Scratch That: Helping our dogs that are itchy, yeasty, have suspect allergies & more

🐾 Does your dog seem itchy, have a cheesy or ‘Wotsits’ smell on their ears or paws, or show hay fever symptoms? This guide will help you identify causes & treatment options.

🔎 First Steps: Rule Out Pain & Underlying Conditions

✔️ Excessive licking or nibbling may indicate pain elsewhere in the body.

📌 Over 80% of behavioural changes in dogs are linked to pain—a vet check can rule out underlying discomfort or illness.

🐾 If your dog’s symptoms are related to hay fever (excluding itchy skin, red paws, or red ears), scroll down to the hay fever section.

🩺 Identifying the Cause of Itchy Skin or Ear Issues

Your vet can perform two simple tests to pinpoint the issue:

✔️ Skin Scrape Test – Determines if mites are present.

✔️ Swab Test – Identifies bacterial or yeast infections.

📌 Knowing exactly what you’re dealing with helps you find the right treatment—saving time & money.

🦠 Ear Mites: Signs & Treatment

Ear mites spread through contact with other dogs, cats & ferrets, but can also be picked up outdoors.

🐾 Signs of Ear Mites:

✔️ Ear scratching & head shaking

✔️ Dark discharge

✔️ Bad-smelling ears

✔️ Skin lesions around the ear

⚠️ Left untreated, ear mites can lead to:

🚨 Hearing loss, loss of balance, hematomas, & ear sensitivity.

📌 Mites complete their life cycle in ~3 weeks, but treatments only eliminate adult mites, requiring a longer treatment plan.

✅ Treatment Options:

✔️ Conventional veterinary treatment (prescribed medication).

✔️ Holistic veterinary guidance for natural alternatives.

🩺 Bacterial Ear Infections: Symptoms & Treatment

🐾 Common Signs:

✔️ Tilting head toward the affected ear

✔️ Head shaking & ear scratching

✔️ Rubbing ears & waxy discharge

✔️ Hot, smelly, irritated skin inside the ear flap

🚨 Severe Cases May Include:

✔️ Hearing loss & balance issues

✔️ Walking in circles

✔️ Drooping eyelids or mouth, drooling

✔️ Difficulty eating or drinking

📌 Treatment Options:

✔️ Medical management (veterinary-prescribed drops).

✔️ Holistic vet guidance for natural solutions.

🚨 Ear infections can be painful—seek professional advice!

🦠 Yeast Overgrowth: Identifying & Treating It

🐾 Confirmed via swab test? You have two options:

📌 Medical route (veterinary drops, either self-administered or long-lasting vet-administered treatment).📌 Natural approach – addressing triggers & managing symptoms holistically.

✔️ If the natural method doesn’t work, medical treatment is still available—or combine both approaches for better results.

Natural Pathway

• Have you already transitioned to raw?  If not, we highly recommend you do as this will allow you to control the ingredients that you feed to your dogs, and identify any common causes whereas in other foods it is nigh on impossible to isolate the causes. Please see our blog on The Transition for details of how to switch your dog's diet to a species appropriate diet

• Do you feed any tripe, root vegetables or fruits? Or any food containing these? If you do, you need to stop for the next 12 weeks at least to see if these are triggers. The reasons for this can be found in our blogs: Root vegetables & Tripe The Good & The Bad - tripe from wild venison tends to be lower in histamines than other forms of tripe, but we would still recommend removing this for 12 weeks whilst you get the inflammation / overgrowth under control.

• Do you give any treats that have ingredients on the packaging that are not 100% meat? Even the treats that claim to be All natural or name a protein, can contain ingredients you would not expect. Treats are often fed that contain tripe or root vegetables, or pro-inflammatory ingredients such as salmon oil. If any of your treats are not 100% meat based, you need to consider switching to 100% meat based. Please see our blog on Tasty Treats & Dehydrating for some great choices.

• Do you use any flea or worming products from a vet or supermarket? Or has your dog been vaccinated recently? Many dogs react in various ways to toxins, flea and wormer products, and vaccinations are all common causes of itching or yeast overgrowth as the body can react in order to fight the product given to the dog. For natural ways to prevent parasites, see the blog Parasite Prevention and our blog on vaccines

• Do you feed any supplements that the ingredients are not 100% natural / known food sources? If so, you will need to consider switching to 100% natural products that are holistic vet approved. The term natural sadly does not necessarily mean it is a great choice. See our blog on Supplements - Not All are Equal for more information

• Do you use any non-natural products in your home such as floor cleaners or air fresheners? If so, you will need to look at switching to natural cleaning products that can support your dogs health such as Ingenious Probiotics

• Do you give your dog any fish oils that are not in the form of small oily fish? This is a major factor, it can be in a tablet, in a supplement, in a food or even a treat - or added by you - no matter what though, fish oils that are not in the form of raw oily fish are at risk of instability and therefore, becoming proinflammatory. Please see our blog on Fish or Fish Oils for more information

• Another consideration is to look at testing your dog's microbiome. Since the pandemic hit in 2020 research by the team at Pet Biome has shown a reduction in the variety within dogs microbiome. The exact reasons why are not yet known but we all know a widely varied microbiome is a healthy microbiome. Did you know that all itchy skin stems from the gut? This simple test can help you to get to the exact cause of your dogs itching / yeast / irregular stool formations. It is a bit of an initial cost, however, in the long run this could actually save you money by getting to the root cause. It does take about 2-3 months for the testing to be run so if you choose this option we would advise doing the test and then whilst you wait for the results you can look at the other options listed here to try to help your dog in the meantime.

• Cooling Chamomile: Chamomile is the most gentle herb known to humans. It has both cooling and soothing properties so can help to calm irritated skin. To use this we recommend making a jug of chamomile tea using any chamomile tea bags (just as if you are making a cup of tea, with no milk or sugar). You can then let it fully cool, and once cooled use a 100% water based wipe to wet with the chamomile tea then gently wipe over the visible skin that's irritated. You can also do this over your dogs outer ears, paws, legs, belly and back to remove pollen and dust particles that may cause environmental based itching.

• If your dogs issue is confirmed as yeast by a swab test, you can also look at the DogsFirst Propythium Range

• Another product that may help to support your dog through this journey is from Prodog Raw, called Protect - By supporting your dog’s gut and immune health, this innovative dietary supplement helps to maintain an itch and discomfort free skin condition

What about if my dog is suffering from Hayfever?

Pollen Chart UK

As we can see from the chart, the UK pollen season actually runs from January until September.

Recognising what trees, grasses and weeds are in your garden and immediate environment can help you to determine the pollens affecting your dog, and enable you to ensure a plan is in place moving forwards to help to relieve their symptoms.

Millions of dogs suffer from hay-fever symptoms each year, just as us humans do

These symptoms include:

• Itching after being on grass

• Sneezing

• Rubbing the face

• Watery eyes

• Reverse Sneezing

Up until recently with some changes to veterinary regulations, some vets would advise the public to buy human medications - if your dog is using human anti-histamines in a non-emergency situation, please see our blog on Dangers of Human Medication - see below for how to naturally support your dog through this.

What are the more natural pathways we can take?

Do not worry though, there are a few things that you can do to help your dog through what can be a difficult time, without breaking the law, or risking your dogs overall health.

• Follow our Gut Reset Protocol, or transition to raw if you haven’t already. This will rule out other causes and help you to get your dogs gut health nice and strong

• Using a Holistic vet approved supplement for allergies from our Supplements List, as the supplement market is unregulated it is vital you only use products from companies who work with not only herbalists, but also holistic vets to formulate their products thinking of the overall health of dogs, and ensure you prepare for 12 weeks of monitoring progress as you need to allow time to see if a product is effective enough. Remember when starting a new supplement or food, start low and slow at ⅓ of the dosage for 1 week, the ⅔ of dosage for a week before finally moving to the full dose in week 3. If you see any adverse reactions, immediately stop and consult a vet for support.

• Use cooled chamomile tea to wipe down your dog after any time outside. This will remove any dust or pollen particles from their coat whilst also soothing itchy skin. This can be any chamomile tea at all from the shops or home made.

• Use our pollen chart in this guide section to understand what may be triggering your dogs allergy symptoms

• Look into Ingenious products for as natural a home as possible

• Another product that may help to support your dog through this journey is from Prodog Raw, called Protect - By supporting your dog’s gut and immune health, this innovative dietary supplement helps to maintain an itch and discomfort free skin condition
  

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