Hi All, I would be most grateful for your thoughts on this as I'm so worried.
My bitch is severely itchy, she is 7 weeks into her pregnancy and literally is tearing her skin to shreds. The itching started early in her pregnancy and seemed to start with her ears. There is no evidence of fleas at all and I am at my wits end. Her food hadn't changed and nothing environmentally has changed.
She is chewing at her paws and legs and has broken the skin and caused some quite nasty looking welts in her skin. She seems to be itching constantly.
The vet was no help at all and said treat her for fleas once pups arrive. I have gone over every inch of her but no evidence of fleas at all. She is becoming quite distressed and I'm worried.
Any advice gratefully received.

We've never experienced this.   Best I can offer is to get a second opinion.   Treatment may be difficult, given she is pregnant!

This is an issue which can be triggered by pregnancy itself.  It occurs in humans as well, and there can be a few different causes - from pregnancy hormones to a a potentially severe liver condition.

It is really best to see a reproductive vet about it - because the pregnancy itself is likely to be the cause.  You can't let her continue to cause welts in her skin - which could become infected and need ABs.... You will need to put a cone on her, to prevent her doing damage to herself but really need to treat the underlying issue. 

She should not be bred from again if it is determined that pregnancy is the cause.

PS you could try gently bathing her with oatmeal shampoo and making sure her ears have no wax build-up etc - but I'm guessing you've already tried these things...

Hi, thank you for your responses. She has been back to the vets this morning and it is definitely not pregnancy related. I saw a different vet and he is pretty sure that she has had an allergic reaction but we are not sure what to so i am none the wiser unfortunately.

She has been bathed a couple of times and it does seem to help. My vet advised treating her with Frontline just in case

> My vet advised treating her with Frontline just in case

Just in case?  I'm really sorry but your vet would give me no confidence whatsoever.  Your poor bitch.  Find a better vet who wants to help your girl.

>The itching started early in her pregnancy

Sorry, but it seems highly likely to be pregnancy related.  If you just google "pregnancy and itching" you will see a whole load of information about itching in human pregnancies - it also occurs in dog pregnancies. 

What is the basis for your vet assuming this is allergy-related, given that it started early in her pregnancy and is continuing?? I agree with MamaBase, see a better vet with more knowledge of reproduction - since most vets know nothing about it...

In humans this is a problem in the liver, so I would think a blood test checking her liver would be a good idea. And while they're taking blood , a general check of everything wouldn't hurt.

Thanks everyone, unfortunately this was a different vet so a 2nd opinion and he thinks the same as the first vet. They both think likely flea allergy, even though there is no evidence that I can see of fleas ( hence the suggestion to frontline her).
I asked for bloods to be taken and was basically told I was being over the top.
I'm at loss, on the one hand I dont want to keep taking her to the vets and exposing her to sick dogs but I'm desperate for an answer.
Last night I gave her some herbal antihistamine that is safe in pregnancy to see if it gives some relief.
Thanks for your thoughts.

Given she is pregnant and has this problem which sounds pretty bad I would suggest a referral either to a specilist dermatologist or possible a vet who covers hormones changes and the effects. I also would want blood taken for liver values as has been said   if u keep her in the car and only bring in directly to consulting rooms it will reduce any exposure that is worrying u.if all.they are dog g is taking bloods that can be done u  the car .some vets will actually do a consult in the car. Itching is horrible. I've had two dogs with serious allergies and have a rare condition my self which gives rise to constant itching . So I do sympathise its horrid to watch too

> They both think likely flea allergy, even though there is no evidence that I can see of fleas ( hence the suggestion to frontline her).

Stand firm, if you have no evidence of fleas then why on earth should you put chemicals on her for fleas??

We had a new vet look at a bitch which had a rash, which she scratched & became open wounds, he kept saying fleas...well excuse us our dogs do not get fleas...next came ringworm, well as we had a farm we knew exactly what that looked like. We asked to see one of our usually vets in the practice & got the correct diagnosis...it was neither fleas or ringworm & quite something else!!

Do you have a flea comb and have you thoroughly combed her everywhere with it?  If a flea infestation is not severe, you may not see any evidence for a while.

Just one bite from even just one flea can trigger an allergic reaction in a dog with an allergy.  Parting the hair and looking for fleas without a comb, you often won't see anything, they are just too quick...

The fact that it started with her ears makes me doubt it is fleas though...

But either way, sometimes you need to jump through the hoops that vets want you to jump through, so you eliminate the most likely causes and can move on.  So you may need to Frontline her - or Capstar and Program tablets are also safe during pregnancy - and see what happens.  Then you can tell the vets 'done that - hasn't worked - what next?'. 

If you don't want to treat her during pregnancy without seeing any fleas, then you could go for a referral to a specialist.  But given that even one flea bite can cause a reaction like this, I think you might need to treat all dogs in the house for fleas and see where that leads...

My dog picked a flea up last week, just by sticking her head in a hedge that had some rabbits in it - we came home and I saw a flea on her nose.  I pulled it off and crushed it.  I Capstar-red the dogs just in case there were more but haven't seen any.

A bitch I bred but don't own developed severe skin problems when she had a litter. Turned out it was auto immune problems and she had to be on high doses of steroids for months. It was definitely the pregnancy that triggered it. She was able to come off the treatment after about 6-8 months I seem to remember, and she's been fine ever since which is for 7 years now.

> Stand firm, if you have no evidence of fleas then why on earth should you put chemicals on her for fleas??

Exactly!

If its passing flea that bit rather than an infestation and caused an allergic reaction then the vet should be able to suggest some antihistamines that are safe for her to take in pregnancy  .

HAVE HER CHECKED FOR THYROID!! I have a friend whose Maltese has been licking and chewing her feet and legs so badly that a thorough examination had to be done.  Turns out it is a thyroid problem.  Easily treatable.