Chewing/itching skin

[strongswans]

I have a cavachon, she has been chewing/itching a lot recently, but I thought it was due to being overdue a groom, we've been finding a few small clumps of hair about, but again thought it was her coat shedding. Today she has been groomed and they have found some sores, her skin is red raw in patches where she has been chewing. No obvious reason, no matting on the areas, no fleas etc... so thinking maybe an allergy? I will take her to get checked but of course this will now be next week. Do you have any suggestions what we can do to ease it in the meantime? The only thing I can think is last time she had a flea treatment she had something different to usual as she always had advantage and that doesn't seem to be anywhere now! She is due a flea treatment again now, so not sure what to put on her? Any help would be appreciated, I feel awful we hadn't noticed!

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

I use spot on Advocate (obtainable from vet only) for my dog but, in your case, I would definitely take her to to the vet about the skin problem to check it out. Could it be flea allergy, since you say she is due a flea treatment?
How big are the sores? Not sure if cavachons are prone to this but my collie-type dog used to get "hot spots" (pyoderma) where she got the sudden eruption of boil-type swellings that drove her nuts and would then become infected sores, if not treated in the first few hours of starting. If you do find out, at the vets, this is what she has - the best way I found of treating them is to shave the fur over the affected sore(s) with a wide margin around, clean the sore with hibiscrub (can buy online) - daubed on with a damp piece of cotton wool. Let that dry for a few mins and then apply Isaderm gel (obtainable only from vet again). Do this 2 or 3 times a day. You have to keep your dog in a buster collar 24-hours a day or she will keep pulling the scab off and chewing herself further. Pyaderma is horrible and initially sore scabs over and infection then starts below the scab and it is not until that scab is off and a new one on that things start to sort themselves out. My dog was often in a buster collar for 3 weeks until it was safe to let her out of it. With vigilance, especially in the problem time (which was usually late August, September etc), I learned to notice the very first signs so we could sort it out quicker.
If you have a buster collar at home now, perhaps you should use it so she doesn't make those sore areas worse, whatever they are.