Dog's paw is raw and irritated

[hdme]

I'm taking our dog into the vet this afternoon to have it looked at but wondered if anyone here has experienced this. Our dog has always licked at her paws now and then...I think out of boredom or nervousness, but last Fall, she began to pull her paw away when we wanted to wipe it or look at it. The vet looked at it and said it might have been an old injury that she was just sensitive about (we resued her when she was 2, she was abused before that).

In the past 2 months, her licking has become almost constant. We look at it every now and then and haven't seen a splinter or anything that could be stuck in there. I looked at it the other night and noticed that between the pads, it's all red, raw and almost all of the fur is gone. She does have allergies, but usually only for a month from late Aug-late Sept.

Have any of you experienced something like this??? Thanks!

[jessi76]

allergies can be from environment, food, household cleaners, etc...the list goes on an on really. If you've ruled out injury, I'd take a serious look at the food you're feeding, and any treats. it may be one ingredient that is causing the problem. good luck at the vet!

[hazelrunpack]

We get some of what you're describing every summer as the grass gets dry. We've been told that grass abrasions (either from cuts as grass slides between the toes or pokes from cut grass) can introduce germs like staph into the skin there. It's evidently irritating because the dogs lick them incessantly--and of course, the licking doesn't help.

We use antibiotic creams and epsom soaks to clear them up. Usually they're much better within the week.

[Jim Hall]

my shepard got the same thing in the summer we would keep them clean and dry and rub a liitle aloe on her paws that seemed to help

[sways_bodyguard]

i have personally been experiencing this TO THE VERY EXTREME with my dog for over the last 2 years...

here is the initial thread i made about it back in may of 06:

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=26651

after almost a year and a half of being led in every which way by my first vet, i went to a dermatologist and he did allergy testing on her...
based off that test, they created a syrum that i give to her every 14 days (a shot)
she was also on cyclosporine...which after months of being on it, helped the problem and the chewing of the pads stopped completely.
only problem was, my dog couldnt handle the cyclosporine because it really recked her digestive tract, therefore rendering the only treatment to this issue that worked for us, as a path i am no longer able to persue.
we are still dealing with it to this day and my poor dog has to wear a cone when im gone so she doesnt destroy her feet.

hopefully it doesnt turn out this troublesome with your pet

[TeriM]

I would firstly get a vet check to rule out any medical issues and then would probably proceed on the basis of a food allergy. Check her ears and if they have a dark, waxy type substance that is also a good allergy indicator.

My yellow lab also had rather severe food allergies and licked her feet obsessively. I finally ended up switching her to a raw food diet as this was the only thing that eliminated the problem. Since then many new wonderful foods have been released which may help.

You need to review the ingredients in your current food and then look for a new food that has none of those protein sources or grain sources. I would highly recommend trying a grain free product or at the very least a product that uses gluten free (rice, oats, potato, millet, tapioca) "grains". Orijen has just released a new fish formula that would be a great place to start. It is pricey but is excellent quality and many of the forum users here have been raving about it.

Also, you might want to invest in a set of dog booties to use while outdoors to protect against possible environmental allergies.

[hdme]

Thanks for all of your responses! The vet pretty much ruled out food allergy because it's only one paw that she is licking. He said food allergies usually present with all 4 paws itching. He's hoping this is how her seasonal allergies are presenting this year, rather than with little red hot spots on her belly as they have presented in the past couple of Summers. He gave us a spray to apply 3-4 times a day. She seemed to be licking less last night so hopefully it's beginning to work. He did say that if we don't notice a change, to bring her back in and we can look at other possibilities. Thanks again for all of your responses!

[jessi76]

GREAT news! food allergies are really troublesome, it's soooo hard to narrow down the offending ingredient - so I'm glad to hear the vet thinks it's not that. keep us posted on how the spray is working for her and how she's doing.

[hdme]

Good news! Doggies isn't licking or chewing at her paw as much as she was before we started using the spray! She hates having the spray put on but she loves us all over again once she gets a treat.

[hazelrunpack]

That's good news! Thanks for keeping us posted.

[Griffin]

Hey...I know this was posted a long time ago but I think my dog has the exact same thing.Itchy paw , raw in bettween his pads. Could you please tell me what kind of spray you used. Im desperate. We tried everything and nothing seems to help. His raw spots are not healing....