Cannot stop this foot chewing!

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My elderly mongrel chews his feet. He's been on Apoquel for a long time and that used to work but it's not doing anything at the minute for him.

He chews until they're bleeding every chance he gets. No fleas, and the vet couldn't see any mites or anything of that nature last time we went. He's very rarely left alone in a room (severe separation anxiety) but he does try and scurry off to chew his feet without people noticing. I'm at my wits end, I don't know how to help him. He's had steroids injections at the vets which seem to do nothing and 8mg of Apoquel a day for almost 18 months now.

Any suggestions? I'm without a car seat for part of today so I'll see if my new one turns up in time to visit the vets this afternoon. If not, I'll be phoning Monday. Just don't want to get there and then say there's nothing they can really do.

Have you tried piriton?

I haven't, I had assumed (maybe incorrectly) that Apoquel being on prescription would be stronger than Piriton?

I'm honestly not sure but if you've not tried it it may be worth giving it a go!

Piriton & buy some Thornit powder. Dust it on his feet.

Chewing can be a stress relieving behaviour. Even dogs who don't necessarily seem stressed at the time can start and it then becomes a habit and a comfort to them to continue doing it. A bit like picking or chewing your nails.

Could also be a bit of a vicious cycle. Chew foot - make foot sore - chew more in attempt to relieve discomfort - make foot more sore - repeat.
Unfortunately if that's the case then prevention is really the only cure.
I've worked with a few dogs who've had to wear soft cones/ doughnuts most of the time to prevent similar behaviours.

In terms of reducing any soreness I'm a big advocate for colloidal silver spray or leucellin. Either will have soothing and antibacterial properties to hopefully reduce the chances of the sores getting worse.

Definitely not a food thing? Our dog chewed her pads a lot as a puppy, then one of her litter mates was tested for allergies, and showed positive for chicken. We swopped her into a fish based kibble and she's been fine since.

Food allergies?

I'll Google Thornit powder, not heard of this!

He's always done it but it's really ramped up recently, Google says it could even be easing pain of arthritis so could be anything. All I know is the Apoquel definitely isn't doing the trick anymore 😔 I'll Google both the spray and leucellin!

Vet didn't think it was food allergies, if only it was that easy 😔

We did allergy testing for our late dog she had lots of allergies, the only thing that worked was continuous steroids tablets. She was on quite a low dose for her size and it didn't affect her.

Our dog now also has allergies, steroids were affecting his liver so we have switched to cytopoint. I don't like giving him these injections but it's been fine so far he's doing well on it.

Our other dog is a bit of an obsessive licker she's a rescue so we think it's self soothing behaviour she did in her horrible past. She doesn't do it as much now.

Ours is a rescue too so maybe you're right. With the anxiety it probably is a soothing behaviour but it's such a nightmare not being able to stop it. The injections did nothing for him! He's 14, not sure whether they'd risk regular steroids at his age?

Our vet advised piriton too. It worked really well and stopped the chewing and let the foot heal.

Has he had his teeth checked? Ddogs can chew to transfer pain.... What do you wash his blankets in? Do you use carpet fresh powder?

Agree with others that it could be a few things OP. Our dog did this because of knee pain. Agree it could be arthritis, especially as you mention an older dog.
Equally could be itching, irritation that's now a vicious cycle, or anxiety/stress behaviour.

What breeds do you think he is?

He's got great teeth, surprisingly given his age although his jaw clicks sometimes so maybe arthritis?

He's definitely got staffy in him, and various other terriers but no idea which. Typical scruffy, black mongrel.

I think Staffies are one of the breeds that are more prone to arthritis.

I wonder if he'd benefit from a bit of pain relief to reduce the irritation (and hopefully limit the chewing)? Our vet recommended soaking the paw in tepid water with Epsom salts to help soothe the paws as well.

Forgot to add- he sounds adorable

My neighbour used piriton and dipped her dogs feet in warm salt water after every walk. This stopped the chewing.

My old girl had terrible allergies all her life and had an apoquel daily and 2 piriton and also had a cytopoint injection every 30 days and had this combination every day of the year
It's also recommended to wash his feet when he's been outside as can get pollen on paws also chicken and rice or cereals on food can cause itching too , I couldn't give mine kibble as it made her get allergies between her toes and interdigital cysts

Our dog used to be a big foot chewer/licker. We spoke to someone at our local pet shop and they suggested cutting out chicken - it worked!

My dog does this if he has chicken as well, in fact it makes him more itchy in general.

Can you get dog booties to get him to leave them alone for a bit?

We had this. My girl literally chewed bits of her pads off. It WAS a food allergy. Cut out chicken and then beef too. No further issues. Sudacrem helped heal it but you need to make sure he doesn’t lick it off.
A comfy cone or muzzle and sock on the foot would stop the licking.

Allergies.

Be careful what you wash the carpet with or the floor too, make sure it's pet friendly.
Also wash their feet when they come home from the park, some parks spray the grass.