Chewing at her paws

Is Maggie's hair longer than normal between her pads?? I don't really know if that would be a reason to be itching, I'm leaning toward *not.* Callie????????? (She always has the answer.) :)

 Nah, the hair isn't any longer than usual. We did trim it about a month ago though. Not sure, it could be the grass. I should add that its not just one paw, it seems to be a different one each time she decides she wants to chew. And its not constant. She was fine until after we were done eating dinner then started it.

  Could be allergies; Jessie used to chew her paws a lot, and make them bleed, until I got all her allergies under control. Both environmental and food allergies can make a dog chew their paws. Have you changed foods recently? Ragweed has been starting to show up in the pollen counts, and it's  a common allergen. Do you know of Callie's remedy for itchy paws; you brew some strong black tea, let it cool, and apply it to your dog's paws using a spray bottle, squeeze bottle, or whatever works for you. You can use it as often as necessary, and it usually works.

 No, I didn't know the remedy and thank you! I will try that. I have changed foods but I don't think that's it since she was doing it before the food change.

I love the tea remedy....I will have to try it. That's something that I can spray on and not worry about them licking it off. Great idea!!

The thing that is the *most* effective is just using a little margerine bowl or similar -- put the black tea in that and then swish each foot around in the tea.  Blot with a hand towel or bath towel (not paper -- don't add paper dust to the allergy mix).

Typically paw chewing/licking is allergies -- it can be atopic (inhaled), contact (St. Augustine sod or similar) or food allergies and sometimes it can be all 3. 

The Tanic acid in the tea neutralizes some of the allergens.  Trimming the hair between the toes can help.

The histamines in the allergies sort of 'sizzle' on the top of the skin - my vet tells me it feels similar to how it feels to us when we sit on our foot too long cross-legged.

You might want to try Benedryl for a start (1-2 mg/lb body weight given 2-3 times a day).  The OTC Benedryl is 25 mg per capsule or 12.5 mg per teas. of the elixer.

Don't give it just a couple of times -- give it faithfully for about 3 weeks to give it a fair trial.  YES it will make the dog sleepy at first but they do learn to deal with that pretty well.  But if you do it 2-3 times a day, that allows the Benedryl to deal with the allergens before they cause the problem.

 Thanks Callie!!! I'll try the Benadryl first...