Dog Red Itchy Rash on Underside

by Courtney and Suggestions from our Veterinarian
(Lynn, MA)

Reader Question: Dog Itchy Rash Treatment

My pit bull is about 8 months old, male. He has this horrible worsening dog rash on his underside- irritated, but not dry or greasy, with continuous licking & itching. He has had it for at least a few weeks now but there has been no change in his food, I clean his cage(with baby wipes now, rather than disinfectant wipes), bathe him (with baby shampoo), no improvements.

It seems to be spreading- even slightly to his face were he is also starting to itch as well. He is not shedding but has chewed off some fur in certain areas from the itch. He has got his 1st set of shots a few months back including: 6 in 1 (DH4LP + Parvo), Corona, Bordetella, hook & roundworm dewormer. He will be going back for his next set next week but I didn't want to wait till then to do something about this rash, if possible. Any ideas?

Thanks...

Courtney & Lucifer

Veterinarian Suggestion on how to treat a Dog Rash that itches on the underbelly

Hi Courtney,

If you brought Lucifer in to me, I would run a few quick and easy tests that with any luck should lead to a diagnosis and treatment plan. First, I’d perform a skin scraping to look for mites and skin cytology to check for a bacterial or fungal infection. If those tests were negative, I’d also run a fungal culture for ringworm.

It can take 2-3 weeks to get the results back from the fungal culture, so while we were waiting for that, I would treat him with Revolution to kill some of the mites that can be hard to diagnose with a skin scraping and a medicated bath and rinse.

Best of luck!

Jennifer Coates, DVM