Please can someone give me some help, my friend's irish setter has a problem where he chews his foot raw he  has it covered with a boot and it heals nicely, however within days of the boot coming off he again chews his foot.

He has been to the vets who gave him steroids and antibiotics this works short term but then the cycle starst over again.

It is very distressing to see and my friend is at her wits end, the vets just shrug their shoulders and havent  got a clue.

Any advice would be much appreciated

Maria

Hi Maria,
   My dog has been doing this to his legs, and the vet reckons it's an allergy.  I expect your friend's dog has been checked for mites, etc, so might be worth looking at his diet - there are some ingredients in dog foods that can cause allergies.  Also, does the dog get plenty of exercise and company?  Sometimes just plain boredom can cause a dog to do something like this.
  Hilda

Hi my puppy stared chewing his back legs and feet, he was on JWB, my breeder suggested it might be a food allergy so I changed him to Burns and the chewing stopped within a fortnight.
Jax

Maria

You don't say how old he is, has it started later in life, or has he always done it?

Chewing a paw is often a sign of boredom, is he left for long periods of time?

If when the boot comes off and it is healed completely ie no broken skin, she could try bitter apple spray on it, they don't like the taste.

If the medication is working short term it sounds like it might be an irritation of some type, have they taken a skin scraping?  Personally I would change my vet if he just shrugged his shoulders at me.

Perhaps someone else will come along with some other idea's

Sandra

Hi Maria,
perhaps it could be lick granuloma. This says Irish Setters are prone to it. It might not be the problem but hope this helps.

http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/lick.html

Kath.

Hi,

One of my beardies has allergies and she gets a very sore foot on and off.  I have found a fantastic cure......bit messy though!! :)

Get a medical boot or a gauze pad and a self sticking bandage, pack the foot with the most natural honey you can find, wrap it up well (or the honey escapes) and re-dress everyday.  This works wonders!!!!

manda
x

I've posted before about Gus licking his front paws all the time . He has been back and forth to the vets and given antibiotics etc but as you say , once they are finished the cycle starts over again .
Vet doesnt seem to think its mites and suggested we change where we walk him ( we walk in the woods) . Vet says it is possible to have blood tests although they often arent conclusive and are expensive.
Seems to make it worse when walking in the wet too (wet grass etc) .We always make sure we dry his feet afterwards too .
I really want this sorting but vet doesnt seem to be much help other than putting him on a low dose of steriods :(
I dont think its boredom as often when out on his walk he will stop to lick his paws in the midde of playing :(

It might be worth trying Thornits, which is for ear irritations, but is also said to work on paws as well. Put Thornits in the search facility on this forum to find out more.

One of my bitches had lick granulomas, she stopped worrying at it when she was diagnosed and treated for under active thryoid.

Have she tried putting a sock on his foot?  The only reason I ask this is that when Rio's plaster came off his broken leg he made a mess of his foot very quickly though licking and chewing at it and I kept bandaging it up again.  Then tried a sock which he licked the outside of but could not get at his skin, after a few days I presume the itch-scratch cycle stopped and he now only cleans it as much as he does his other feet.

With a sock the paw can still breath (and you can plaster it on higher up)

Christine