to be groomed. Our neighbors have a dog who barks at everyone and everything, even if I open the back door for a second. My dog occasionally fights with him through the fence, and by that maybe every few weeks. My dog doesn’t bite, growl, nip, scratch or anything at strangers when they come over, even if it’s our pest control. I’m not sure how he will react when we bring another puppy home? We’re either thinking of getting a border collie, lab, doberman pinscher or possibly an italian greyhound. Any tips on what to do when they first meet? Do you think he’ll be alright with another puppy? Any advice helps, thank you!!
Has he ever been around a puppy? Are you willing to separate the dogs and rotate which is out, if things go south?
A warning about dobes, because I have one – they are NOT gentle with littles. You’ll have to work very hard on teaching a dobe puppy to be gentle with smaller animals – our girl is nearly three and still occasionally stomps my cat. They’re also tough puppies and are quite literally a full time job until they’re around 2 years of age…I’ll happy talk more about the breed if you want, but I don’t want to flood this particular answer with my babble. 🙂
This is how my rescue recommends you introduce a new dog to your home (and I do this with all fosters coming to live with my pack of 4 terriers, one of which is a Cairn/Chihuahua mix):
Before the new dog arrives pick a place in the home for him to live most of the time for 3 days. I use my guest bathroom some times, and other times I use my craft room – both have tile floors so it is easy to clean up any accidents that may occur with the new dog. Inside that room I place a dog crate appropriate in size for the new dog/puppy.
For the first 3 days after the new dog arrives, we play musical crates and/or rooms. I do not allow the dogs to see each other, they only smell each other on me, and under the door, etc. When my dogs are loose, the new dog is in the prepared room. When my dogs are crated or in their kennel the new dog is allowed to be out of the room, in the yard, or house with supervision. There is ALWAYS a closed door between my dogs and the new dog.
I spend time playing and training the new dog each day, and will crate my boys for an hour or so in the evening so I can just plop on the sofa with the new dog for cuddles. With a puppy you will need to be spending a lot of time with it as you will not be able to resist! Spend an equal amount of time with the older dog. One of the activities you want to focus on with the puppy is learning to walk on a leash – this is critical for the 4th day.
On the morning of the 4th day, put leashes on both dogs and immediately go out the door for a walk. Don’t give the dogs time to sniff or eyeball each other – the job is to walk together with you for at least 10 mins. If the puppy is older keep walking (5 mins. per month of age is a good rule of thumb – too long a walk puts too much stress on the bones and joints of a puppy).
Once we have finished the walk I take all the dogs into my fenced yard, drop the leashes and allow them to sniff, play, ignore each other as they see fit. Dragging the leashes allows you to step on a leash or pull one dog away from the other if things get hairy.
I have had 99% success with introducing dogs this way. The only exception was a foster that decided my smallest dog was prey – good thing I had that leash to grab! It saved my dog’s life.
We believe the reason it works is that it allows the dogs to smell each other without any misunderstandings of body language. In the wild a lone wolf will spend weeks haunting a new pack’s territory. They stay mostly out of sight, but scent mark in the territory. Then they start showing themselves to the pack from a distance. Finally they approach members of the pack. If the pack wants them they are welcomed (usually by the female members of the pack). So while our dogs are no longer wolves – smell is the first thing they pick up on. First scent, then sight, then hearing. So this 3 day of separation, but crossing each other’s scents helps the dogs get to know each other without confrontation.
With my dogs it works so well, they don’t even sniff each other’s butts once we are done the walk.
Since your dog is used to fighting through a fence I caution you to make sure that he and the new pup never see each other through a fence or crate during those 3 days. Keep that solid, shut, door between them.
Your 13 year old dog may never want to play with the puppy – but the puppy will want to play with him! Be sure your older dog has a place he can escape the puppy – such as a dog bed or crate, maybe in a different room. When your Chi is getting too much attention from the pup, tell the puppy to “leave it” and ask him/her to play with you. This will help the puppy learn to leave the older dog alone when he is in his quite place.
An Italian greyhound is a better size for your current dog, and they generally are ‘softer’ dogs. The other 3 breeds you mention will be a real challenge for you, and will overwhelm the Chi. It is a giant leap going from living with a Chi to living with these 3 other breeds. They all are high energy, need WAY more exercise, and a lot of training to become good canine citizens. The Border especially, will need a job. Borders are scary intelligent.
All that being said – give your dog a month with the new pup before you decide if it is going to work or not. Good luck!
Hello,
Every pet can have ectoparasites that cause itching. They can also have allergies, or even infection or disease. My point is hat there are a lot of pops left causes to an itch. Only a vet or rabbit expert can help rule out one versus the other. If the itching persists please see a vet or see if there is a local rabbit rescue or club that might be able to help.