Skin problem on a 1.5 month old puppy.

[Kittyfang]

I am not sure who to ask and my hubby and I don't have the money for a vet visit at the moment... so I taught I would ask you guys.

We recently got a puppy, he's a month and half. When we got him he was infested with fleas. We already had another dog, a black pug, that also had flees. They go outside a lot, so, even with bath and shampoos, they get fleas.

About a week ago, I noticed that Logan (that's how I named the puppy. He's a mix of husky and pitpull... I named him Logan, after Marvel's superhero, Wolverine, since, I got the puppy to keep me company and "protect" me when hubby works late). Anyway! A week ago, I noticed that Logan had some scabs on the top of his head and the top of his neck. I looked up "mange" (because I tend to jump to the worst conclusion right away) and it said that mange will develop on the tip of the ears and elbows. My mother in law's boyfriend said that it was most likelly fleas, going to town on poor Logan... but Pouk (our black Pug) doesn't have scabs (but she has fleas).

Before the scabs, I gave Logan a couple of bath to get rid of the fleas. I didn't help much. I used my own (Dove) soap to wash him, because the flea shampoo bottle said not to use it on dogs younger than 2 months old. When the numerous bath didn't help, I did use the flea shampoo. And the scabs appeared right after that.

Now, I am panicking, thinking my puppy is going to die. Hubby said it is probably fleas...

Has anyone seen scabs being the result of fleas? Any help or input would be welcomed.

Kittyfang

[Mandy]

Kittyfang some of the bigger pet store chains have those low cost shot clinics once a month. There are vets there, might be a good idea to visit and get an expert opinion that won't necessarily cost an arm and a leg. You can get a script from them and go online to petmeds and maybe get that stuff you put on them for fleas, I forget the name. This way neither dog shall have to deal with fleas. It's much less expensive. Keep us posted, hopefully it's just a reaction to the soap and can be easily fixed. I bet your pup's a cutie, good luck

[missg]

I have seen dog scratch,to the point that it did scabs, some times when Can't take my dogs to the Vet right away, I would call ask what could it be.
One time after being groomed one of my Dogs, scratched him self so bad around the ear until his hair came out in that area, and that area became infected, he's ok now. I know that when he is groomed he will scratch for a couple of days, I give in children Benadryl. I know I went off to left field, some dogs will scratch
more then other, and it can be ti point that it may cause scabbing.

[zuzu's petals]

Awww, the poor little guy,
and you too, I know you are a worried mama.

Of course, the vet could give you the best answer,
but I do know that some dogs are extremely sensitive, or even allergic to fleas,
it may be that your sweet pup, with his very tender baby skin,
really is having a terrible reaction to the bites.

The vet prescribed a steroid for my mother's dachshund, which was allergic to fleas.

[Shellee]

Kitty,
Two of my dogs have had the same problem. The vet called it a flea allergy. The only way to get rid of it is to get rid of the fleas, which is not always very easy! Believe me, I know! I have been bathing my dogs with dove and/or flea shampoo, then with a medicated shampoo. Be sure to leave it on for the prescribed amount of time. Most shampoos will say to leave it for 5 or 10 minutes.

There is a hydrocortisone spray you can buy for dogs that will give them some relief from the itching. It seems to sooth my dogs some. I have bought it at Walmart and the local grocery store and it isn't expensive at all. I have gone as far as putting "people" lotion on them as well. Both of my dogs that are afflicted are breeds that are prone to skin allergies, so sometimes that makes it worse.

Hope this helps!

[Kittyfang]

Thank you all for your answers and information. I was somewhat nervous about using flea shampoo on a puppy this young, but I will give it one week and use the shampoo again. If could be jsut a reaction to the fleas... I will make use to put flea collar on both of them and vacuum the carpet everyday to make use the pesky bugs go away (my house is almost covered in carpets... so it's going to be a tough job!).

Thank you all for reassuring me. You guys are awesome!

[AlphaDog]

My Pit Kain used to get sores that scabbed over like you are describing. My wife's boss, a vet, said it was grass allergies.

I bought a medicated shampoo for about $15 at a specialty pet store and after about 3 baths over a months time, they disappeared. He's actually never had them again.

Cool!

Hope you get it straightened out.

[Kittyfang]

Maybe that is what it could be! Thank you AlphaDog! Logan is kinda new to our yard (which has a lot of weed, I'm afraid to say). Could be that. He's still a pup, so I guess he has a lot to get use to (beside his mommy always saying she's gonna munch on his belly ) Hubby is going to take him in the shower and I'll vacuum like crazy!

Thank you all! You've all made me feel tons better!

[angmf2233]

The puppy is probably itchy, our one keeshond, ended up getting dry skin, and would scratch his stomach alot, we had him to the vet and had to get special lotion. You may need to get a puppy helmet to tie on his head depending on where he keeps scratching, they look nasty, but it will prevent him from diggin on himself. Although they don't like these, we have been through surgerys with pets and used these, not the nicest thing ,but they work so they don't dig their stitches out.May help till you see whats going on with him.

[AlphaDog]

Kain had to wear an E. Collar for a week after his surgery.

Poor thing looked like this. At least we laughed well that week. Although he HATED it, it really worked.

[angmf2233]

Our poor dog had an aclu, torn something of the knee, whatever the football players get, I maybe did not spell right. Anyway one day after having the head gear on he came in the room and put the cone right against the wall so he stood there and I guess it was pitch dark for him but we laughed cause it was kinda funny.He would also ram ya in the back of your legs, not intentionaly but that hard plastic hurt. They can't be fun but they have to have them sometimes, right? What we do for our pets!

[Kittyfang]

That is funny! That poor look on his face just made me go awwww.

I needed to smile too! While playing with my puppy tonight, he was getting to rough and snapped at my hand, at a month and a half, he's already pretty strong. So, I went to give a little slap on the nose, but my finger landed on his eye... The poor thing cried like I had broken his leg. And hubby didn't help. " you hurt him? why did you do that for! oh my god! THE HUMANITY"... I felt terrible, the puppy would not sit on my lap for the rest of the evening (he always does) and curled up next to his daddy. Thing is, the puppy is half pitbull, and I want him to grow up knowing that it is NOT ok to bite.

[gardeningmom]

You are right in teaching no biting from the git-go. I don't think it matters what kind of dog you have they all can bite and they all need to be taught that it is not acceptable. He will do more as he starts teething, also. I always hd one of his toys handy and whenever he did anything like biting or chewing we immediately put a toy in his mouth. It seemed to work - he learned that his toys were acceptable and nothing else was.