# Constant licking, biting, scratching



## katdog5911 (Sep 24, 2011)

Not sure what to do.... Stella is always licking and scratching. Vet has checked her for parasites etc and there is nothing. Switched her food to just Nutro lamb and rice puppy food. She may be scratching a little less than before but still seems to go at it. No hot spots or anything. Maybe it is seasonal allergies? Anyway, I am wondering if there is any kind of lotion or something to put on her to soothe her itching...


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## Cheerful1 (Sep 27, 2011)

I'd love to know the answer too. Joey has been to the vet and he's fine, but he scratches a lot. He does it hard, which scares me.

We feed him Royal Canin; raw meat; pumpkin; sweet potatoes; carrots (not all at once, although he would eat his weight in food if we let him!).

We tried witch hazel, but that was a temporary fix.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Where on her body is she licking and scratching? Tail, feet, belly?


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## katdog5911 (Sep 24, 2011)

I guess i will just see how it goes.... I have an older newfie/lab mix that has spent much of his life licking with no adverse effects... So unless it becomes really troublesome I will just leave it alone I guess.


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## katdog5911 (Sep 24, 2011)

Belly and sides mostly. Scratching her face and ears. Nibbling her legs or sometimes her tail..... guess all over at different times.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Could very well be seasonal allergies. You can give her Benadryl to relieve the itching, and try adding fish oil to her food. I don't know of any cream you can put on the skin, since there is hair in the way, but a bath with a soothing shampoo like oatmeal or hydrocortisone might help.


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## catz (Dec 10, 2010)

Rio itches for no apparent reason so the vet advised us to get a Tea Tree Oil Pet Spray. We sprayed it on any spots she payed particular attention to. The Tea Tree Spray soothed her skin and the smell put her off going near the area. We have been using that along with a skin soothing shampoo for the last month and the itching has pretty much gone away aside from the odd nibble. We never did find a reason for it.


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## katdog5911 (Sep 24, 2011)

Well here we are 1 1/2 years later and Stella is once again itchy and licky....
Seemed to improve a bit last year but we are back at it. She is on Benadryl, fish oil and I just gave her an oatmeal shampoo. She was tested a while ago and mold was the only thing that showed up. She is on LID/grain free food again.
I had a spray that seemed to soothe any hot spots but it has tea tree oil in it and I read that it is toxic to dogs so I don't know if I should use it. It isn't only tea tree oil but what if Stella licks it ????


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Tea tree oil is only toxic if they ingest it, I think.

If you can find a hot spot spray that has a bittering agent in it to keep her from licking, that would probably be your best bet. Tea tree oil is great for the itchies, I use it on my own skin whenever I have an irritation from shaving or whatever. You could try the tea tree spray and then spraying something bitter over the top of it.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Believe it or not, when we started spraying Vetericyn on his brush every time we groomed him, all the itching and licking stopped within about a week. And he never smelled bad anymore, either.


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