My Poor, Poor, Poor Baby

About 3 weeks ago I noticed Ollie was scratching himself more than is usual.  My first thought was an allergy. He has troubles with allergies that will occasionally cause him to itch but it mostly affects his paws and he will lick them causing his fur to turn a rusty color. 

So I did all the usual things like up his Benadryl from once a day to twice and switch his food from 1/2 grain free and 1/2 regular to all grain free but it wasn't working.

I bought some oatmeal shampoo and gave him some oatmeal baths which gave him some temporary relief but he would always go right back to the scratching.  

On Sunday I noticed he had an open sore on his skin from scratching so hard so I turned to my FB friends for advice.  A couple of them suggested coconut oil so, after purchasing some on Monday, I have been adding it to his food and also rubbing some on his body.  While he loves the taste of his food with the coconut oil - it wasn't helping the itching or scratching at all.  

Then this morning I noticed another open sore and made an appointment at the vet. I am so glad I did. Once they shaved him I was able to see how bad his skin really was.  

The sore he opened up this morning

This was the sore from Sunday and a couple others that are nearly healed

This one was on his butt

This was on his head

They gave him a shot of steroids and a shot of antibiotics.  And since the culprit turned out to be a single flea, they also gave him a boost of flea meds.  

Hopefully he is on the mend.