Help - Excessive paw licking.

[Babyroobs]

My cocker spaniel is driving me insane with his continuous paw licking. He has been doing this excessively noisy/ slurping since returning from the dog sitter a few days ago as we were away last week. I've read it could be due to a fungal infection on his feet ? Does anyone have experience of this and if so is there anything I can buy online or 'over the counter' to treat it ? I 'm sure it is intensely annoying for him. He seems depressed which I had put down to him missing lots of company with other dogs at the dog sitters but am now wondering whether it's this. We had a trip to the vets just over a week ago for excessive sneezing which stopped as soon as he got to the dog sitters. Could he be allergic to something in our home ?

[Wolfiefan]

It could be an allergy, anxiety, reaction to pain. Lots of things.
Worth seeing a vet.

[InkyFANGERSInkyFace]

Ours does excessive licking when he's stressed, also he is very allergic to cats and the fleas which filled the house we stayed in where the cats were. He also licked his paw loads because he got some grit stuck in it. Have you checked the paws?

[Babyroobs]

Yes I've wiped his paws but I think I might give them a bit of a soak in some warm water. I wondered about anxiety - he suffers from severe separation anxiety and follows me from room to room all the time. The slurping is driving me mad, I'm coming off anti- depressants and feeling really irritable. I felt so guilty leaving him but had no choice unless we never have a foreign holiday. It was the first time he'd been left,( he's 2 years old), he just seems depressed since we picked him up.

[Wolfiefan]

Could well be a reaction to being left then. Dogs with separation anxiety are difficult to deal with. They can’t be left any longer than they feel comfortable with.
Can you prevent the licking? We applied sudacrem to soothe, put a boot on and then a muzzle to stop her eating the boot. During the day we had to watch her like a hawk.
Poor doggy.
Also worth considering allergies. Mine is allergic to chicken and beef too.

[katmarie]

It could also be mites of some sort, our cairn terrier has occasionally picked them up, once from a groomers unfortunately. We got some spray from the vets to deal with them. The way we could tell was if you spread his toes and checked the skin between very carefully you could see tiny red raised bumps from their bites, that's what was irritating him. Worth a look if your dog will allow it.

[shockthemonkey]

Mine did this and it turned out to be an auto-immune skin condition.

Hope it's not that, but do visit the vet!

[CallMeRachel]

Paw licking can also be a sign of anal gland problems.

Another thing to consider is an embedded grass seed in between digits.

[RedHelenB]

Is it the same paw? When my ddog did it it was due to a grass sees. A few days in we heard an almighty yelp which think was him pulling it out himself. Vets gave him antibiotics

[joystir59]

Soak his feet in warm.water to which you've added a few drops of lavender oil. Change dog-sitter, as he seems very stressed by being left with the one you are currently using

[Pippinsqueak]

I can't remember what it's called but there's a condition they can get where they excessively chew/lick feet. I would speak to a vet if you have ruled all environmental issues out

[historysock]

One of our Dogs was doing this. He had torn one of his nails. But eventually the licking made his feet so sore and they began to actually stink. The vet gave him antibiotics and he had to wear a cone for a few weeks to stop him even when the nail had fallen off, as it had become a habit.
We also got him some breathable boots from amazon, but those were less successful as he licked them as well so they became sodden and we ended up with the same issue.

[missbattenburg]

@Pippinsqueak A lick granuloma, aka acral lick dermatitis

[AiryFairyMum]

Ours did it when we moved house. It was stress, poor thing. Sounds like he needs lots of kindness and no dog sitters for a while.

[PenelopeFlintstone]

Give him half a Clarityne and see if it stops.

[Wolfiefan]

@PenelopeFlintstone. You can give Piriton (not Piriteze.). Not sure that Clarityn is safe. And dosage should be confirmed by vet.

[doodleygirl]

Please just take him to the vet. We can all try and diagnose from behind our screens but he needs to see the vet.

[PenelopeFlintstone]

Clarityne/Claritin/Clarityn (loratadine) is safe for dogs. My vet told me to give it to my dog who has itchy feet due to a grass allergy.

[PenelopeFlintstone]

My medium sized dog takes one, which is why I suggested half for a smaller dog.
Yes, take him to the vet but if you can relieve his discomfort in half an hour, why not?

[Oakeell54]

Try soaking his feet in a solution of hibiscrub. May have to do it a few times.

[Wolfiefan]

I agree with @doodleygirl. This could be w whole host of things. Definitely worth a vet visit. And obviously try and prevent the licking for now. How do you normally deal with the separation anxiety?

[Babyroobs]

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. He is getting lots of attention.

[Howel]

My dog does this often and its because he has dermatitis in between his pads on paws which get infected, I wash his paws with hibiscrub, he also gets antibiotics for it and even piriton when its driving him crazy. Best to go to the vet to confirm.

[WomensRightsAreContraversial]

Crikey please take vet advice over ours. Hibiscrub in particular should be diluted to a certain percentage and isn't really ideal for applications outside of surgery.

[Wolfiefan]

Hibiscrub is something my dog has had adverse reactions to.

[Mishfit0819]

Check his dew claw as well, easily damaged or split and can mean they lick constantly.