Obsessive paw licking

Rudi Lim · Mar 9, 2016

Hello everyone! How's everything? It has been a while since I last posted.

I would like to ask if anyone here had any experience on obsessive paw lickings? Panda, currently 1 year 7 months old, has been licking his paws obsessively for the past few weeks. He has always been prone to yeast since puppy and is on full raw meals since 4 months old. I have been stopping him from licking but he would hide at a corner and licks them obsessively.

I usually soak his feet in 1/2 Hydrogen Peroxide and 1/2 water mixture once every few days. I was away for 8 days and I came back the condition got worse. This picture is taken after I soak his paws in the mixture.

Is there other ways to make him stop this behavior? I would be so grateful if anyone could shed some light by sharing your experience with me.

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2bullymama · Mar 9, 2016

He may be allergic to something in the environment.... Grass, tree, carpet a household cleaners. Do you have access to Benedyl or another over the counter allergy medicine?

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Rudi Lim · Mar 9, 2016

[MENTION=2]2bullymama[/MENTION] I have Zyrtec for allergies.

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Rudi Lim · Mar 9, 2016

[MENTION=2]2bullymama[/MENTION] I have also applied sudocream on the affected area.

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2bullymama · Mar 9, 2016

Rudi Lim said:
[MENTION=2]2bullymama[/MENTION] I have Zyrtec for allergies.

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You can give this.... I would do half pill a day to see if it helps at all.
[MENTION=4]davidh[/MENTION] [MENTION=1]bullmama[/MENTION] [MENTION=894]blushy[/MENTION] --- any other suggestions?

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Rudi Lim · Mar 9, 2016

Thank you [MENTION=2]2bullymama[/MENTION]. Yes I usually give half a pill.

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2bullymama · Mar 9, 2016

Maybe talk to your vet about allergy testing, if you haven't already.... See if you can identify the issue which will help better treat . Allergies are a beeotch!

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Rudi Lim · Mar 9, 2016

[MENTION=2]2bullymama[/MENTION] my area has no such facility. My friend actually recommended this but I am not sure if it really works.

https://immuneiq.com

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2bullymama · Mar 9, 2016

Rudi Lim said:
[MENTION=2]2bullymama[/MENTION] my area has no such facility. My friend actually recommended this but I am not sure if it really works.

https://immuneiq.com

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Interesting... Need to look into that. Thanks

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eeturk · Mar 9, 2016

Try an iodine soak. Dilute the iodine until it's the color of tea and soak panda's feet. Also, every time you come back from outside wipe panda's feet off with wipes to remove possible irritants. We give quercetin in the raw food to help with allergies too. We have an obsessive feet chewer.

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blushy · Mar 9, 2016

My pitbull used to obsessively lick Til my bedsheets would be rusty colored.

She had hay fever, environmental allergies which got horrible in the fall!

Benedryl helped tremendously and we never had to go further than that! I didn't even change her bath schedule or anything but I do use johnsons and johnsons oatmeal for my doggies baths! It helps soothe their itchy skin. I swear by it! Even had a friend with a bulldog with untamable allergies switch and voila!

Good luck! Keep us updated!

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WeeDex · Mar 9, 2016

I've got the same problem with Dexter - he loooooves chewing on his feet...... He wouldn't let up on it just this morning.

He has a dust mite allergy, so I think it's the carpets that bother him. Particularly when the heating comes on.

We use Sudocrem too when he has breakouts. It certainly helps on his chin and ears. Feet are awkward though - it's hard to stop him licking it off or walking it all over the floor.

I don't have any further suggestions I'm afraid as we've not yet been able to get it completely under control either. Allergies are so frustrating.

MaplesMommy · Mar 9, 2016

Have you tried different proteins to make sure its not a food sensitivity? That'd would be so much easier to deal with than environmental issues.

blushy · Mar 9, 2016

MaplesMommy said:
Have you tried different proteins to make sure its not a food sensitivity? That'd would be so much easier to deal with than environmental issues.

I was going to mention this but I was outside so I forgot!

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Jakeyjake · Mar 9, 2016

We are an allergy household as well. Jake licked his feet constantly until we started him on Apoquel. I also noticed a difference when I eliminated peas in his diet. Are you feeding fruits and veggies or just meat in his diet? I would eliminate anything that has a high sugar content (peas, carrots, etc) Yeast loves sugar. Also, if the Zyrtec doesn't help, try a different antihistamine if possible. Some dogs respond better to one over the other. I would also be careful with what medicine you are applying directly to the paws since he is licking them, or just use a cone on him. Good luck!

KimB3384 · Mar 9, 2016

MaplesMommy said:
Have you tried different proteins to make sure its not a food sensitivity? That'd would be so much easier to deal with than environmental issues.

Yes, ^^this, and you might need to get really strict with the diet if there's an issue with yeast. Beezy is prone to yeast and still had issues, despite switching her to raw. I had to basically put her on a yeast starvation diet, which means that anything that could potentially break down into sugar is off limits now. No fruits at all, no starchy veggies (carrots, peas, corn), no cheese, no potatoes or sweet potatoes. It sounds like I'm torturing her, but she still has plenty to eat and snack on. She loves, loves, loves to get fresh spinach leaves or frozen broccoli florets as snacks. I make sure that her treats are protein-only, no fillers or fruits. We haven't had a single issue with yeast since making the switch, and I don't have to soak her paws or give her medicated baths. No more trips to the vet for ear infections or crazy belly rashes.

Tgirl · Mar 9, 2016

Twiggy does the same thing every time I start to take her off of Apoquel. Probably an environmental allergy.

Rudi Lim · Mar 9, 2016

[MENTION=664]eeturk[/MENTION] Thank you, I may start looking into Quercetine and give the iodine soak a try. [MENTION=894]blushy[/MENTION] I have fed him Zyrtec. With me around he doesn't lick that much. I was away for 8 days and came back with these bad paws. It could be anxiety. [MENTION=1504]WeeDex[/MENTION] yes! Sudocream works wonders. Love it! I like to apply between the folds on the face 2x a week. [MENTION=377]MaplesMommy[/MENTION] I have tried all meat since he was a puppy duck, chicken, quail, lamb, beef, wild boar and venison. And he works best with beef, lamb and venison. So main is beef, but would change to lamb and venison once a while like after 3 months of beef, I would put him on 1 month lamb. [MENTION=600]Jakeyjake[/MENTION] it's pure raw meat diet, the 80-10-10 rule, topped with yoghurt. He won't eat any veg or fruits. He is a pure carnivore. Haha. I would try to look for Benedryl in Singapore. [MENTION=380]KimB3384[/MENTION] now you mentioned cheese. I do top up his meal with kefir yoghurt, just recently changed to plain Greek yoghurt, could this be the cause?

Thank you so much guys. It has been very informative!

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KimB3384 · Mar 10, 2016

Rudi Lim said:
[MENTION=380]KimB3384[/MENTION] now you mentioned cheese. I do top up his meal with kefir yoghurt, just recently changed to plain Greek yoghurt, could this be the cause? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Kefir shouldn't be an issue - it's a great probiotic, and if you have issues with yeast you definitely need a probiotic to help balance the gut flora and fight the yeast overgrowth in his system. I know you've listed a bunch of protein sources, and I see that you're from Indonesia so I'm not sure what you have access to, but I have found that with a yeasty, allergic dog cooling proteins work best. Does your dog feel warm - like, extremely warm - when he's on your lap? Mine got crazy hot to the touch if she was fed lamb or venison, so we now stick to bison, rabbit, and goat. We'll also do sardines on occasion. I really think that the protein switch helped to get things under control. Check out this chart for some other possible cooling/neutral suggestions.

Be patient, too. It took the better part of a year to get Beezy's system rebuilt and healthy. But you'll get there.

Cbrugs · Mar 10, 2016

Rudi Lim said:
[MENTION=2]2bullymama[/MENTION] my area has no such facility. My friend actually recommended this but I am not sure if it really works.

https://immuneiq.com

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I wouldn't waste my money on that. Before I took Jax to get an allergy test from the vet, I tried this hoping it would tell me something and while it did say he was allergic to grass (which he is), it also said he was fine with turkey and he is actually allergic to it.

It sounds like your guys might have environmental allergies. Jax is allergic to everything green outside and is on biweekly allergy shots plus daily Apoquel. I recently switched him to a raw diet and while that has helped tremendously, he still gets itchy and will lick his paws. I do the iodine paw soaks as needed and it does help. I also give him a bath once a week with a medicate shampoo. Allergies are a pain but once you get things figured out, it becomes more manageable.