Skip to content

Scratching and Bare Skin

Basenji Health Issues & Questions
  • Medjai always scratches all the time. I don't give him any treatments for fleas or ticks, but I don't think he has any parasites, he just scratches a lot. My question regarding this is How would I know if he had a parasite causeing him to scratch?

    I have also realized that all four of his knees/elbows have lost of layers of dead skin and when I help with the flaking skin, he ends up having small bald patches and I wasn't sure if it's just part of him becoming an adult or if there is some other reason.

    Any Ideas?

  • Itchy, flaky skin is not normal. What are you feeding Medjai?

  • Right now, I just ran out of Royal Canin, so he's on Iams.

  • @etzbseder:

    Medjai always scratches all the time. I don't give him any treatments for fleas or ticks, but I don't think he has any parasites, he just scratches a lot. My question regarding this is How would I know if he had a parasite causeing him to scratch?

    I have also realized that all four of his knees/elbows have lost of layers of dead skin and when I help with the flaking skin, he ends up having small bald patches and I wasn't sure if it's just part of him becoming an adult or if there is some other reason.

    Any Ideas?

    You should take Medjai to the vet. They can take a do a scraping to determine if he has mites. Your description sounds exactly what Duke had last year - on his elbow, knees and ears and he scratched alot. It was a mange mite. If not treated, dogs can lose all their fur. They gave him a shot, Ivermectin. Is Medjai on heart worm prevention?

  • Yes I agree that you should take your B to the vet. It can also be severe allergies which my B had.

  • if you see baldness on pressure points on the legs and arms it is probably from sitting on a floor vs. a padded bed. When we adopted our rescue, she had lots of bald spots from her cage.

    You may also want to switch to a non soap dog shampoo to help with the skin.

    I have also found that fish oil on the food can help with flakey skin as well.

    A vet can steer you in the right direction.

  • A visit to the vet will be worthwhile. Skin problems can be difficult to resolve. My two actually have a dermatologist now that my vet referred me to to try to figure out why their skin isn't clearing up after two months of treatment. My regular vet did skin scrapings to check for things like mites (which they don't have). Mine are getting more skin scrapings next week to be cultured to see what exact bacteria is there and check for something like ringworm.

7/7

19 Jul 2007, 18:30

Suggested Topics

  • 0 Votes
    11 Posts
    7k Views
    She looks bigger than the weight you described- Id have her weighed again to make sure it wasn't a scale error. I randomly bring oakley in to the vet and they let me put him on the scale then leave. As far as the bumps- they looked like flea bites to me…..it's always wise to bathe the pup before using topicals (especially at such a young age). Since you've alteady applied a topical, next step would be to wash and vacuum the whole house....I use a human live comb to comb through Oakleys fur since it's black, places like the tail and base of tail, underarms and head are hotspots to find them- if you still don't aee relief then I would go back to the bets because of it's something environmental then you need to adjust
  • 0 Votes
    19 Posts
    8k Views
    Hi All, Thought i'd give you a little update! My lil lady had her food changed from Eukanuba medium pup to Royal Canin Mini (she's a very small basenji and doubt she'll get bigger than 10k when fully grown so thought this one best) I also bought her a Pet Head shampoo 'Royal Treatment' with oatmeal and aloe. She loves her new food and never leaves a crumb now, has a bath once every two weeks (instead of every week) and has a treat of sardines or yogurt every couple of days. Her skin is much better, little flaking and her coat looks much better now. Thank you guys for all the advice!
  • 0 Votes
    3 Posts
    1k Views
    I use vitamin E oil as a topical when the kidz skin is truly itchy. It is super in the cold conditions. In fact, when using it on the kidz, my hands were immediately improved - so it was a win win.
  • 0 Votes
    3 Posts
    2k Views
    At the beginning there were a couple of little spots, this was about three weeks ago, I thought that they could have been the result of playing at the dog park so I just put a little bit of aloe vera on them, but then they started to show on different spots and not only on the black but on the white coat as well. I do not see him scratching himself on those spots but what I notice is that is getting dandruff, it is like his coat is going through something and all that comes to my mind is the food, I do not know.
  • 0 Votes
    6 Posts
    3k Views
    One thing that came to my mind: At our vet clinic we sell Science Diet. They have a sensitive skin formula. I find all of their foods to be made in mind of the animals needs and it is highly recommended by our veterinarians. Although it might be more costly.. More info on the food http://www.hillspet.com/hillspet/products/productDetails.hjsp?HillsProductCode=SD_K9_D_adt_NA_o_O_SKIN_orig_USARG
  • 0 Votes
    33 Posts
    12k Views
    @FortheLoveofStella: Stella has very short hair, and she is flaky a lot (in more ways than one!!) Do you need a prescription for the omega3 or fish oil? Or can you just the human equivalent at cvs? Human equivalent is fine to use