Itchy, biting feet

I knew it wasn't fleas and was pretty sure it was an allergy of some kind.  We've only had him a few weeks - I adopted him from a 'breeder' (won't go into my feelings there).  We're in eastern Tennessee now, not Florida.   I had someone else suggest possibly the water (I use tap water - bad bad mom) and possibly the food.  We've switched his food 3 times in the few weeks we've had him.  The breeder had him on 'high quality food' - Ol Roy High Protein.  I cringed when I heard that but bit my tongue knowing I was getting him out of a bad situation.  We used Innova Evo at the time, but the rottweilers had such bad gas the paint was peeling off our walls, so we switched to Nutro Ultra.  Someone suggested trying bottled water (which we started last night) and California Natural dog food.  Of course - I'm just 2 bags from a free bag of the Nutro!!
 
I will find those pads too and try that.  It can't be carpet or grass as someone on a chihuahua forum suggested as we have all slate and hardwood floors, and the grass is long dead here - just messy TN clay and leaves!!  I'll have to have hubby try to find the tea tree oil as I have a terrible allergy to that myself - leaves me with massive ugly hives - yuck!
 
Thanks for all the advice all!

Ok, time for me to chime in []
 
If you look in between the dogs toes, does it look reddish/brown??
 
If it does, it is yeast.
 
You can give your dog (since he is small I'm assuming?) up to 2 Benadryl a day.
 
If you don't want to do that, takeyour dog to the vet and get some advice from them..
 
(Sorry if you already said you went to the vet--I don't pay much attention)

I agree with the point about it possibly being a yeast infection.  My allergy lab has had several bouts of that.  I think though that you sometimes can treat even a yeast infection with the tea solution, the malesab wipes, or even a vinegar/water solution.  I just requires staying on top of it (doing it at least 2-3 times per day) and yes, the benadryl can calm down the itching, which should calm down the licking, which hopefully will help the yeast infection to clear up.  You can find the tea tree oil at most drugstores.  I bought mine at Walgreens.  I always caution folks to go easy with it though.  A little is all that's usually necessary and my girl had a strong (unpleasant) reaction to the smell the first time I used it.  Apparently she's not into aromatherapy []

Thanks, cakana
 
I forgot to add the medication Dulce took that worked MIRACLES:
 
Cephylexin (sp?) It smells gross, but it WORKS. Also, she is on an anti-fungal medication, but I forgot the name of it.
 
Basically, her feet are now PINK, and prettier than ever

ORIGINAL: Misskiwi67

If you're currently using malacetic, you'll LOVE the malaseb. I get malacetic free because I'm a vet student, but malaseb works just as well, and smells so much better that I gladly pay the overinflated teaching hospital prices to use them instead.

Lol, it's amazing how different people's opinions can be. Malaseb is a great shampoo, but I absolutely hate the smell! When I used to work at a vet I had to bathe a Sheltie twice a week in that stuff and I just about gagged everytime. [:'(] Recently I got a bottle of Malaseb for my guinea pig and I had forgotten how bad that stuff smells! Now DVM's Hylyt shampoo, that's the stuff dreams are made of. []

Its only a dream in comparison to malAcetic... which is what someone else is currently using... 

Its only a dream in comparison to malAcetic... which is what someone else is currently using...

 
  Aw........ MalAcetic doesn't smell that bad [], but if you use them on areas of the skin that are red, they will sting.[]
 
  mrs1885; how's Butch doing; are his feet any better?

We had that trouble too. Our vet said it was a one of two things:

1) An enviromental allergy, possibly to the grass

2) A nutritional deficit, they normally show themselves in the skin or paws.

We changed our food to a home cooked diet, and since then.....no troubles.

Good Luck

our miniature schnauzer bites at her feet at the time, our vet said it was dust mites. We shouldn't let her sleep on the couch or carpet. He said to give her benadryl for it also.

lex_cbt

our miniature schnauzer bites at her feet at the time, our vet said it was dust mites. We shouldn't let her sleep on the couch or carpet. He said to give her benadryl for it also.

 

   Jessie has many allergies; we had her tested, and dust mites is her worst one. The highest concentration of dust mites in the home is mattresses; so if your dog sleeps on your bed, she's getting a heavy exposure. To control them, you need to either enclose your mattress and pillows in covers made for reducing allergy exposure or change your bedding at least once a week and wash it in hot water to kill the mites. Drying the bedding on high heat kills them too. Jessie lays on the carpeting and furniture, but I vacuum twice weekly with a HEPA vacuum, which has a special filter that traps almost 100% of allergens. Dust mites grab onto the carpet fibers but the vacuum gets their droppings and the outer skin  they shed, which is what your dog reacts to. I also clean Jessie's feet with either chlorhexadine gluconate wash  Malaseb wipes twice a week to reduce the amount of yeast.  Good luck; I hope you find some relief for your girl.
 

Ok, her it goes.  I am new to this site but have been reading so many of the posts and quite often they are diffinitive of what is going on with my Lab.  She is constantly chewing on her feet, one is completely bald, and they are very irritated on the inside of the pads and between the toes.  She has also chewed at her groin and vaginal area to the point that is looks either bald or a five o'clock shadow.  The inside of her rear legs are losing hair and show signs of a rash.   Meds?  You name it....nothing has worked!  We also just washed down the drain $400.00 for the allergy testing.  This merely showed a 50 on the MAU for Venison.  Venison!  My husband does bag a deer each year but she has only seen one of those bucks.  She was so spooked by it that she avoided it for the three days it hung in the garage!  I mean she RAN through that garage to keep it from getting her...ha-ha!  At that she was only a year old!  What gives, I don't know but I am doggone sick of all the run around.  I just purchased some Selsun Blue as I read on the posts may help.  Her skin is not by any means oily though.  Steriods, forget it!  I was told it could damage her liver.  She is on Derma caps once a day.  The itching & chewing has continued.  Yikes....help!   I am really put alot of my trust in what I am reading on the forums since all here seem to be dealing with the same issues.

 

Tallulah

She was so spooked by it that she avoided it for the three days it hung in the garage!  I mean she RAN through that garage to keep it from getting her...ha-ha! 

- my lab would be the exact same way. Just a suggestion for getting more help, but you might want to do a cut and paste of your post and start a new one. Sometimes people (me included) see a post that was started a long time ago and don't pay much attention to it.

Much of what you're describing sounds like what I went thru. Has the vet done any culture & sensitivity tests on the feet or other areas? I've been thru so much and had varying results with different treatments, so here's what I've experienced. Sassy had a very bad infection on her tummy and after months and months of antibiotics, special baths, etc., it finally cleared up on it's own.  Several months later, she developed an infection on her feet, mostly on the 2 front feet. They were so swollen that she would barely walk.  After a few weeks of antibiotics, the vet felt our only option was try a course of oral prednisone. Within 2 days, the swelling was down and by the time we finished the 2 wk course of pred, all evidence of an infection was gone. Yes, steroids have their downsides but they can also be very useful if used sparingly and only after ruling out all other possibilities.

Have you used any antihistamines?  I use them daily for Sassy. I give her 75 mg of benadryl (generic version) in the AM and PM and when she's having a really bad time and I'm home, I give them to her mid-day too.

As for shampoos, I had the absolute best luck with Nu Sal T. I ordered it online, so that's kind of a hassle, but it helped immensely. We still use it even though Sassy hasn't had any real problems for about a year now *knocks on wood*  Selsun Blue is definitely worth a try too though.

Just a thought but is it possible that she's allergic to the deer itself and not actually to eating the meat?  I mean, if you think about it a lot of people have serious allergic reactions to cats but they don't actually eat the cat . Is it possible that the dander or whatever from the deer is in enough areas of your garage or home (if DH brings clothing/gear inside after hunting)? I guess it's a stretch, but just something to consider.

Tallulah

We also just washed down the drain $400.00 for the allergy testing.  This merely showed a 50 on the MAU for Venison. 

 

   Was this for food allergies or did it include environmental allergies? According to my veterinary dermatologist, Blood tests for food allergies are unreliable,  but are accurate for environmental allergies.  I agree with Cathy; try the Benedryl. You can also give 2 derm caps; it won't hurt and it may help. Steroids aren't my first choice either but sometimes a short term dose is necessary to break the cycle of itching and help the skin heal. For the feet, have you tried Callie's black tea treatment? Make some strong black tea and apply it to your dog's feet. You can use a spray bottle, squeeze bottle, or whatever works for you. It should help.
 

At 500P last evening, March 4th, 2008...Tuz' had another vet appointment.  This one ran 150.00 dollars!  We were issued some Malaseb Shampoo to try.  (As I am typing this she out there chewing the heck out of her foot!)   My husband and I are going to try the homecooking stuff.  I was mentioning to the vet that I have been doing alot of research on my own via the internet and she seemed to tune me out with all the suggestions that I have read.  The hubby kind of chuckled at her, right there in front of her, that she didn't want to hear me out.  Her allergy testing was done by Greer  in Lenoir, NC; the heading of the paperwork says Aller-g-complete.  I am going to attempt later to scan this document and then post it for all to see and then I would like to hear suggestions, comments and disagreements with what some may see as inaccurate results.  Who knows...

AT THIS POINT, I am going up to give her the Dermacaps AND also some Benedryl.  Chat later and thanks for the input thus far.

   Do you have ProPlan in your area; I have heard of excellent results with their Sensitive Skin and Stomach formula and their Selects Salmon and Brown Rice. Have you tried the black tea for her feet; it really should help. Please be careful of the internet when researching home cooking; the majority of recipes will not be balanced. Monica Segal is an animal nutritionist who can provide you with a carefully balanced recipe for a consultation fee. You can also order her booklets for $6.95, one of which has cooked diet recipes;

http://www.monicasegal.com/catalog/product.php?cPath=25_26&products_id=87