My shihtzu Belle has been scratching herself a lot.. and I can't find a reason to it. Previously she had fleas prob and she's under Front line spot on now, for almost a month now.. I think its cleared because I don't find any fleas around. And her skin looks fine, not flaky, no spots, and such. Can ear mites spread to the body?
She's been taking Blackwood Puppy, and for the past week she kinda lost interest in her food.. like normally she gobbles down super fast, but nowadays she stares at the food bowl for quite some time only starts eating. Is she bored of her food? She's 7 months now, I might wanna change to the adult food soon.
Scratching can be caused by many things. Maybe the reason she has lost interest in her food because she 'knows' it. Maybe food allergy or parasite.
Dry skin can be caused by the food you feed your dog. Try find a high grade dog food in your area. Introduce to her bit by bit to and see the progress. Read the labels well, one of the most common ingredients to cause allergy is corn. You can buy supplementary Vitamin too i.e Omega 3 and 6 Fatty acids. The omegas are what dogs are usually lacking in their diet that causes dry skin.
If you are worry about her re-lapse again due to fleas, try bath her with a shampoo again. There are different shampoo products in the market for different reasons. The most powerful one is for problematic problems like fleas and mange. Since you mentioned she is cleared from fleas, don't use the same shampoo. Try a new less powerful one. The one which contain oat meal is good because it not too over-powering thus, wont dry her skin. Rinse her coat and dry well especially under her arms, ears and belly because parasite loves damp areas.
Combing her coat regularly to get rid of any bacterias and to activate her skin to produce natural oil of the skin.
Good luck.
Dog behaviorist.
(This post was edited by Lady Eloise on May 25, 2007, 9:13 AM)
That's 1 of the thousand reason they scratch is the food/kibble, puppy kibble most probably very high protein, maybe too high protein your shih tzu cannot take it. Try to change to adult kibble that do not contain so high protein. Yeah if you can afford pls try to choice Holistic kibble.