LICKING HIS PAWS AND THEY LOOK RED AND SORE

[Guest Anonymous]

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My pomerianain keeps licking the insides of his paws. They look red and sore. He doesn't have any problem walking. His paw pads look just fine.
Can you tell me where to look for what it is, or how to clear his feet problem?
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[MajiesMom]

It sounds like allergies. Magic was allergic to a certain type of food and she kept licking her paws. They were red and were bleeding with scabs. What do you feed him?

[mouseatthebusstop]

could carpet cleaner "shake and vac"

[imported_Cassie]

There are many reasons why a dog can develop chronic licking of the paws and lower legs. Some underlying causes for excessive licking include allergies, skin mites, fungal infections, arthritis, trauma, foreign bodies, tumors, and neurological disease. Some dogs develop excessive/chronic licking because it makes them feel good and eases boredom...the act of licking releases endorphins in the brain which provide a sense of well being which starts an itch-lick cycle.

The best thing to do is to have your dog examined by your veterinarian.
Your veterinarian may ask you questions such as when the licking started, whether your dog licks all the time, only during certain seasons, or only when he is alone. The answers to these questions will help determine if there is an underlying cause. Your veterinarian may also recommend some tests, such as a skin scraping, a fungal culture, or a skin biopsy.

You could try a change in diet first to rule out a food intolerance. Stay away from foods containing beet pulp (beet pulp is a cheap filler and has been known to cause excessive licking of the paws) Avoid any type of sugars (sugars can be listed as corn syrup, sucrose, and ammoniated glycyrrhizin)
stay away from any foods containing artificial coloring, or preservatives such as BHA, BHT, Potassium sorbate, sodium nitrate, calcium propionate and especially ethoxyquin.

There are probably others who can and will recommend some wonderful dog foods. With one of my Newfoundland dogs which suffers allergies I have had great success with medical hypoallerginic dog food and I supplement her diet with home cooked meals and raw foods. I also give her plenty of foods which contain omega 3 fatty acids which are great for dogs suffering allergies. I feed ground flax seeds (organic), hemp oil, organic flax oil, canned sardines and wild pacific salmon.
Its also a good idea to give your dog live bio organic yogurt for the beneficial bacteria.
I have also found that a herb called astragalus can help boost the immunity...I give it to my dogs, and I take it myself during cold and flu session :wink: my girl with allergies gets this herb daily with her food. You could also add echinacea to boost the dogs immune system, just don't give echinacea any longer than a couple of weeks.

Good luck :wink:

[TDG]

[quote name='Cassie']beet pulp is a cheap filler and has been known to cause excessive licking of the paws[/quote]

i've never heard of that. beet pulp is a source of moderately fermentable fiber, which is very beneficial for intestinal health - moreso than many other sources.

the only thing you should look for is that the beet pulp is not a [b]main[/b] ingredient of the food, in which case it does serve as a filler rather than as a fiber supplement.

i've been studying commercial pet foods for four years now and all the negative publicity about beet pulp is one of the things i have not yet been able to get any reliable proof for. not in regards to bloat, changes in coat color, allergies or any other issue.

[imported_Cassie]

TDG,
I should have stated "sugar beet pulp".

Here is a little info on sugar beet pulp

[quote]Sugar beet pulp is a by-product of the sugar industry. It is added to some pet foods as a "filler" to slow down the transition of (rancid) animal fats which are essentially toxic waste. The body tries to expel these fats as quickly as possible and diarrhea is the most efffective way. Sugar Beet Pulp is used to hold this toxic waste in. [b]This may cause the feet to swell which in turn may cause the dog to lick its feet[/b]. [/quote]

This information I obtained from my phamplet which came with my solid gold dog food. If this information is wrong then I do apologise for mentioning it.

[Mojo's Mom]

I have a question as to how much Benadryl to give my dog. He is a 60lb husky and he's 5 yrs old. Also, do you give it just once a day or the way you would a child, every 4-6 hours?
One other thing, does anyone know if you can give your dog Claritin for allergies?

[ESSlover]

mocha would always knaw (?) on her paws and we got her allergy tested and it turned out she was alergic to 11 things :o including the grass in our backyard. after we got her on medicine and shots :shock: (me and my dad could never watch) she stopped it all together. you may want to get her tested. it is a bit expensive tho like 150 fer the testing and then depending on the medicine and shots and checkups.... woa-zers

[TDG]

[quote name='Cassie'][quote]Sugar beet pulp is a by-product of the sugar industry. It is added to some pet foods as a "filler" to slow down the transition of (rancid) animal fats which are essentially toxic waste. The body tries to expel these fats as quickly as possible and diarrhea is the most efffective way. Sugar Beet Pulp is used to hold this toxic waste in. [b]This may cause the feet to swell which in turn may cause the dog to lick its feet[/b]. [/quote]

This information I obtained from my phamplet which came with my solid gold dog food. If this information is wrong then I do apologise for mentioning it.[/quote]

i was talking about sugar beet pulp too. :)

unfortunately, solid gold (and many other pet food companies as well) tend to put down ingredients they do not use themselves in an effort to let their food stand out from the rest. the most common "target" for this practice are ingredients like wheat, corn, beef and so on. ever noticed that solid gold very rarely uses chicken in their products for example? that's another one of those different approaches.

this doesn't necessarily mean that an ingredient they don't use is harmful or dangerous.

it is true that beet pulp is a byproduct of the human food industry, but so are for example brewer's rice, brewer's yeast, a variety of organ meats, whey and other ingredients. the difference is that beet pulp is used for its specific properties as a fiber source, not directly as a source of nutrients. the only situation where i would be wary of beet pulp is in products that are overall of poor quality already, and in products where it is listed as one of the main ingredients (before the first fat source).

beet pulp has low solubility and moderate fermentability.

solubility refers to the water-holding capacity of fiber sources. highly soluble fibers, such as pectin, vegetable gums, mucilages, a few types of hemicellulose and fructo-oligo-saccharides have a high water-holding capacity, slow the rate of nutrient absorption and increase the gastrointestinal transit time ("holding in" whatever is to be digested, to phrase it in the words of that dog food pamphlet). most types of highly soluble fiber are also highly fermentable by the (beneficial) bacteria of the large intestine.

insoluble fiber types (cellulose, lignin, most hemicelluloses) have a much, much lower water-holding capacity, cause a decrease in gastric transit time, moving the chyme (the food mash that is to be digested) through the intestines at a faster speed, and excreting it with less water retained.

so, going back to solid gold's claims, they picked the wrong fiber source for their claims of "holding in" harmful ingredients the body wants to expel.

there is no doubt that manufacturers of poor quality feeds use high amounts of beet pulp as a "stool hardener" in order to keep dog owners happy who would otherwise revolt if they had to pick up huge, soft stools resulting from feeding foods that contain only approximately 10-20% meat.

but used in moderation, such as for example in high-end brands like eagle pack, life's abundance and artemis it is definitely not harmful.

allergies and food sensitivities occur in many animals for many different reasons and the allergens vary widely. i'm sure there is a possibility that some animals react to beet pulp, just like some react to wheat, or chicken, or other things, but it is certainly not the major irritant it is made out to be by some companies.

[imported_Cassie]

Thanks for the information TDG, I am glad this came up. It never even occured to me that they would use this as a marketing ploy...poor naive me :lol: :wink:

[TDG]

you are welcome. :)

it's quite interesting to follow all those little battles of "our food is better than yours", especially when you are somewhat familiar with the ingredients the pet food industry uses.