Licking paw (again)

[Willow and J]

I know this topic has come up a million times by now, but I'm posting again because I really need a solution.

So. Here's the picture:

Willow has been licking one back paw obsessively for a month now. This is after we put her on limited ingredient diet, anti-histamine, and immunotherapy shots. Her allergic symptoms are all gone except for this paw, and we're thinking it's yeast and not allergy for that reason.

When Willow was tested for allergy in March, she was diagnosed for yeast on paw(s?) and was put on anti-fungal. She was not licking paws then, but she has since May-June. I know if we take her to a vet, she'd be on anti-fungal again, but I'm not so keen on putting her on medication so often. Willow has been diagnosed with yeast in her paws pretty much every time we took her in (once in 3 months or so) regardless of licking or not, and I have a feeling that anti-fungal meditation is not working very well on her (or she's getting less responsive to it.)

We use "the powder" for her ears but not paws, but it's gotten so bad that we dusted her paw with it, put a bootie on to prevent licking. We tried this a couple of times and it did not work. We are not going to try it again since licking the powder is BAD for dogs anyway.

We tried Benedryl spray, hydrocortisone ointment, ACV, AND Listerine. Nothing worked. She loves licking ACV and Listerine. Willow is one of those rare doodle who would lick ANYTHING, sour, bitter, sweet, you name it.

We trimmed her nails and paws and looked closely several times and didn't find any scrapes or injury. 

So, her Daddy, out of frustration, has been putting a bootie on her when she's inside, which is bad for yeast, and we were completely out of ideas.

What should we do?? 

[Christine & Camus]

Camus recently had a yeast infection in one paw.  The dermatologist cleaned his paw and said to apply Tri-Otic 2x daily and I put a sock on during the day to deter licking.

[Willow and J]

Thank you for the information. I'll ask about it to our vet.

[Cathy, Fozzie & Shaggy]

Licking the foot is such a frustratingly hard thing to stop, we couldn't get Gus, my lab, to stop no matter what we did and we tried SO many things over 13 years. When the licking started it was related to ear infections. When the ears were good the licking wasn't so bad. But over the years the licking got worse and worse even as the ear problems got better. He shredded everything we covered it with and would become almost catatonic with a cone of shame. His chewing became a nervous habit we couldn't stop even with antianxiety meds. It seems like someone posted, a while ago, about using vinegar on the paw but I don't remember exactly what was said.
Good luck - I sure hope you have much better success stopping the paw chewing than we did!!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

In Willow's case, there are diagnosed allergies which makes it hard to know what is causing the paw licking, as paw licking and chewing is a very common symptom of allergies. And of course, if the dog is licking because of the intense itching caused by an allergic histamine response, it's necessary not just to stop the licking (to prevent infection) but also to relieve the dog's discomfort. If it's just a nervous habit, something like a bootie would be fine, but if it's due to intense itching, you have to do something to stop the histamine response. 

[Willow and J]

Karen - what's puzzling for us is that other itching and scratching has disappeared, but this paw licking is a new thing. Ever since I read your first comment, I wonder if this licking paw is related to her ACL injury... she limps slightly still and the itching paw is the side she favors. Could this be???

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If she has/had an abrasion or some other kind of injury to the paw itself, I think it's possible. They do lick wounds, sores, cuts, bug bites or stings, anything that hurts, itches or bothers them. 

[Willow and J]

That's scary. I hope this doesn't set in as a habit for us...

[Michael]

We have recently started to deal with this issues too with Zephyr our 2 year old Labradoodle. First of all thank you all so much for this great site and forum where I've been able to read tons of useful information and know that we're not alone.

I also started searching other sites this morning for information and came across this one:

http://www.dogpawlicking.com/home.html which is actually filled with a lot of great information too. Please excuse if this has been posted before but for those like myself looking for answers I found it a great read and a huge help.

thanks,

michael

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Some of the information on this website is not accurate. I didn't spend a lot of time reading, but I did read some of it and some of the information on fatty acids is incorrect. Evening primrose oil does help, but not because of anything to do with Omega 9 fatty acids, which it does not contain and which are not helpful for allergy related itching. Flax seed is a good source of fatty acids for people but not for dogs. Also, blood tests are worthless in terms of diagnosing allergies. Your best bet for accurate information on any kind of health issue is a veterinary website.

We also have a lot of info on some of this in the Health Group and info on fatty acid supplements in The Food Group. 

[Willow and J]

Willow developed itching around 1.5 - 2 year mark also, and I learned through Atopic Dermatitis group on DK, and Karen that it is typical age for AD. In addition to ears and paws, under arm, and shoulders were really bad for Willow. Long story short, we put her on limited ingredient diet (and by doing so, we now know that she is allergic to chicken, egg, and fish, and we're still testing more) AND immunotherapy shots for her seasonal and indoor allergies. But the good news is, with these two done (which we thought was daunting before we started, but once we did, they were not very difficult to do), Willow's itching is all most completely gone! I hope Zephyr's allergy is not as severe as Willow's, but I'd recommend reading posts on Atopic Dermatitis group for further information. 

[Michael]

Great thank you, I will continue the search and post anything that seems to be working for Zeph. 

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

I realize that some do not agree with me on this but I posted a while back about Rooney licking his front paws.  I now dip once a day into a small dish with Listerine mouth wash and the licking HAS STOPPED COMPLETELY.   Call me crazy but we've seen a complete stop of the licking and no side effects.