Obsessive licking

[Daisyrae]

So my older dog licks her feet. She always has, she used to lick the side of her foot and get a little sore there but for the past few years shes started licking her pads and between her toes. She will lick until it becomes raw and sometimes has a bit of pus. I’ve tried everyting from putting socks on her to anti itch spray to anti lick spray, antibiotic cream, benedryl etc. Obviously the more I put on her foot, the more she licks it.

Is there anything else I can try? Maybe a feed through allergy medication she can take every day? I don’t know if its anxiety or allergies but I’m leaning towards allergies.

[GraceLikeRain]

Definitely sounds like allergies. What is she eating?

[Garythesquirrel]

One of my Beagles will do this when she eats even the smallest amount of chicken or fish.

[Daisyrae]

[QUOTE=GraceLikeRain;8626762]
Definitely sounds like allergies. What is she eating?[/QUOTE]

She gets TaSTE OF the Wild, usually the fish. But we mix it up between the fish and buffalo… I have the bag at home I think its fish this time around. She’s especially unwilling to walk on grass, so I feel like its environmental.

[Garythesquirrel]

[QUOTE=Daisyrae;8626962]
She’s especially unwilling to walk on grass, so I feel like its environmental.[/QUOTE]

My Beagle is the same way! Hates to walk on grass. I think she has both environmental and food allergies.

[Daisyrae]

[QUOTE=Garythesquirrel;8627019]
My Beagle is the same way! Hates to walk on grass. I think she has both environmental and food allergies.[/QUOTE]

Does your beagle have white feet? This is the first white footed dog I’ve had and while her pads are mostly black, I was reading that white footed dogs tend to be more sensitive

[Garythesquirrel]

Yes, white feet.

[PiasaBird]

My German Shepherd would lick herself until she had a raw spot, chew her nails, and obsessively lick the floor.
My vet prescribed Temaril-P. We played around with the dosage until we could give a very low amount but still get results.
I would say talk to your vet before any damage is done. I should have taken my Grettel in to the veterinarian sooner than I did. It would have saved her some discomfort.

[rockonxox]

When they lick that much they will get yeast infections which cause more itch. Itchy feet in dogs is the worst. The vet will have meds that can help with the yeast if she tests as having it (if the feet smell like dirty fritos then you have yeast for sure). There are also at home DIY that some people use that you could google. I would take her to the vet first though.

[Bicoastal]

Vet. IF it is environmental allergies, booties outdoors. My friend’s dog does this obsessively. Finally the vet found a foreign body. Unfortunately, that took a while to discover (back and forth to the vet’s for diff meds) and the dog now licks out of habit. Most of the time you see this, there is something going on with the skin from allergies.

[Daisyrae]

I’ll ask when shes at the vet in a few weeks. I’ve asked before but it just gets brushed off like “Oh shes weird, dont worry about it” but shes literally limping around my house right now. They don’t smell yeasty, she tends to get yucky ears so I know what that smells like, she just licks til its sore and then licks some more. I put her boots on last night to go out and she sat propped up like a gopher and didnt leave the patio :rolleyes:

[GraceLikeRain]

It is a small investment up front but I’d do an allergy panel. If she has environmental allergies versus food allergies, the recommendations and options are going to differ. She deserves to be comfortable and chronically licking to the point of being lame is pretty heartbreaking. I hope you get answers.

[Daisyrae]

[QUOTE=GraceLikeRain;8628021]
It is a small investment up front but I’d do an allergy panel. If she has environmental allergies versus food allergies, the recommendations and options are going to differ. She deserves to be comfortable and chronically licking to the point of being lame is pretty heartbreaking. I hope you get answers.[/QUOTE]

She’s pretty pathetic. When she gets like this I can’t even get her out in the yard to go to the bathroom. But I will check and see if they can do that for me. I love my vet but they tend to be in the camp of “theyre dogs, they do weird things.” Which is true, but I dont think she chews her feet apart because its fun.

[pony_baloney]

This may help. I’m going to do this for my recently adopted senior. Our lawns are sprayed with pesticide and she licks her feet.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/10/25/dog-foot-bath.aspx

All of the videos by Karen Becker are excellent and very informative.

[Mistysmom]

Definitely allergies. Excessive licking can also cause yeast issues which makes the itching even worse. I would definitely take her to the vet.

[Beckham03]

Could still be food or environmental, or both. Sounds like it’s time to see the dermatologist.

[In1]

We had a pitbull like this. Did the allergy and food route for years. Finally was Rx’d a low dosage of Lyrica for neuropathy - and the problem went away. Certainly an odd case but worth sharing.

[GucciJumper]

We had a sheltie who would do this unless we kept the hair between his toes short. No allergies or anything, he just didn’t like long hair between his toes.

[Perfect10]

Ask your vet about Apoquel. Works wonders for dogs with itchy feet.