# Pawing at gums/general itchiness



## bessie (Feb 2, 2010)

Hi everyone!

I have a mix breed female who is 6 years old and vaccinated yearly.
I've noticed that a few months ago she started to paw at her mouth/gums, but not enough to cause bleeding, etc. She has also started to itch and scratches herself frequently. There are bald spots near her tail from biting!

We feed her a diet of cooked rice and chicken, and half a portion of dry dog kibbles. We're living in Asia, and it's been pretty hot lately, and at times her fur feels grimy. We wash her once a week, but I'm now giving her baths twice a week. We changed her diet, and it seemed to get better for a while, but the itching came back.

The vet gave her some preds to stop the itch, and we use only the minimum dose and taper it off once her fur heals, but it will soon start up again.

A few days ago I notice that she began to scratch the top portion of her eyes (not her eyelids), and it's now turned into scabs.

I'm wondering what's wrong with her -- any recommendations?


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## Dog_Shrink (Sep 29, 2009)

Sounds like a food allergy. Can you change her diet from chicken to another meat source? Maybe pork or lamb? You can give her an benadryl tablet to help control the itch (ask a medical professional for the proper dose). Something else it could be is a mange mite, flea bite allergy, lice, any number of fungal skin infections. Pawing at the mouth can be several things. Thrush (which could be a yeast infection which could also affect skin and coat), tooth/gum infection, foreign body lodged in the mouth, or a cracked/damaged tooth. 

You really need a vet to make a proper diagnosis and stop treating solely symptomatically.


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## bessie (Feb 2, 2010)

Thanks!

I did bring her to the vet for a second opinion, and an interesting thing happened. For throughout the four hours that she was out, she didn't scratch one bit. Not at the vet's compound, nor in the car. (my car broke down halfway, so we had to stay put for awhile). He did a fungal check, nothing. He gave us a long talk about allergies, and to find the source of the allergy, check the food, etc.

So from this little trip we deduced that her allergies *might* be caused by palm tree flower pollens that we have in our house compound. They started flowering about 3 years ago, which might have been worse recently because it's now too tall for us to cut down (my dad used to cut them before they had a chance to flower.)

Has pollen been a problem for anyone here?


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## Badgersmom (Feb 3, 2010)

Hmm, is probably the allergies that you mention. My Chesapeake Bay Retriever get issues at times (we live in FL), and it is generally a staph infection of the skin with her - very hard to clear and tends to be a chronic problem. Yeast infections are also fairly tough to clear up (my corgi has one on her left front foot). 

Skin issues are not fun - see if you can use Benedryl too - that seems to really help the symptoms. Just check with the vet of course. Best of luck 0 itching is MISERABLE, so your dog is one of the lucky ones who has an owner determined to find a cure.


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