My Dog Has An Allergy And Chews Her Feet, How Can I Get Her To Stop?
I recently talked with the lady who I got my dog as a puppy from and she said that the mom is allergic to wheat and fleas. She’s been on a wheatless diet now for a little over three weeks, the house has been bug bombed and baths are given weekly. But for some reason she continues to chew on the top of her back feet ( leaving bald spots with raw skin) and on the bottom of her front feet which there’s some open wounds. I’ve tried bandaging her feet up, making her wear a cone ( which she can still lift her back leg up to bite them), neosporine, diaper rash creame, and some other skin care gel I got from An-Jans.
Besiders her feet she also has red bumps on her belly. Any known solution to get her to stop chewing her feet? Is there something else I could do?
By the way I have taken her to the vet and 175 dollars later all I got was some antibiotics and was told to put her on flea medication which she is now on.
Tagged with: Allergy • Chews • Feet • Stop
Filed under: Flea Allergies In Dogs
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Two of my three shelties have the same problem. Last year I was told to give them salmon oil, so I started them on that. I give it to them 3-4 days a week. This year the allergy was very mild, hardly chewed at their feet at all and no bald or raw spots. The salmon oil is supposed to boost their immune system and obviously it did, because I did not change anything else. I feed Canidae.
Children’s benadryl is a great help when they are having an attack of this.
Also, I did not try this, but our breeder told me to get gentian violet from the pharmacy ($3) and to put it on the raw spots and let it dry. It will dry them up very quickly. Be careful this stuff stains, but I’m told that it works.
Good luck. Unfortunately there is no easy fix for this.
What food do you feed her?
Continue her wheatless diet, and stop giving her corn if you do.
Look at what meats she is eating and switch to a different meat-based food.
Give her no table scraps.
Be consistent with her new diet for at least a month.
My Golden had the same problem. Stop bathing her weekly, frequent baths dry out the skin and cause irritation.
Bath your dog once a month w/ a shampoo called Tegrin. You can find it in your grocery store. It’s a medicated dandruff shampoo. Use that and then condition w/ an oatmeal based conditioner. That helps to sooth and calm the skin while naturally promoting a healthy skin and coat.
Also purchase an oil called Linetone from petsmart or petco. it’s an oil that you can put on her food – there are special formulas for allergies. It helped tremendously w/ the nonwheat diet.
Also.. use A&D ointment on her wounds. (Just the regular kind will work) and use the bitter apple spray around the wound to deter her from licking the ointment off. It’ll take some time for the wounds to heal but if you keep this up she’ll be fine.
I haven’t had any hotspots, bald spots or chewing problems in almost 3 years!
Good Luck
Try this site and see if it helps you at all.http://www.allergicpet.com/dog_allergies…
I’d ask your Vet for diphenhydramine or Benadryl either shot form from your Vet or pill form you give daily for a while.
Your dog may need to be allergy tested, which is best done by specialist. If it’s a food allergy, you need to give the diet change time to work, and as another respondant said, some treats contain corn/wheat or whatever it may be that she is allergic to…so nothing but the prescribed food should be given ( ever) or you won’t know if the food is helping. As far as the possibility of it being a flea allergy…flea allergies only require ONE flea to land on her and bite her to cause a reaction…if you live in a flea heavy area, you may need to bomb more than once, and use a product with insect growth regulators and a residual action. Also you need to keep her treated with a spot-on product that is also has a repellent componant to keep any and all fleas from biting her. Lastly, the bumps on the belly could be a reaction to whatever product you used to treat your carpet, since it sounds like a contact dermatitis. You might want to consider taking her to a specialist in pet allergies…a bit more expensive, but you’ll be more likely to resolve the issue.
Maybe she’s allergic to yeast, which is in by nature. You’re probably also bathing her too often, which can acerbate skin problems.
My Lab does the same thing, the vet tested her and she has dust allergies, she needs immune therapy injections monthly and antihistamines when it flares up, but she is a lot better now and has stopped nibbling at her paws.
I should go back to the vets and get them to check for any allergies.
It can take up to two months to see total improvement in a dog with allergies, even when you find the right food. That being said, you might look into avoiding corn and chicken as well. It is quite common for dogs to have allergies/intolerance to those as well. Also, look at the treats you are giving her. In my experience in retail, a lot of people forget to check the ingredients in the biscuits they give their dogs. Some edible chews also have wheat or corn in them as well.
My dog has allergies too,she chews herself raw. It is very important to keep flea preventative on her. It really works.
put neosprin on it my friends dog has that same problem
could be food allergies or environmental ones. what sort of diet is she on? if the food contains any chicken, beef, corn, soy, turkey, or lamb she could be allergic to any of those ingredients. try putting her on a hypoallergenic diet for at least 8 weeks to help determine if its a food allergy. has she ever been on steroids? steroid responsive dogs generally suffer from environmental allergies and not food allergies. or she could have both. my boy pap has both types. the only thing that help his environmental allergies is atopica. talk to your vet about it.
Time for a new vet.
She may be allergic to wheat, corn, other grains, beef or other items in her food. She may also have inhalent allergics as well. You have to figure out what she’s allergic to and then remove it. If that’s not possible, you treat the symptoms of the allergen if needed.
You start with the food trial – feed something they’ve never had before. My allergy dog is on Venison and Potato. It took 2 months for her to stop the chewing, the licking, the horrible ears etc but it worked. It’s not a quick cure.
In the summer we treat her inhalent allergies with antihistamines when she needs them.
If your vet isn’t going to talk with you about a real food trial or talk about allergies, it’s time to find another vet that will.
My girl is off all meds now. We have her allergies under control and she’s fine. Some dogs that have more serious allergies need medication in addition to a change in diet.
BTW – no treats other than the food. Any small amount of food that’s not in the diet can cause the dog to go back into the allergy cycle. This includes Heartguard. Switch to a topical Heartworm preventative.
They sell dog booties which I use on my dog to protect the floor. They could keep your dog from getting at her feet to begin with. But make you take your dog with you when buying them so you get the right ones, adn make sure they can be tightened on well so they don’t come off.
She may have rabies.