excessive paw licking

frenchiept · Nov 20, 2014

Hi everyone!
My 2 year old frenchie has begun to excessively lick his paws (mostly at night) i have checked them to see if there is anything caught in between the pads and everything seems fine...has his happened to anyone before?? I saw somewhere thag it might be allergies...he eats Fromm since he is a puppy and has never had any issues...please help!

MaplesMommy · Nov 20, 2014

It could be allergies. They don't have to be food related. It could be environmental as well.

Are his ears red and/or smelly? Does he look inflamed ? If so it could also be a yeast issue.

Cbrugs · Nov 21, 2014

Story of my life. As [MENTION=377]MaplesMommy[/MENTION] said, he could have environmental allergies. Mine is allergic to grass, trees, shrubs, weeds, everything outside that is green. Do his paws smell or have a red, rusty color to them? If so, that would most likely be yeast. There are a couple OTC things you can try, one is doing a apple cider vinegar paw soak. I have tried this with Jax and it didn't work but I have read of success stories. Another thing is a povidone iodine paw soak which I have also done and it has helped somewhat. You can also try to give him a Benadryl. It would probably be a good idea to try and figure out what is causing the itching in case it is something you can eliminate but that is not always the case.

2bullymama · Nov 21, 2014

Cbrugs said:
Story of my life. As @MaplesMommy said, he could have environmental allergies. Mine is allergic to grass, trees, shrubs, weeds, everything outside that is green. Do his paws smell or have a red, rusty color to them? If so, that would most likely be yeast. There are a couple OTC things you can try, one is doing a apple cider vinegar paw soak. I have tried this with Jax and it didn't work but I have read of success stories. Another thing is a povidone iodine paw soak which I have also done and it has helped somewhat. You can also try to give him a Benadryl. It would probably be a good idea to try and figure out what is causing the itching in case it is something you can eliminate but that is not always the case.

^^^^ :yes:

Jakeyjake · Nov 22, 2014

Cbrugs said:
Story of my life. As [MENTION=377]MaplesMommy[/MENTION] said, he could have environmental allergies. Mine is allergic to grass, trees, shrubs, weeds, everything outside that is green. Do his paws smell or have a red, rusty color to them? If so, that would most likely be yeast. There are a couple OTC things you can try, one is doing a apple cider vinegar paw soak. I have tried this with Jax and it didn't work but I have read of success stories. Another thing is a povidone iodine paw soak which I have also done and it has helped somewhat. You can also try to give him a Benadryl. It would probably be a good idea to try and figure out what is causing the itching in case it is something you can eliminate but that is not always the case.

ME TOO!!! You will most likely want to have him allergy tested so you can figure out the source. I live in Ca and this is a tough season for both of mine right now but we are managing to not let things get our of control. I give Jake a Zyrtec in the am and a Benadryl at night. He is also on allergy shots. He is better than he was this time last year as he was breaking out in hives. Also food allergies can develop over time, so it could be the food as well. Good luck!

frenchiept · Nov 24, 2014

Thank you everyone, you are such a big help!! I will definetely try the apple vinegar and if it continues, I will use Benadryl!! Do you give a Benadryl every night? and if so, for how long? Thanks again for all your help, I will keep you posted on how it goes

Cbrugs · Nov 24, 2014

frenchiept said:
Thank you everyone, you are such a big help!! I will definetely try the apple vinegar and if it continues, I will use Benadryl!! Do you give a Benadryl every night? and if so, for how long? Thanks again for all your help, I will keep you posted on how it goes

I think you can give Benadryl up to three times per day. The dosage is 1 mg per pound. If by chance he is allergic to grass, you can try wiping his paws and body with a wipe every time he comes inside.

davidh · Nov 25, 2014

Yep, as others have said it's allergies. They have been bad this year. As others have said Benedryl helps, 1 mg. per pound of body weight, so most Frenchies will take one 25 mg. tablet. Don't worry if your Fenchie is a little under 25 pounds, it won't hurt them to take the whole pill. In fact our vet told us if they get a bad allergic reaction to something, we can give them a double dose and it won't hurt them. Henri got into something a few days ago and got hives, so we gave him 50 mg. of Benedryl twice a day for two days. We would have given him three double doses a day, but we were gone during the day.

frenchiept · Jul 16, 2015

Vet confirmed it was yeast! I have been doing the apple cider vinegar with water hydrogen peroxide for 5 days now. I soak his paws for 3 to 4 minutes but this morning he was licking again, i dont know if its still the yeast or if he smells the taste of the vinegar! How long should the soaking be? A week? 10 days? Or 5 days is enough?

2bullymama · Jul 17, 2015

frenchiept said:
Vet confirmed it was yeast! I have been doing the apple cider vinegar with water hydrogen peroxide for 5 days now. I soak his paws for 3 to 4 minutes but this morning he was licking again, i dont know if its still the yeast or if he smells the taste of the vinegar! How long should the soaking be? A week? 10 days? Or 5 days is enough?

you may want to try a little Benedryl to see if it helps with the itching.... soaking should be as needed, not everyday, it might be drying out his paws which is makig them itchy