Dog itching but don't see signs of fleas

Hi, my dog has been itching a lot lately. He's definitely had cases of fleas in the past, but I haven't seen any signs of them on him recently, and it's easy to spot them running around on his skin if they're there.

I recently treated him with Advantix, gave him a dose of CapGuard, sprayed him a little bit on his tummy area with flea spray, and even gave him a flea bath yesterday. He's always biting/scratching his underside area, particularly his genital/butt area. Then he'll get up for a minute, but whatever's making him itch will stop him in his tracks and he'll go at it again. His skin doesn't look raw or pink or anything either. Also, this seems to come on more at night.

This has me puzzled...Could this just be an allergy? Also, I know I've definitely had bouts of dry skin in the winter where I'd itch like crazy at night, and am wondering if dogs can experience something similar?

Could be an environmental allergy, food allergy, etc. I wouldn't overdose further on the flea treatment. If, as you say, it's just his genital/butt area, then he may be having problems with his anal glands or even a urinary infection.

Time for a check up at the vets

Hi Chris, I agree, I've done all I want to do with flea meds for now, especially if it's not flea-related. I really hate to use too much of it. And it's definitely not just the one area, but probably more scratching there than other areas.

Also, I've learned to post to the forums first because sometimes I believe the vet can be overkill. I took him in once for worms, and even though I knew it was worms they still made me bring in a sample for testing. Then he got worms again, and they wanted another sample for testing. So this last (third) time I treated him myself with dewormer from the store, and it actually got rid of them. This is why I hesitate to go the vet. But if the itching continues, I will. I don't want him to be miserable.

Thanks!

Agree with Chris.

Also I would look at diet, and eliminate known allergens and maybe go for a species appropriate diet.

He had a lot of diarrhea/soft stools from the puppy food he was on. I had him on Purina Pro Plan puppy food for months. Then when I took him in for a vet visit because I had concerns regarding the diarrhea, I was told to switch him to adult food (at 6 months of age) because puppy food can sometimes be too rich. He also had worms at the time, so I really don't know the real culprit of the diarrhea. That's been better, as he's now on adult food-Blue Buffalo. I don't know of any specific allergies he has, nor do I know his breed. Sounds like it this continues, the vet is my best bet.

I would pop him to the vet, get his anal glands checked and have a good chat with the vet about it. My youngest dog started scratching herself to bits and I had the test done to see what was causing it...she is bad with grass pollen, beech pollen, house mites, storage mites and a few other things, we are doing immunotherapy with her. I would ask the vet if it would be possible to give him an antihistamine when he is really bad.

You can give your dog a piriton, they can't have the non drowsy type though. If that stops the itching then you know it isn't fleas but an allergy to food, or maybe even washing powder or softener

I was thinking about Benadryl-I read it's safe for dogs in the right amount per poundage. What's piriton? I hadn't thought that if the itching goes away on that, that would eliminate fleas. But isn't it just eliminating the side effect of the fleas which is the itching? Thanks!

Piriton is an anti histamine. http://canigivemydog.com/piriton
I have a tin with various simple remedies in, piriton is one, generic immodium is another. So if your dog eats a wasp then the piriton will help for instance. Handy to have stuff in like that, you never know when it will be needed. One of my girls started with the runs on New Years Day a couple of years back, and I was able to give her generic immodium as I had it in for just such an emergency

Looks like a handy website. Thank you!