Please help - dog itchy and inflammed feet - treatments failing - Page 1

Hello gang.  I am in desperate need of help.  This problem is not resolving itself.

I have a dog with recurring inflammation between the paw pads.  It goes from one paw to another and sometimes affects all 4.  There is bright red inflammation with licking.  No lameness .  The vet feels it is from repeated exposure to dampness and wet without ample drying.  

But it is now concurrent to an incredible itchiness...so bad that the vet thought it could be mange. We had treated 2 x with Revolution and we are not sure we are really seeing a difference . We also tried 10 days of antibiotics with no success.

The feet and itching then got so bad that we had to use Venactyl P (I think) which is a steroid - that of course has improved the feet by 85% and stopped all itching. Within 2 days of being off the steroid the itching started.

The coat is in excellent, shiny condition. Food allergy tests are negative.  Dog is eating Taste of the Wild now.  Dog has eaten raw and only human grade food in its history...nothing seems to affect the paw issue.

There are no bald spots or lesions that I can see. There was NO fur loss until the itching got so bad that he sorta damaged his own skin around his neck area. But all fur is totally back and shiny. A coat blow happened concurrent with itching etc.

I am using boots and Gold Bond on the feet now. Trying to get it under control. But the itching is just starting again after weaning off the 10 day steriod combo.
The itching is not isolated to any one place but rather a generalized itchiness all over.


No skin scrapings have been done as the vet thought if were mange may not show up anyway.

What is going on?  Why can't I get this under control? 

 

KMaot,

you have pretty much done what one can do, only thing I could suggest is to feed raw. And horse meat at that. Dont ask me why horse meat, I would have to do a lot of research, but it seems to work. A Puppy customer had the same thing going, after switching to horse meat, the problem was entirely gone.

Sorry I can not provide more info. Regards Ulli

Hi Kmaot

 I had a dog with the same problem not a shepherd but a staffy, he suffered with this problem for years. the only thing that has cured him is thornit powder.

i put it in a bag then put the dogs pad in the bag and shake it on the pad. i only had to use this for about 4 days and up to now he has never had the problem again.

here is a link to a site that sells it

 http://www.k9centre.co.uk/remedy-proddetail.php?prod=OH-XX-CP

karen

I've never heard of thornit powder, but it sounds like it's worth a try! (And if it works, you need go no further...) But if not, here is another link which may be helpful - http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/skin-problems/ 

Steroids are suppressive - they don't cure the problem, they mask the symptoms. The dog may feel better for a while, but when you stop the treatment, the original symptoms often recur, sometimes worse than before. I would still do a skin scraping as this article suggests, to eliminate the possible presence of yeast or fungus.

 Kmaot

Thornit I can vouch for it has been a remedy for ears and feet for years.

As Ulli says change over onto raw feeding,chicken wings,chicken carcases,fresh vegetables and fruit suitably made into a mush to break down the cellulose,whatever is in season, any raw meats except pork, offal ie. liver heart kidney,also once a week a large marrow bone,you will see an improvement in 10 days.

Julie

I can also vouch for Thornit,   It is something we always try to keep in our dog cuboard. it is also good for cold sores in humans,

YEAST INFECTION! Start treating your dog for that, and also treat for ringworm. This sounds like classic case of yeast infection. Gets WORSE with steroids and especially antibiotics. Go to your vet for medicine, or, just go buy some Tinactin and Monistat, one for ringworm, another for yeast. I would be willing to bet that that is the problem. Ive treated many dogs for this myself. Von Leistung

Is your dog alergic to something he stepping on - grass, firtelizer, kitchen floor detergent, disinfectants? Some of these are "sensatizers" in that you can be in contact with them for weeks and years and then one day have an alergic reaction. Some of these can cause "de-fatting of the skin with prolonged contact" which leads to red, dry, itchy conditions.

If he steps on such items in a wet condition it will end up in between his toes and cause irritation.

Is you dog walking on fine sand or sandy loam soil? If it of the type that has tiny sharp edges it can cause microscopic scratches, especially in the cracks and folds of the skin.

Is he alergic to fleas?

After all this "cleaning" and  "drying" is his skin now chapped and itchy?

Keep trying - and hope you find the cause soon.

Pam -I too am wondering if it could be yeast.    I would think however that the dog would need an internal med to knock it all out.... :(

Re allergies - we have snow everywhere and nothing has changed in the house.  We are actually just using water on our floors and have been fora while now.  I can't think of ANYTHING that has changed.    And no fine sand or loam etc.

The drying of the paws etc has just started with vigor.  It was too sporadic before.

But are the paws and the itchiness all over connected? 

Is he being walked or does he have access to roads that have been "salted"?

Things don't have to change for an animal to have a reaction, they just have to be around something long enough to become sensitized. Do you have carpets, have they been cleaned lately? (almost killed one of my cats)

athaletes foot is a yeast infection, try one of those remidies. (red, dry and itchy)

ring worm which is a fungus. (itchy, red and eventually hair loss)

Mites little buggs under the skin -skin purplish color and they tend to loose hair.