Four month old pup, always scratched, de-flea'd regually, advice needed!

Loki has always scratched, originally mainly around his ears, spoke to vet about this and she said to wash them out with a solution she gave us as there was a slight wax build up in one. We have done this and has made no difference, and the scratching seems to be less localised now. He has been back to the vets since and they just said it was probably fleas, he has had flea treatment on a regular basis since we got him and its never made any difference to the scratching I have never had any flea bites or anything and he sleeps on my bed so fairly certain thats not the problem!
I couldnt take him to vets myself as I was working so my ex had to take him otherwise would have been able to go into it in more depth with her where as he just kind of said yeah thats what I thought! Men! (no offence to all the lovely men on here!) She did have a good look for any sign of irritation on his skin and in his ears again and stuff and said he looked fine
Am I worrying unnecessarily, doesnt seem to bother him too much and isnt all the time just often enough for it to be a regular thing if that makes sense. Sometimes he does cry whilst scratching and at night when he scratches so much at times that it rocks his crate when he's in it
Any advice much appreciated

Wow this sounds exactly the same as my dog had. He started scratching at 4 months too and at 2 years old was finally diagnosed after a skin scrape and blood test of having Sarcoptic Mange. His ears didn't have any infections or anything and we couldn't understand why he scratched them so much. Try rubbing her ears at the edge of the ear and see if her back leg starts moving and if it does it might point to sarcoptes like my dog has. It's treated with Stronghold on the back of his neck every two weeks for either 6 weeks or 12 weeks. On the skin scrape they found nothing but the blood test they sent away tested positive for sarcoptes.

Have a look at this website which Christine on here gave me - its brilliant and explains everything.

http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/mites.html

Click on the video and it shows a dog doing the pinar- pedal reflex.

surprised your vet hasn't done a test for mange as it's often what they'll do when the flea treatment hasn't worked to stop the scratching.
Are there any spots or sores????
Does it get worse after food or after you've cleaned????
Could also be some sort of an allergy...
May be worth revisiting the vet, but with everything else that's going on for you...hmmmm...how about keeping an eye to see if the change in where she's living eases it?????
Or you could try only giving her one type of treat/extra at a time to rule an allergy to treats out...
Hope this helps Hannah, ultimately, it's probably another trip to the vet for her.
Good luck, a x

We went to two different vets and neither of them suggested the ear scrape until I told him how desperate I was to help him because he was going worse and scratching and bleeding near to his eyes. This was after over 18 months of going backwards and forwards and having steroids and anti-biotics

Thanks foxy have read your threads with interest before he went to the vets and did ask ex to ask about it when he took Loki, he said the vet said that was unlikely. Will try the ear thing tonight, I thought the vet would have taken a skin scrape and blood test but didnt, I did ask him to ask for them but he didnt! Theres no marks, spots, sores or anything on the skin his coat is nice, feel awful for him being uncomfortable!

Yes Benji was like that at first, no marks or sores or anything just kept scratching. It gradually went worse though and he started scratching the outside of his ears and making them bleed. He started on one ear and then did both ears and then started on his face too. Apparently all the steroids were helping the mites to breed so no wonder he went a lot worse The skin scrape seems a waste of time because as it says on the website it rarely shows up any mites - and it didn't with Benji even though he must have been riddled with them. The blood test was well worth the money though and I think it was only about £37. Or you could just ask for stronghold (they come in packs of 3 for about £20) and treat with that for 6 weeks and see if the scratching stops a bit - its made a vast improvement to Benji.

Thanks foxy, I will try the ear thing in a bit when I finish work and if he does the leg thing will prob just talk to the vet about starting him straight on stronghold and try to treat it before it starts doing damage, I read that dogs living in contact with him should be treated too as carriers if he has it, does this mean i should tell the breeder if he has got it as he's scratched ever since we've had him! Will his litter mates have it also?

could it be some thing in his food?
has he had a change of diet etc which could be making him itchy?
other than a skin condition i would think at such a young age it will be food related.
or have you washed his bedding that could be affecting him?
hope you get to the end of it poor little lad.

Well did the ear thing (well to best of my ability with hyper pup!) and nothing, will try again later when he's abit calmer incase i did it wrong but think its back to the drawing board!

Loki has scratched pretty much since we got him, he was on a sensitive diet at the time, then went on hills because the vet thought it was best for his sensitive tummy and is now on burns puppy so hasnt had the same food for the whole time he has been itching!
Washing powder hasnt been the same for whole time Ive had him or cleaning products or even the house!
He has always had pets at home puppy bones (cause they break into three and are ideal for training) and puppy markies so maybe i'll try cutting them out one at a time to see if there is any difference but think they are the only things that he has had continually since he first started itching.

Yes I think you should definitely tell the breeder although the pups will be with their new owners now won't they. I don't actually think all dogs get it - think some are just carriers. Yes probably better to do all your dogs. I would just try it on your dog first and you should notice a difference in 36-48 hours if it is that.