Itchy mouth

Hi there, this is my first post as I joined the site just today. I am enjoying looking around the site, I only wish I had found it sooner!

The problem which I have is my black Labrador keeps rubbing his mouth (and sometimes his ears) against anything thats hard eg- brick pillar in our kitchen, sofa, chairs, my hand when stroking her. I took her to the vets and she got very nasty with the vet so the vet (quite rightly) put a muzzle on her - unfortunately this meant the vet couldnt see her mouth at all. She did manage to check her ears and said that they looked ok. I did buy some drops to help clean out her ears.

I just dont know why her mouth is itching so much. Ive had a look and her bottom lip looks a bit red but other than that I cant really see anything.

Any ideas what this could be??

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Jayne

Hi Jane

Could she have come into contact with some sort of plant that could cause a reaction? So difficult when it is the mouth as you can hardly put cream on it. Maybe give her an ice cube to lick - may help a bit for a short while.

Sorry - hopefully someone else will be able to give some useful advice. Hope she improves soon.

Hello Jayne and welcome may I make a number of observations. Firstly can I ask how old your dog, is it a teething puppy, when did the problem begin. Does the mouth smell nasty.
There is a condition called 'lip fold dermatitis' which affects the folds of skin on the lips, it has a 'fishy' smell and the skin looks slimy,this really needs treatment from a vet. If you can I would trim any hair from the sore lip and bathe it in a stong saline solution (a pint of boiled water to a tablespoon of salt) a couple of times each day.

Also check your dogs anal gland, if it is leaking and your dog is licking the area she may then rub against things.

I would not buy over the counter preparations to put in your dogs ears, at the best they are useless, at the worst they can can lead to scratching and introduce infection, ear problems should be left to a vet to treat .

It is a good idea to get your dog used to being handled, I would give her mouth and ears a daily 'check', just a quick look and make it a pleasurable experience with a special treat (like cheese or chicken) and lots of praise . Try to get another member of the family to do this too always being gentle and treat/praise.