My girlfriend has a three year old staffy cross called Poppy. Poppy has been itching more and more over the last few months. Several vet visits resulted in steroid injections and a recommendation of anti hist-ermines. No skin swob was taken and the treatments do not seem to have worked. Poppy gets really sore under her arms and on her belly with parts becoming scabby and occasional bleeding. It is becoming very worrying and any help and advice would be much appreciated? Poppy is a cross but is defo more staff y than anything else, quarter sharpay and quarter pit bull I believe.

Has your dog had a skin scraping for mange mites done?

Not yet, we have been looking into it and I think your rite. We have her booked in for next week so will let you know how it goes. Hope we get a solution, thanks for your help.

Hopefully it is something easy to treat.
There are 2 types of mange, one is easy to get rid of, one is a little harder.

With Sarcoptic Mange most of the dogs body is affected and treatment is often lengthy and needs to be repeated.
Demodectic mange generally affects small patches of the dog, usually around the head, but it is easily treated with an injection and is fast acting.

Another thing to look at with where the scabbing is occurring is contact dermatitis or allergies.
If you use floor cleaners and she regularly lays on her belly on the floor that can do it.

With the changing of the seasons my staffies get a bit itchier and their skin allergies seem to be a bit more bothersome to them. I usually give them bennadryl. What type of dog food are you feeding them? A lot of the bully breeds are very sensitive to wheat and grains.

Have you tried any of the allergy shampoo's? Seeing as your dog was treated with anit0hitamines, I would suggest a specific brand from a vet. I like Aller-groom.

In the winter months, it wouldn't hurt to beef up on their omega too. Fish oil, like cod liver oil or salmon oil are great things to add into your dogs diet. A can of sardines helps as well. You can purchase fish oil from your local grocery store one or two capsules a day really help with itchy skin. Just remember to find deep sea fishes, those are the ones that are chalked full of the omega fatty oils.