Constant Paw Licking and Chewing....

[Frances Pendrous (Horan)]

Help...my doodle has starting chewing and licking on her the inside of her paws until they are blood red. We thought it was possibly a food allergy so we changed her diet to not include chicken (chicken used to give her diarrhea as a puppy) So now she eats only high quality, no grain, dried food and either beef, lamb etc, but still to no avail. Apart from taking her to the vet for a steroid shot, I am completely baffled. We even stopped her from going out in into the garden for any length of time as we felt it was something either on the grass or in the soil...Please...any suggestions or idea????

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

How old is she?
The most common cause of paw licking such as you describe is seasonal allergies (also known as environmental or inhalant allergies, or Atopic Dermatitis). Food is to blame in only ten percent of cases, and it is not caused by coming into contact with grass, carpet cleaners, etc. It is caused by inhaling organic substances like pollen, mold, dust, and the other environmental substances that cause misery to humans with allergies. But instead of runny noses, etc., in dogs, the worst symptom is itching. It almost always starts with the paws. Typically, symptoms start between 1 and 3 years of age.
You can help alleviate the symptoms by giving one 500 mg. evening primrose oil capsule per day. Antihistamines help too, but Benadryl is the least effective for inhalant allergies in dogs. Your vet may not know what antihistamines to prescribe, general practice vets are not allergy specialists, just as your general practice physician is not an allergist.
If it is a pollen allergy, wiping the dog down with a damp cloth and rinsing her feet when she comes indoors can help, but we don't know if it's a pollen allergy. Her feet need to be kept thoroughly dry, in any case. Use an OTC spray from the pet supply store on her feet to relieve the itching. For dust mite and storage mite allergies, you try to keep her sleeping areas dust free and wash her bowls daily with hot water & soap. It all depends on what the allergens are, and the only way to know that is to do allergy skin testing.
But in the meantime, what she's doing to her paws can and will cause an infection unless it's treated. The vet will do a skin scraping and possibly prescribe meds, including steroids. Even though we would like to avoid giving unnecessary drugs, sometimes it is necessary to stop suffering and keep her feet from becoming infected. What you are describing sounds like there may already be infection going on. Steroids are also given in pill form, which is safer. I would definitely take her to the vet.

[Frances Pendrous (Horan)]

Thanks Karen for the sound advice. I hope you are right as we have nearly eliminated every food source and still the girl is licking herself silly. She is 17months old so I guess the age range is correct. I will take her to my vet, who is very holistic in his approach to animals, so I am sure he can sort out what is going on. Again, thanks for the advice and we will wipe those dreaded "bear-like" paws everytime she goes out...

[Summer Promisloff]

Hi Karen & Jack,

 

I haven't much experience with these forum dialogs, so forgive me if I'm not quite following protocol, but I wanted to thank you very much for the concise and enlightening information you've given to fellow Doodle moms & dads about potential reasons for excessive paw licking/chewing, eye rubbing, etc. over the course of time in these different forums.  I have gleaned enough information from your many answers to these allergy related questions to feel much better about getting my Sammi Doodle some relief from his incessant paw licking.  I've been increasingly worried about his paw licking, but couldn't convince my husband that it was an issue until I was able to share your informative answers with him and then physically show my husband the difference between Sammi's three normal looking paws (Sammi seems to favor only one paw, so far) versus the paw that Sammi has licked until much of the hair is gone and the paw webbing is bright red.

 

Once again, thank you so very much for sharing your experience and knowledge often in these forum discussions!

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm glad you were able to find some relief for Sammi!

[Diana Erhart]

Charlie has had several bouts of this and it appears to be seasonal allergy related. After the third skin infection from the constant scratching, our vet recommended wiping Charlie down with a baby wipe every time he comes in from outside. We have been diligent about doing this and it really has helped. He doesn't itch much at all anymore and hasn't had a skin infection since we started doing this. Plus he smells alot better after coming in from outside! Definitely get your doodle checked for skin infections and she may need something to initially get the allergic reaction under control. Good luck!

[Frances Pendrous (Horan)]

Thank you Diana. Yes indeed. I am beginning to think is not food allergies but environment. I will do the baby wipe thing with those huge paws of hers, and also it will keep my floors clean too. I will also take her to the vet for a quick check up and see if there is anything else going on. Many thanks for the reply.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Darwin had this issue a while back. It was right as they started mowing the lawn at my apartment complex. He was constantly licking and biting his paws. We did three things. We stopped walking him on the lawn right after it had been cut, we wiped his paws off when he came in with baby wipes. Also, we regularly gave him EPO, (1 capsule per day) which has dramatically reduced his itching. That basically did the trick, so we concluded it was the grass irritating his feet.

Perhaps it is a seasonal allergy?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Cutting the grass also releases more pollens into the air, so it could have been inhalation of the pollen, too.

[Camilla and Darwin]

That makes a lot of sense, as he itched other places too besides his paws.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Same thing happens with us when the grass is cut frequently AND when the leaves start falling (they bother Peri). I have finally located EPO in 500 mil. tablets and Peri has been having one a day for almost 2 weeks. I am already noticing a difference. I also wipe her paws off after walking outside.

[Frances Pendrous (Horan)]

Thank you for the great advice. Where exactly do I purchase EPO tablets for her??? The baby wipes are an easy find but the tablets????

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

They're softgels, like vitamin E capsules, and you can get them at some grocery stores and pharmacies, Whole Foods, GNC, etc. Most places that have a good selection of vitamin & mineral supplements. They're human supplements.
But she really does need to see the vet. The EPO will help reduce the itching, but they won't reverse the damage that's already done. That dark red color between the paws tells me there may already be an infection going on.