My dog is itchy only when he has short hair?
For at least the second year in a row, Mulligan got itchy the day after I shaved him. By shave I'm talking about a #10 blade, so about 3/16 of an inch. So I thought maybe it's the little hair left from the shave .. that makes me itchy. After a couple of baths over 3 days the itching returns. Nothing really helps. Last year we tried everything, and finally started him on 2mg of fish oil per day and that seemed to help. This year he's been on the fish oil but it didn't stop him from getting itchy. Sometimes after a bath he'll be better for a day or three, then the itchies return. There is no sign of infection, or irritation, or nasal discharge or anything else. 75mg of Benadryl 2x a day seems to help a little bit, but not much. Well, the scratching has slowed and almost stopped. Just now it dawned on me: Maybe he's just itchy because of the short hair? Is it even possible that's the reason? Could short stubbly hair be irritating his armpits? (Legpits?  ) ?
Could havig a buzzcut be making his sides itchy? This would be a revelation... So all of you with itchy dogs... looking back, can any of you notice a similar correlation? |
|
|
Everytime I shave Buddy no matter if I only take a little amount off or a complete shave down he gets itchy. I think a lot of it has to do with it feels different. After a cut or shave when they move the hair feels different.......does that make any sence at all lol  |
| My vet told me you should bathe them ASAP after shaving them. It doesn't always work out that way in my house, and I've never noticed anyone itching, but she insists the little hairs that are left behind can irritate them.
FWIW. KB |
Bathe him and it should help after the clip. Use a soothing shampoo that contains oatmeal & Aloe. It will help settle down the scratchys after the clip  |
| yup, i was going to say the same thing.....give him a bath immediately following the haircut.....and maybe use some oatmeal shampoo on him just to be doubly safe |
| It is entirely possible the short hairs are transmitting unwanted feelings.
If you have ever had an operation where your body hair is shaved - when it grows back and is in its very short state they catch everything clothing etc, and it can be irritating. Similar with my hair length being very short when I have to where a crash helmet. You could try maybe overusing conditioner on Mulligan to soften the short hair |
| I'd say it's definitely from clipping him. Those little hairs make me itch like crazy.... my dogs all have different reactions, some it seems to bother more than others. A cool bath (using high pressure from the shower hose) helps a lot. |
| It's gone on for about a month and after 3 or 4 baths. |
| This may be a crazy idea but maybe is he allergic to the grass or somthing else in the environment and with the short hair cut - the grass (or whatever) is closer to the skin and it more of an irritant than with the long coat? Just a thought?
Hope the itches stop soon. |
| Just a thought - had you oiled the blades recently, maybe some has got onto his skin? |
| Anything new in his enviroment? Change of shampoo? New food ? New plants in the garden ? Any Flea dirt seen on him, not necessarily fleas seen but those black speckles?
Spring time and into summer even air born pollens can cause itchys. Do you bathe him in Oatmeal and Aloe shampoo? If not then might be worth a try to soothe the itchys. |
| Don't know about allergies, but that's what we were(are still?) suspecting.
Oil from the blade was another thought, since he started scratching right after the shave and I do keep my blades well oiled. I also thought maybe blade irritation, but the itchies have lasted about a month and through several washings. We are using an oatmeal shampoo. Don't know if it has aloe in it. We had seen an improvement for a day after his second bath so Joan tried a conditioner after his third, but it actually seemed to make the scratching worse. After the 4th it seems most of his scratching has stopped but now That has me wondering about the length of hair issue. |
| Ron, do you think he was may tiny nicks/irritations that aren't super visible to the naked eye but might be causing him to scratch? Clyde's been scratching a heck of a lot more since the shavedown, too so I was wondering if maybe there was something there that I wasn't seeing. I tried putting a little diaper rash cream on a couple of the licking spots and that helped a lot more than I expected. I also wonder if maybe the itching goes on longer since the scratching gets the skin all excited and it's not calming down?
I'm just tossing ideas out. I really posted more to let you know that Mulligan isn't crazy or, if he is, Clyde is his crazy buddy. |
| Yes, anything is possible.
I am just thinking that he may have allergies to the clipper oil, or may be itchy from the short hair, or maybe even it is just feeling different (but I'm not a fan of the last one) Mulligan doesn't know where to scratch himself. It's odd, but if he starts scratching, he might scratch his shoulder, under his arm, his ear... then we may find a tick on his head near his eye. This scratching was non-stop, but not when he was lying down. If he was down most (but not nearly all) of the time he was quiet. As soon as he got up it was scratch city. It's all stopped now... Thank God! |
| I'm hoping Clyde stops soon, too. I know what you mean about the random scratching. Sometimes I think he's just scratching because he can. Without the hair, he can give himself a much better massage. Who knows? |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|