Dog Chewing Paw

lisa701

I'm looking for advice on how to handle a situation.

My dog suffered badly late last year chewing his paws. It started with one of his back paws but spread to the others. Vet gave him antibiotics because he developed an infection at the base of one of his claws.

Infection cleared, but chewing increased so we returned to the vet. He had suffered from repeat ear infections earlier in the year which had been treated as a seperate condition, but after a review of his notes and how all these problems appeared to coincide with changes to his diet or us re-varnishing the floor at home it was suggested he was infact suffering from "skin allergies". He was given a course of steriods and an elimination diet. It took a while for it to clear up, but the turning point seemed to be when we covered up all our varnished floors so assumed that maybe he had a problem with the varnish we had used.

Anyway, he was problem free from April through to June, when he had a small flare up after walking on some rough grass. It lasted a couple of days so we thought no more about it.

Unfortunately, a few weeks ago it started again and its not stopped. Interestingly, this occurred a few days after walking through rough grass again.

We have been to vet and had another course of antibiotics because his paw was showing signs of infection, but its still not resolved the chewing so we have been back to vet again.

Vet has examined it as best as he can but cannot see anything such as a cut or splinter that is stuck in his paw and causing the irritation so he has concluded its a flare up of his "skin allergies". I don't have an issue with the diagnosis but I don't understand why its only one paw thats affected - surely if its something he has come into contact with such as grass all his paws would be affected - or would they?

We are going back in a couple of weeks to have him castrated and need to decide whether to have a blood test done at the same time to see if anything comes back, or have his paw shaved and x-rayed to see if there is something stuck (which the vet very much doubts following his examination).

Thanks

marlot

My dog gets paws which are so sore they bleed. In her case, it is the pads which split and peel away.

We've become good at cutting off the excess pad, and putting a sock over her paw at night (masking tape above the knee so it doesn't come off).

Fortunately ours only happens once a year - every May. I've never worked out what triggers it.

But yours sounds different. Dogs are good at making a minor irritation worse - but it might be worth trying the sock idea.

lisa701

Thanks for your reply. Sorry to hear your dog has paw troubles too.

We originally tried him wearing one of those plastic lampshade collars but he still managed to get his paw into his mouth!

We have tried bandages and socks but despite our best efforts he somehow manages to get them off again. Will have a go with masking tape as you suggest and see how we get on.

Got a good week before he goes for his op, so a few days to decide what to do next. Just wish we know what was causing it.

Tiffany_Aching

Our Springer is a begger for paw chewing as well. Originally the vet said that he thought it was an infection and gave us some antibiotics. She seemed to stop for a day or two, but then she got a lot worse. It turned out that she had a fungal infection on her paw. The vet gave us some anti-fungal shampoo and after a while she calmed down. She still starts to worry at her paw every now and then, but when we catch her we make sure we shampoo it and after a day or two she stops.

Poor love can make her paw so sore and it's so frustrating that we cant quite get on top of it and stop it for good.

gettingready

Paws chewing is often a sign of anal glands problem - has the vet checked for that?

lisa701

Spent a week using a steriod spray recommended by the vet but its not made an ounce of difference, still chewing his paw until its raw.

Anal glands are fine, sort of wish they werent because at least that would give us an answer.

Looks like another trip to the vet's then before he gets his op next week. Starting to get really upset by all this now. If its not been his ears, its been his paws. Feel so sorry for the poor guy and just don't know what to do next.

Better_Days

Hi Lisa

Could the problem be part behavioural - ie an initial trigger for the paw licking which then becomes a habit?

I have had problems with my dog licking her paw raw too.

For the time being at least I have got on top of it - you might like to have a look at the thread here
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4771029

moggymutt

A friend solved her dogs long standing paw problem by feeding garlic capsules. Although she had read negative things about feeding garlic for too long, she was at a total loss because nothing from the vets had worked.

moggymutt

I swear by aloe vera for any form of skin irritation.

SiberianHusky

One of mine had exactly the same problem throughout September this year. It turned out it was harvest mites (and she also did the nibbling so damn bad that she made her feet infected and ended up on ABs).

If you have Frontline spray, squirt it on the feet and rub between the toes with a cotton wool pad, this will kill off any harvest mites. They are incredibly hard to see but the trademark look of them are orange flecks of dust. Generally found between the toes or on the ears.

Repeat the Frontline spray every 2-3 weeks until gone. Harvest mites are very localised so you could walk in one park and not pick them up, but walk in another one half a mile away and it's infested. Generally they all die off after the first frost.

Re your dog being able to reach his paws with a buster collar on, this sounds like the buster collar wasn't big enough. When fitting the buster collar, it must be at least an inch longer than the end of their nose. I know this from bitter experience

lisa701

Thanks for your reply SiberianHusky. That's one potential cause I'd not heard of.

Don't have any Frontline spray, assume its something that can be picked up from a pet store? Its a nightmare trying to look at his paw, even if you think he is asleep the moment you go to touch it he growls which is totally out of character for him.

His snout doesnt stick over the edge of the collar but he is so flexible he can practically bend himself in half meaning he can still reach his back feet. Fortunately, he cannot reach his abdomen area so hopefully the collar will be fine for when he has his op next week - although the fact he can get it off despite how tight we fit it is a bit of a worry.