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.

Suggested Topics

  • 0 Votes
    8 Posts
    2k Views
    B
    I kept my basenji girl from scratching at her stitches by dressing her in a very small child's T-shirt. It worked well. Sometimes covering up a wound is all that's needed. Unfortunately, sometimes not. Naomi had a little T-shirt that boasted the lettering "Dirt is my favorite color." It was not of course; she was a very tidy girl.
  • Super dry skin

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    6
    0 Votes
    6 Posts
    4k Views
    TimesthemythT
    Olive oil works very quickly; cleared up my dogs dry skin in less than two weeks (though I put it in food) and is relatively cheap. Three table spoons a week I think is what vets have recommended. The high fat can cause some laxative issues though. You don't likely need fish [cod] oil after that, though if you have a decent fish source….never hurts as a supplement. Especially salmon. If you're neurotic about your dog's health [ as there is some controversy surrounding Olive oil], and wanting to pull out all the stops, just go straight for the fish oil.
  • Skin & coat supplements?

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    5
    0 Votes
    5 Posts
    2k Views
    KipawaK
    Right now because Taste of The Wild High Prairie (Bison) is on the recall list, Kipawa is eating Acana kibble, NRG dehydrated food, blueberries, melons, broccoli ad other tasty, healthy things. The oil we use is Udo's 3-6-9, and I am very happy with his coat. Bless you for helping out one of these wonderful creatures.
  • Skin irritation

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    3
    0 Votes
    3 Posts
    1k Views
    O
    Spencer gets that on his thighs sometimes in the summer. I thought it was a heat rash, but maybe he's been around prickly stuff in the yard. I rub a little lotion on it, and he seems to think that's the equivalent of a doggy massage. I watch him to make sure he doesn't lick it off, and the red is usually gone in a day.
  • Flaky skin???

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    12
    0 Votes
    12 Posts
    3k Views
    sabaS
    Mmmmm think I might have spoken too soon, Java was having cuddles with me yesterday evening, and the horrible dandruff is back, BUT, only on him ??? I had reduced all the dogs fish oil capsules, from daily, to 2-3/week, so Im wondering if thats why ??? Will start him up on daily and see if that makes a difference… I hate dandruff :(...
  • Itchy skin

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    24
    0 Votes
    24 Posts
    15k Views
    lvossL
    Also what kind of filter are you using? We use the allergen filters by 3M and they do make a difference for husband who has had allergies all his life.