Compulsive paw licking in a greyhound

[RainbowFairiesHaveNoPlot]

Any better ideas - vet cleared it up previously but it cost hundreds and only seemed to sort the problem for a month or so before it came back with a vengeance and they weren't much use to be honest.

Her paws are really really dry and cracked anyway but she's just absolutely writhing at them every chance she can get. We're trying that awful stinky exmarid ointment at the moment which seems to temporarily keep her off them - and she's got socks on all of them which I keep changing and cleaning her feet - but this just seems to be a constant battle to try to get any form of containment on the situation. Can't get her to stop destroying them to try to solve the dry and cracked situation at all.

Our Bichon was like this, we ended up using a cone so she physically couldn't do it. Then treated her paws to.clear up the damage she had done. Then we have her piriton and that seemed to stop whatever was irritating her.

Have you had a detailed stool analysis... could be an indication of bacterial growth in the gut / worms..

What did the vet originally think it was?

Paw licked can be caused by a number of things, such as...

• food allergies
• allergy to something the dog is walking on
• mites
• fungal/bacterial infection
• nerves/anxiety

We have this issue. It's a yeast issue for us and appears to be linked to her hormones too! I use a muzzle and boot overnight.
So far we have tried:
Yumove
Golden paste
Apple cider vinegar
Cutting out chicken (she's raw fed)
Saline washes.
Colloidal silver
Calendula
Surolan from the vet.
Herbal allergy drops and pet tonic.
Hibiscrub
Iodine.
Leucillin.
I'm shattered and not a little broke.

Most we originally got off the vet was that it could be anything pretty much so let's just get this outbreak of symptoms under control and see what happened after that. It started after the last cold weather so initially I'd assumed it was possibly salt on the ground related - but we healed it up (at eyewatering expense with what was prescribed) and it's bloody come back again so quickly.

Her sister has the same issues apparently - her owner's a bit better off than us and has thrown extensive money into vets' wallets and even she's none the wiser about what is causing it.

I've temporarily piritonned her up after checking dosage etc which seems to have reduced it down (you can't really tell a possibly drowsy feeling greyhound from her normal state of lazy as fuck greyhound) to see if that has any effect. Think I just need to get the itching/mauling pads to bits cycle under control so we can then work a bit better at the general awful state of her paw pads.

More than anything else I'm running out of odd socks! (she's currently rocking random ones from the kids Paw Patrol set, and one attractive frilly gingham one)

I have some Muttluk boots but they had to be imported!
Our first lot of foot chewing was after her first season. In the winter too. Her second lot was after the second season.
I don't think ours is diet as it is only one foot.
Worth trying a change of food? Chicken or yeasty foods can cause this apparently.
Rinse after walks. Saline? In case it's pollen.
Also be careful what you wash bedding and clean floor with. Avoid air fresheners etc.
adaptil in case it's a nervous habit?

Might be worth trying Stinky Stuff for Dogs (available all over the internet). But be warned - it really does stink. I use the horse version for fly bites/itching/fly repellent but it is good for a range of skin conditions & allergies that result in soreness and itching.

Hell of a lot cheaper than a vet visit.

Or Manuka honey. Obviously you will have to keep paws covered with both potions but I know people who've had good results with Manuka for a range of skin problems in animals.

Stinky stuff can't be left on can it?
We are trying non stinky.

When I used Stinky Stuff on badly fly bitten horse, I diluted it with a carrier oil - pretty sure you don't use it neat (user guide available online) - but you can leave it on.

At the moment she's giving me the stink eye for the current sock collection on there. We've got some variety of stinky as fuck ointment which seems to be bringing the redness under control at least. Piriton seems to have worked in that she hasn't been really trying to get at it since I gave her some of that.

If she's still going at it in a couple of days we'll try a diet change for her but I know her sister's had her diet changed through most of the key suspects and it looks environmental in that regard... or it's stress since we lost our other dog who she never actually seemed very bothered about anyway apart from when she was ordering him to do her bidding.

Our old dog had massive hayfever issues but he'd just shove his face in the long grass, make his eyes swell up so they wouldn't open for a day and reappear with a huge grin on his face - only for you to freak out and make a vet appointment, where his eyes would unswell and sort themselves out just before the appointment time every single bloody time. He never learnt! Making himself half blind and shitting in the middle of patches of nettles were his particular party tricks.

Looking at it completely differently it could be a bio mechanical issue with the neck - irritation to the brachial plexus as it exits the neck can cause severe pins and needles in the paw, this would cause the poor dog to lick their foot endlessly.

my dog has Pemphigus foliaceus in his pads - he is 3 and got it last summer for the first time and then again in the autumn so far clear this year - it is an autoimmune disease and he had to take steriods both times. They are not sure why some dogs get it and if it will return - some dogs have it once and some repeatedly. He had to have biopsies taken from 3 paws. His paws were dry, cracked and it places raw. I was told specifically not to use any cream or ointment on pads as that would merely soften them not heal then and he would suffer more abrasions walking on them if soft.

No clue about medical stuff, but I put human O'Keefes foot cream on my greyhound cross (malamute, husky, collie....) and it helps her hugely with the cracks in her paws. They're usually from going wet to dry a lot, like me with my eczema.

Have you had a check for referred pain?
Tried an exclusion diet or seen a dermatologist?
Skin scraping gave us our answer.

My girl used to chew herself raw - it was a food allergy (vets never mentioned it)! We went on one called Bells & Whistles Itchy dog and she's great now - no meds x Might be worth a try - also, before we changed the diet we used a spray called Renasan which seemed to give the most relief.