Why WHERE your pet’s scratching matters (and what they could be trying to tell you!)
Where exactly your pet is scratching could be an indication of what is troubling them.
Typically, flea-allergic dogs will scratch along the base of their spine and around their tail.
Other parasites, such as sarcoptes, your pet will be more itchy on the tips of their ears and their elbows.
Facial eczema is really common in allergic cats, they’ll scratch away at their face, making a mess of their features.
Allergic dogs will typically scratch their ears, chew their paws and rub their bellies along the floor, as allergies tend to affect their least hairy areas of the body.
What does it mean if my pet’s scratching their ears?
Animals which shake their head or scratch their ears will typically have an ear disease.
This is one of the most common reasons why pets are taken to their vets, and it can make your animal’s life a misery.
Often, people assume it’s a straight-forward ear infection, but generally there’ll be a reason why.
Certain breeds are prone to ear disease, such as your Spaniels with big, heavy ears. Young animals like puppies and kittens will be more prone to ear mites, which causes intense itchiness of the ears.
Finally, underlying allergies are another reason why dogs will scratch and scratch at their ears.
So what is flea dirt and how can you tell if there is any on your pet?
Flea dirt is the waste product produced by fleas and when dry it looks like little black specs; however if you wet it these black specs turn red as they contain digested blood. This brings us to the ‘wet paper test’, we comb through your pet’s coat and collect the debris onto a piece of wet white paper, if there is flea dirt present there will be small red dots visible where the flea dirt has dissolved in the water. The wet paper test helps to distinguish between flea dirt and just dried mud that may be on your pet’s coat.
Why Is My Dog SO Itchy – the 5 Big Causes! – Dog Health Vet Advice
It’s fairly typical after you’ve applied Itch Flea for there to be a period of hyperactivity amongst the fleas as the product takes effect, and this can cause an increase in itching. It should settle down though after 24 hours. If after 24 hours your pet still continues to scratch, there could be other things going on.