Mutilating Paws - Out of Options - What do we do?

Dog Lover-
I am so very glad that you decided to post for help on i-dog. This is truly a wonderful group of people with some great advice.  I wish I had found these folks earlier as it would have saved me a lot of time spent on the internet searching for answers to my dogs allergy and feet problems and  it would have saved me 100's of dollars in unnecessary vet visits due to worry!
 
I am very glad to hear that you are going to another vet. Although it looks like there were quite a number of things that your other vet has tried, I think that some of the basics were left out (especially a full panel of bloodwork that should have been one of the first things done).  I also am really not sure about the Prozac. . . seems like there might have been some other options to try first, but I am no expert!
 
There may be no easy answer to the problems you are having because there may be multiple things going on with your dog's systems. What I can tell you is that I have a really good feeling that a few simple changes and tests may make all the difference for your dog and families hapiness.
 
For me just figuring out there was an allergy to grass and other environmental things, 20 days of antibiotics, a food change, daily feet washing (and use of the "tea mixture") that was suggested has made ALL the difference. JJ's feet went from ractically a bloody mess with obsessive licking, to now pinkish to slightly red feet with rare licking in just a matter of days.    The problem hasn't gone away, but is absolutely managable and my dog is so much happier now. []
 
I hope your vet trip goes well today and please let the group know how it went. There are lots of great suggestions on this thread so far and I know that sometimes that can be overwhelming, but I really do believe that your case is not hopeless nor will it cost 1000's of dollars to treat and manage the condition.
 
Lots' of good thoughts and wishes coming your way from a folks on this forum!
 
Shelly
 

ORIGINAL: cakana

I have not seen any change in his behaviour even after months of changing his diet. infact his is chewing his paws a lot more now and I can hear him going at it several times in the middle of the night. He sleeps with us and his constant licking is aggravating my husband because his licking wets the bedsheets.

If your dog has developed a yeast infection on the feet, changing his food won't help that. You'll need some antibiotics and if he's chewing that much, I'd bet my next paycheck, he's got a yeast (or bacterial) infection.   If you can get that cleared up, you might find the food is really able to make a difference.

 
He has developed scaley patches all over his body recently.  The chewing started before this skin situation developed; however, the chewing has become worse lately, so I do wonder if there is a correlation between the two.  Someone suggested Malaseb shampoo and products for fungal/yeast problems.  I will ask the vet about that today, too.  Now I'm wondering if the problem is yeast/fungal related.  I wish the appointment time would hurry and get here!  I'm so anxious and hopeful that I will get some answers today or at least put on the right path.  I appreciate everyone's help and suggestions.  []

Now I'm thinking it could be a staph infection too.
oh I wish I was closer to look at Snowball!
 
Malaseb shampoo will help if it is fungal, so will Kelco Filthy Animal along with the cephalexin. Urgh I know there is a shampoo Callie recommended when Honey had her bout with Staph 2 years ago..its a benzoyl peroxide shampoo, I couldn't locate it and used the Filthy Animal and that cleared it up within 2 weeks

I use Nu Sal T shampoo and it's worked better than anything the vet gave us (Ketachlor), but that's just me.  We bathe Sassy weekly and it seems to help. You can use some of the tea solution as a final rinse after the bath too.  1:4 ratio of vinegar to water can help balance the ph too, but you don't want to use that if there's sores or irritation.  The tea doesn't cause any problems though.
 
When were going thru our worst time this past spring (you can read my stories in the health section, under allergies, skin and coat and anything to do with Sassy), the vet did a culture and sensitivity.  That's what I was referring to with the skin scraping.  They put it in a petri dish and see what grows.  Then they see what they can use to kill what's growing.  Sassy had staph, pseudomonas and yeast...she was quite the mess [X(].  Without doing some deeper testing like this, the vets really doing a "best guess" on what and how to treat it.  We ultimately had to do a skin biopsy because even after all of the antibiotics, it wouldn't clear up.  As I said, I've been down this road, and I know it can be long and oh so expensive.

On the not drinking enough, I remember reading on here about making plain (no salt) chicken broth and adding that to his water bowl.  You can boil the chicken, then add the chicken to a dish for your family so nothing is wasted. [] 

When my girl Jezebelle got sick, she quit drinking enough. I made some chicken broth and added it to her water - she went back to drinking. I had to pick her water bowl up and offer it to her several times during the hour to begin with or she tried to drink it all LOL. And of course the peeing that insued - we went out every few minutes to begin with!!  I froze the rest in an ice tray and keep it in the freezer in a zip lock bag.  That way I have it when I need it again, and the frozen cube will be just about the right amount to put in her water bowl.

Hope the new vet can give you some more help. I know how hard this is on you....Prayers being offered for you.

Update:  We just got back from the vet's office.  He did a skin scraping, which came back negative.  He is doing a DTM fungal culture, but the results won't be available for 3-10 days.  Snowball was given a steroid injection, and he is now on Antirobe drops (antibiotic) and Chlorpheniramine (antihistamine).  I also bought the Malaseb shampoo.  The vet decided to hold off on the blood work to see if Snowball responds to this treatment.  If Snowball does not respond, the vet said he would want to refer us to a specialist (dermatologist) about two hours from here.  I'm not sure we will do anything else beyond this.  This is exhausting and expensive ($179 just for today, and that does not include the two previous vet appointments and medications in the past week!).

I am so glad you posted an update. I just read through this whole thread and my thoughts and prayers are with Snowball and your family.
 
I will probably be thinking about you and Snowball for the rest of the night and will continue to look here for updates so please, continue to keep us posted.
 
Good luck!
 
 

A bloodtest will diagnose a problem.  You can try all of the treatments people are talking about,  but until you have a diagnosis, you won't be able to know just what is wrong with the animal.
GET a bloodwork profile done or you are going to be doing a lot of guess work again. 

[8|]

Please keep us posted with your progress if there is any. I think the new vet is probably on the right track as to what could be wrong. We can't diagnose what is happening with your dog and we are not vets, although we do have some on the forum. We can only guess and assume what is going on by what you are telling us.
 
I feel very strongly from what you have posted that you can find a simple solution. Like I said earlier, it just might take time to find the solution.
 
Perfect example, my son is handling a dog this year who is not ours, he came to us on benydryl and amoxicillian because his feet were broken out and he had bumps on his head. I questioned his owner about lawn service, no. He was eating Euk puppy at 9 months old, got him switched over to Solid Gold Hunden Flocken, feet still itchy broken out, started using gold bond foot powder, that seemed to help a little but not completely. I then switched him to Nature's Variety Raw Instinct the last weekend he was with us, I sent him home with a bag...his owner e-mailed me a week later telling me all the bumps were gone and his feet looked great.
 It took us two months, through trial and error and her vet wasn't helping diagnose the problem! Be patient, we've all had to deal with things just like this and again, we can help you get through it, hang on tight!

A bloodtest will diagnose a problem.

Sorry, but I have to pipe in and disagree.  Bloodwork can show some things but it doesn't show many things, such as allergies, yeast infections, etc.  Out of desperation I asked for a full panel on Sassy, and the only thing it revealed was that she had a high white cell count.  That was no surprise with all the skin infections but other than that, it provided no useful information.  If you're going to go with blood testing, do the allergy test.  It costs more (maybe $250 versus $100 for a custom blood panel) but based on the symptoms, it'd probably give you more answers.

Keep in mind that no allergy test will diagnose food allergies, so for that you need to do the elimination diet.  As I said, not a big deal and I wished I'd done it long before I did.

As Jaime said, "hang on tight"  we really have been where you're at and are more than happy to share what we know or just be a source to vent your frustrations with.

Bloodwork is always done when there is a disease process, and if you have never done one - you should due to the fact that you will now have a baseline that will help to show any changes in a patients condition.
 
The bloodwork is part of the sequence of events that help to diagnose, Blood shows imbalances and those imbalances point in the direction of what part of the body is functioning correctly and incorrectly.  The body tries to maintain a homeostasis, and that will be seen in the bloodwork.  A lot can be made sense out of a deteriorating condition with the help of bloodwork.
 
I know from experience that getting that work done is a very very good idea..even if it shows hi WBC's, which is information telling you that you need to treat something ....What if it would show low RBC's, what would that tell you?  Its just one little thing on the panel!  If the doc refused to do it, I would ask why. 
 
Everydog should get a baseline bloodwork period.  It is like the blood pressure and listening to the heart and lungs...basic checking up.  Cumulatively you get a better picture of the health of the creature. 
 
The tests done help to" rule out "problems, which is hardly the job of a forum!

ORIGINAL: Dog_Lover1221

Update:  We just got back from the vet's office.  He did a skin scraping, which came back negative.  He is doing a DTM fungal culture, but the results won't be available for 3-10 days.  Snowball was given a steroid injection, and he is now on Antirobe drops (antibiotic) and Chlorpheniramine (antihistamine).  I also bought the Malaseb shampoo.  The vet decided to hold off on the blood work to see if Snowball responds to this treatment.  If Snowball does not respond, the vet said he would want to refer us to a specialist (dermatologist) about two hours from here.  I'm not sure we will do anything else beyond this.  This is exhausting and expensive ($179 just for today, and that does not include the two previous vet appointments and medications in the past week!).

For those who were critical farther up this thread, again we have evidence that the expense may be driving what happens to this dog.  I posted some options for you to seek help - have you contacted them at all?
For what it's worth, I would trade places with you in a heartbeat.  At least your dog appears to have a treatable disorder, once you find the cause.  Unfortunately for me, I have spent over $2,000 in the last four months to keep my 17 year old dog alive and comfortable, and will spend the money to euthanize her only when she is no longer comfortable and I have exhausted all the treatment and palliative care my vet can offer.  I realize that many people can't afford what I can (and, I'm not rich - I work three jobs), but I never approach care for my dogs with money as the first consideration, and I would certainly apply for assistance if it meant getting one of them a visit to a dermatologist, and possibly a normal lifespan.
Dogs are expensive  when they get sick, and if you do get another one, perhaps you should consider veterinary insurance as part of your plan.  And, as I said before, if a few vet visits and a few hundred dollars are too exhausting for you, perhaps you should stick to kids, not dogs.

Kim,
 How are things going today? Any improvement?

I think if I had a choice between a holistic vet one hour away and a dermotologist two hours away I'd go with the holistic vet.  I would even if the driving times were reversed actually.  The holistic vet is going to look at the WHOLE animal and make an almost immediate difference without using all the stuff that is so hard on their bodies.
 
I agree with Anne to a degree.  When I brought my "just dogs, not humans" into my home, I made a commitment to each and every one of them.  I promised to love and care for them for their lifetimes....not until it got to hard or too expensive.  And yes, I know how difficult and frustrating it is when you don't get answers from the vet....that's when I go searching for a different vet or a holistic vet because I refuse to give up on my promises.
 
Just my two cents.

At least your dog appears to have a treatable disorder, once you find the cause.

 
Spiritdogs, if trying to save money is her path, then she is indeed taking the very long way home.  Why wouldnt a vet get the bloodwork up front?  Working on the skin is nice and fine, but if you have no test results to work with, well you might as well not go to a vet. A dermatologist next?  That will be cheap I bet.  And since the dog is on antibiotic drops already that will mask a potential blood culture result...not that he'll get one!  But if he did,... oh well.    I would have wanted a blood sample and a urine sample to learn something concrete about this creature.  If it were perfect then you could do the allergy route.  It would be productive.
 
I suppose she could try every last thing that people are offering on this board and maybe get some alleviation, and perhaps save the prozac  for  another day![]