What can I spray on my dog for itching

Why Is My Dog So Itchy? Possible Causes & Treatment

Are you thinking about your dogs frequent scratching, licking, and rolling around on the rug? You may be feeling itchy yourself, just from watching all this activity!

There are many reasons your dog may be itchy. Many veterinarians believe its best to find the cause of the itch sooner rather than later. While occasional scratching can be normal for dogs, frequent scratching could indicate a medical condition that may get worse over time.

According to a 2023 Nationwide Survey on pet insurance data, for the eleventh year in a row allergic dermatitis (skin allergies) was the top reason dogs were brought into the vet. This condition can make your dog itchy and cause them to show signs like frequent scratching, recurrent ear infections, and skin changes. Continue on to learn more about allergic dermatitis and why August is such a special month.

Possible Cause of Your Dogs Itchy Skin

So, whats behind your dogs itchy skin? It may be caused by a medical condition called skin allergies. This means your dogs body overreacts to an allergen in the environment or to food, which makes them feel itchy. There are several potential culprits:

• Flea allergy: Flea bites can create extremely itchy areas on your dog. They can be found anywhere on the body, but are most common at the hind legs, tail base, and rear end. Just because you dont see any fleas on your dog does not mean they arent there keep in mind that a bite from a single flea can make your dog very itchy.
• Food allergy: Your dogs itching might be caused by a food allergy. Some dogs are allergic to common dog food ingredients such as beef, chicken, and dairy products.1 Food allergies in dogs can lead to changes to the skin around their paws, face, armpits, and belly.
• Environmental allergy: Your dog may be allergic to environmental triggers like pollen, mold spores, or dust mites. Environmental allergens can cause allergic itch during certain seasons, or even year-round. Dogs with environmental allergies will often have changes to the skin around their face, belly, and paws.
• Contact allergy: Your dog may be allergic to substances it encounters daily. These can include things like household cleaners, shampoos, insecticides, and plants. Dogs with contact allergies will often be itchy in the area that touched the contact allergen.

Skin allergies can make your dog uncomfortable. They can also lead to secondary health problems if there is a delay in treatment. When a dog licks or scratches an area excessively, it can damage the skin and lead to skin infections and wounds. These can cause changes like hair loss, body odor, and inflammation. Severe skin infections and wounds may even be painful for your dog.

How to Relieve Your Dogs Itchy Skin

When your dog experiences these skin changes because of skin allergies, it can be tempting to try an over-the-counter treatment or home remedy. However, using an OTC or at-home solution may not relieve your dogs itch. The following treatment options are commonly available and may offer some itch relief but may not be the best option for your dog.

• Over-the-counter shampoos and oils. Treatments like coconut oil and itch-relief shampoos only provide temporary relief. Your dogs itch may come back because the root cause has not been addressed.
• Antihistamines. While studies have shown that antihistamines may relieve allergies in humans well, antihistamines are less helpful in relieving itch in dogs with environmental allergies. In fact, it has been shown that antihistamines likely offer little to no benefit in treating environmental allergies in many dogs.
• Prescription steroids. Steroids prescribed by a vet can be effective in reducing itchiness in your dog, but they may cause side effects5 in your furry friend. Dogs on prescription steroids often experience increased urination, thirst, and weight gain. They can also experience behavior shifts such as increased aggression.

August is Itchy Pet Awareness Month. If your dog is scratching frequently in August or any time of year, schedule an appointment with your vet to discuss the most effective ways to relieve your dogs itch. If your dog has skin allergies, then a prescription treatment from your vet may be needed to get your favorite sidekick feeling better. So, call your vet today!

American poet Ogden Nash said, Happiness is having a scratch for every itch. For your dog, happiness is relieving the source of every itch.

Homemade Anti Itch Spray For Dogs (4 Easy Recipes)

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Quick Summary

• A simple homemade anti itch spray for dogs is a combination of equal parts water and apple cider vinegar.
• Causes of itching in dogs include severe pain, pests, environment, food, ear infection, skin conditions, stress, and more.
• If your dog wont stop scratching after treating him with a homemade solution, take him to the vet.

When your dog is constantly itching and scratching its skin, you may not know what to do. If you want a natural remedy to your dogs excessive itching, I advise you to try a homemade anti-itch spray for dogs? This can be done by simply putting equal amounts of apple cider vinegar and water in a spray bottle.

Homemade sprays are extremely easy to make. Here are my top anti-itch sprays for dogs.

What Causes Itching In Dogs?

Severe Pain: Many dogs excessively scratch when theyre experiencing excruciating pain. There are many situations that can make a dog extremely uncomfortable. A dog may have a sharp object trapped in its paw, causing it to scratch non-stop. A dog could also be scratching constantly because it is suffering from hip dysplasia or arthritis.

Pests: When a dog gets bit by a flea, tick, or mite, theres a good chance that it will constantly itch.

Environment: Several environmental factors can also cause a dog to constantly itch, especially if its exposed to dust mites, pollen, and mold spores on a regular basis. In most cases, dogs with environmental allergies are more likely to itch when theyre exposed to environmental common triggers.

Food: Similar to people, dogs can suffer from food allergies too. When some dogs encounter foods like dairy, chicken, and beef, they excessively itch their skin.

Contact Irritation: Contact irritation can also make some dogs itch. A dog could experience severe itchiness after encountering household cleaners, houseplants, and lawn products. If a pet owner applies human shampoo or lotion to a dog, it can also suffer from extreme itchiness.

Ear Infection: For many dogs, an ear infection is causing them to scratch and itch a lot. Since dogs cant clean their own ears, many of them will get an ear infection at some point. Vets should be able to tell you how to treat ear infections in dogs.

Related article: Homemade Dog Ear Cleaner

Skin Conditions: Manyskinconditions can cause dogs to itch [1]. These such skin conditions include mange, yeast dermatitis, and staph infection. Evendryskin on dogs and summer sores can cause some them to itch excessively.If it is likely a form of skin infection, its important to take Fido to the vet.

Poor Hygiene: If a dog has poorhygiene, its likely to itch and scratch a lot. When a pet owner forgets to wash their dogs bed or give their dog a bath regularly, their pup could eventually suffer from poor hygiene.

Stress: According to many experts, an itchy dog could be a stressed dog. A few examples of things that can significantly stress a dog out include relocating to a new home, being home alone, hearing loud noises, and meeting new people and dogs.

Boredom: As difficult as it may be to believe, some dogs scratch their skin non-stop because theyre bored.

What Are The Most Common Signs Of Itchy Skin In Dogs?

The most obvious sign of itchy skin in dogs is excessive scratching, but there are other symptoms that pet owners should know. The following are the common signs of itchiness in dogs:

• Skin redness
• Dandruff
• Hair loss
• Sore skin
• Extreme uncomfortableness
• Bumps or rash on the skin

Homemade Anti Itch Spray For DogsNatural Recipes

A homemade spray is one of the best ways to treat your dogs itchiness. The great thing about these sprays is that they can be made with common household items. Check out the most common homemade anti-itch sprays for dogs.

Apple cider vinegar

An apple cider vinegar spray is a common, effective, and safe solution to soothe itchy skin. Due to its potent anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, this spray can alleviate many skin conditions in dogs. The anti-itch spray can also get rid of fleas.

The simplest way to make this spray is to fill a spray bottle with equal amounts of water and apple cider vinegar.

Green Tea

A vinegar spray is recognized as one of the best solutions to treat itchy skin, but its certainly not the only option.

A green tea spray has been shown to treat a pups inflamed, irritated, and itchy skin. The spray is effective because green tea features potent antioxidant properties. Along with healing your pups skin, the spray may calm your dog.

Aloe Vera

An aloe vera spray is also a great natural remedy for a dogs itchy skin.

Over the years, this renewable plant has been used to treat many different conditions, from sunburns and acne to wounds and irritable bowel syndrome.

When using it to treat your dogs itchy skin, you can add aloe vera to the apple cider vinegar spray recipe. Raw aloe vera as this can be toxic to dogs when ingested, so only use it topically and monitor your pups.

Lemon Tonic

Many dog owners would agree that a lemon tonic spray is an effective treatment for itchy skin in dogs. In addition to preventing your dog from constantly itching, a lemon tonic spray can significantly reduce your dogs inflammation. The spray has also been shown to protect dogs against fleas.

For this anti itch spray recipe, the first thing that you need to do is boil some water. Once the water comes to a boil, toss some tiny slices of lemon into the pot. Let the mixture sit for eight to twelve hours.

After its been at least eight hours, remove the tiny slices of lemon from the mixture. The next step is to place the mixture in a spray bottle. To treat your pups itchy skin, spray the solution on a cotton ball and then use it to apply the mixture to your dogs skin.

What Are Some Additional Ways To Treat Your Dogs Itchy Skin?

In conjunction with creating natural remedies through homemade dog anti itch spray, you can use any of the following methods.

• Give your furry friend a dog soak
• Consider altering your dogs diet, especially if its suffering from food allergies
• Use a humidifier to get rid of the dry air in your home
• Wash your dogs bed and dog crate many times throughout the year
• Walk your dog regularly or let it run around in an enclosedwireless dog fence to distract it from constantly itching and scratching
• Talk with a vet about making your dog wear a cone to protect the itchy areas.
• Ask a vet about giving your dog effective flea treatment.
• Take your pup to the vet regularly

When Should You Contact An Experienced Vet?

A homemade anti-itch spray is usually a great solution to itchy skin in dogs. If your dog continues to itch non-stop after trying this homemade remedy, you should definitely visit a vet.

During the visit, the vet will perform a thorough examination to figure out why your dog is itching and scratching so much. More than likely, the vet will ask you how long your pup has been excessively itching and what homemade treatments youve tried already. A vet will also want to know your dogs symptoms.

Depending on exactly whats causing your dogs itchy skin, a vet may recommend any of the following treatments: Prescription antihistamines, steroids, creams, or shampoos.

Conclusion

When your dog is constantly itching and scratching, the best solution is a homemade spray. After using this homemade spray, your dog will probably be much happier in a matter of days.

If your dog isnt responding to the homemade spray, its extremely important to visit a vet immediately. Your dogs itchiness could be the result of an underlying problem that needs to be treated with prescription medication.

FAQ

1. What can I spray on my dog for itching?

When it comes to treating your dogs skin for itching, an effective anti-itch spray is always a great option. There are many household ingredients that you can spray on your dogs skin such as apple cider vinegar, green tea, aloe vera, and lemon. For most dogs, vinegar spray is usually the most effective solution.

After you spray the mixture onto your dogs skin, its itching and scratching should stop relatively soon. Be sure to talk with a vet if you have any questions about applying a homemade spray on your dog.

2. Will vinegar and water stop my dog from itching?

Many pet owners wonder if vinegar and water will keep their dogs itchiness at bay. The good news is that vinegar and water have been shown to prevent dogs from excessively itching their skin. Pet owners just need to make sure to use apple cider vinegar.

One of the ways that this treatment stops dogs from constantly itching is by repelling fleas. Apple cider vinegar also has anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties, so it can improve a wide variety of skin problems.

3. Does baking soda help dogs with itchy skin?

Much research suggests that baking soda can indeed help dogs with itchy skin. Not only can baking soda treat a dogs skin, but it can also reduce inflammation, irritation, and redness.

For the best results, apply a baking soda and water mixture to your dogs itchy areas. Wait about 15 minutes before rinsing off the mixture from your pups skin. If your dog is suffering from severe itchiness, you can pour some of this mixture into a dog soak.