Golden with itchy abdomen.

Dr. Marie replied:

Sorry to hear that Henri is having problems with his skin. It sounds very frustrating for you!

Skin issues are often difficult to figure out. While I can't say for sure what is going on without seeing your dog, I'll give you some of my thoughts.

First of all, if Henri is licking this much then there has to be a medical reason for it.

The most common reason for a Golden Retriever to have an itchy abdomen is infection. However, usually we will see some scabs, pustules (like little pimples), or flaky areas.

The next most common reason is indeed fleas. I have had many cases where I could not see fleas, but eventually we figured out that fleas were the problem. Some dogs are so allergic to fleas that even one flea will set them off. They are often extremely hard to find. Sometimes we find flea dirt but not always. If this were my case, the first thing I would do is a prescription strength flea product.

Another possibility is a yeast infection. However, this usually causes very red, thickened, smelly skin.

Allergies can cause a dog to itch but usually the itchy areas will be the feet, ears and sometimes anus.

One other thing that can cause itchiness is sarcoptic mange which is a skin mite. This usually causes itchiness behind the elbows, hocks and edges of the ear.

So, nothing really fits your dog's situation exactly. When I have a case like this when we don't really know what is going on, then I usually give owners a couple of options on how to proceed. The first option would be to treat with a good flea product such as Revolution, Frontline, or Advantage. If this is due to fleas then the symptoms should clear up within a few days or maybe a week. If so, then I would repeat the flea treatment one and two months later.

The second option would be to be more aggressive and cover all of our bases. So, I would treat with a flea product, antibiotics, and some steroids which will help with the itch and will work if there are allergies. Then, after a few weeks of antibiotics I would stop them. And then, depending on how Henri is doing I would likely slowly wean off of the steroids.

If none of these things were working then I would probably suggest taking a biopsy of the skin to look for really unusual causes.

With all this being said, I would urge you to treat for fleas.

Dr. Marie.

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