Scabs under Ernie's armpits

My little miniature Daschund Ernie has developed some scabs on the inside of his leg and under his armpit. I have also noticed what look like little blisters on his belly near his genitals and now its starting under his other armpit. I have two dogs and the other one is absolutely fine.

Poor little Ernie is now constantly scratching and licking at his scabs. He will let me touch them and is not yelping in pain.

I cannot get an appointment at the vets until tomorrow evening so was wondering if anyone could give me any advice as to what to do until then.

Thanks

Bathing with water with a little salt in to clean the area might help. It`s best to let the air get to it but if you haven`t got a collar a tiny t-shirt should stop him licking it.
Do you use a harness? If so, don`t use it.

Someone at work has told me to give him half a Piriton tablet. Do you think this is a good idea?

No. Certainly not with a very small dog, and not until you`ve got a diagnosis. Ask your vet about dosage if it is confirmed as an allergy - but it could also be a heat rash.

It is perfectly safe to give some Piriton to a dog, if you would like the dosage it is as follows:

4 – 8 mg large dog x 2 a day, 2 – 4 mg x 2 a day small ones

(Source: the vet(s) who designed, delivered and tested the National Certificate in Canine First Aid)

It will not hurt your dog.

If I had a dog that was scratching I would not want to dry out the skin even more by using salt water, but I would use Aloe Vera Gel which is soothing, cooling and healing.

If it IS heat rash, than Aloe Vera is the best thing for this topically.

Alternatively there many other things that can help such as Phytobalm from Hilton Herbs etc

HTH

Is it right you need to use the Piriton that is drowsy, rather than the piriteze that is non drowsy? I used the drowsy original piriton for samson at SB's dosage and he was fine. think he was 4 months at the time

Piriton is chlorphenamine maleate the dose is:

4 – 8 mg large dog x 2 a day, 2 – 4 mg x 2 a day small ones

Piriteze is ceterizine it is not as well researched as chlorphenamine maleate.

However Cetirizine has been trialed on dogs for allergic skin disease at 1mg/kg with minimal side effects