Wet paws - infection...redness...HELP - Page 1

Hello.  I have a dog who (per the vet) feels that the ongoing irritation in his paws are due to moisture getting constantly trapped.  The inside of the paws get red and inflammed.  Licking starts.  The issue worsens.  It isn't always on all 4 paws but rotates...

We do not feel it is allergy related.  Antihistamines do not help and prelim testing shows no allergies.  No other health issues - skin is good and coat shiny.

Do I REALLY have to CONSTANTLY put booties on?  Will a towel dry each time help?  I have used Gold Bond before but really only AFTER the problem manifests (ie too darn late)

Has anyone had this before and what suggestions do you have?

Thank you and happy holidays to those who are celebrating.

What kind of dog is this?

GSD

Have you taken your dog to a dermatologist ?  There still seems to be an underlying issue that is not being cleared up with management of keeping your dogs feet dry. 

Have you considered Pyoderma – interdigital furuncolosis?

There was a recent thread discussed in PDB;

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/bulletins_read/51810.html#51811

Just a thought.

What is the dog walking in?

Any possiblilty of pesticides or herbicides, lawn fertilizer?    Salt or de-icer, fuel spills or oils, antifreeze?

A vet once told a friend his dog was allergic to grass, how can a dog be allergic to grass?  

Anyway I agree its not just about wet feet, something else is going on.

One of my dogs gets red itchy feet when we do too much swimming or in the summer we get a lot of rain and his kennel floor never gets a chance to dry. 

Simple cure is athlete's foot stuff. I spray the foot spray, apply some Gold Bond Medicated powder, and it clears up very quickly.

Desitin works well as a preventative.

I would also clip the hair in between the toes and pads to help with air flow.

I would certainly keep an open mind as far as as fertilizer, carpet fresh type stuff, allergies, but what I use above should give him relief no matter what the cause.

Thanks for the thoughts.  Pls keep them coming.

No, it is not fertilizers, pesticides or salt.  It can happen in any season.  Dog is indoors but goes out many many times a day - grass is always wet it seems or there is snow.

I am not sure if there is an underlying issue or not. 

Re pyoderma as mentioned above - cysts are not a part of it.

??

I have had something similar with two different dogs.  I think it is related to yeast/ fungus/bacteria nexus leading to an allergic type reaction.   I had my dog tested for allergies and there were none!  However, I have found Benadryl (three 25mg tabs 2x day) to be very helpful in getting him past the reactive state and then stop as it is cleared up.

Rinse off feet and underbelly and soap up a wash cloth with a sufur soap and suds his belly, underarm and feet. Rinde off the soap and towel dry before they come in the house,  Pour on Hydrogen Peroxide into underside of feet if red.  Wipe off with wet wash rag. Mix 1/2 Apple Cider Vinegar and water and pour on feet.  Towel dry without rinsing off cider.  Put one tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar into his drinking water every time it is refilled. 

In addition, I am feeding him only RMB (raw meaty bones).  Even vegetablles in his food can feed the yeast.  He had been perfectly clear of this with no treatment whatsoever for several months.  I defrosted some Green Tripe Excalibur and he started up again.  He started being itchy and slight odor of yeast.  He licked one foot and ended up "wet paw" as described here by KMAOT.  It is almost completely gone now and it took 5 days.

My previous dog who had a similar problem (except that he did test positive for allergies).  Up until 5 years old he got steriod shots and then oral prednisone and antihistamines to get through every winter.  After switching him to RMB, it went away slowly.  He died two years ago at 13 and spent the last eight years of his lfe with NO antihistamines and NO steriods ever and nor red feet or rashes.  The last three years of his life I had introduced commercially prepared raw food that had vegetables and other supplements and dog biscuits and there were no issues.

None of Pharaoh's siblings have had anything like this, and there are quite a few, so I do not believe it is his immune system nor do I think it is hereditary. I cannot be positive, but, I do think this originated after spending 10 days at a kennel while I was out of town in April 2007.  Despite going to three different vets, having scrapings (all negative) and paying for the allergy testing (all negative), I got most of the useful help from the good people on this database.

We all help each other and that is a very good thing.

Here is a thread where similar issues are discussed: www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/bulletins_read/229341.html

This post was extremely informative and I hope to hear more from this poster:

Irritated skin on 8 month old GSD by GSDXephyr on 21 December 2008 - 21:12	GSDXephyr Posts: 139 Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 02:26 pm
Lots of thoughts here, but I'll toss in my two cents as well.  When my dog was about 9mos we moved to a new house, and had a flea problem we didnt notice right away.  Flea irritation + playing in the hose most likely started a skin yeast infection.  She got very itchy rashy spots and smelled bad, patches of hair loss,  mostly under the belly and armpits.  We treated for fleas (all the pets) and then went on a yeast reduction diet (we already did raw, but eliminated fruits and veggies, any jerky products, eggs, and added daily yogurt)  and bathed with an anti-fungal shampoo.   Kept a fan on her crate at night for good air circulation and kept her out of the hose/pools.  Treating yeast can trigger bacterial overgrowth, and the yeast infection was followed by a bacteria infection.  What a pain!!  She was very itchy and uncomfortable for a few months whle we got it all balanced out. The good news is that this has not reoccured and she does not seem prone to repeats of any of these issues.  She has had a flea now and then and no reaction, but no infestation like the last house.  Lots of swimming this year and no yeast, etc.  So at this point it does not look like she will have immune system issues of any sort, but she is still young (just over 2yrs).   I chose to treat homeopathically / naturally because I was concerned about using any of the prescriptions that suppress immune responses or create resistance, but I would have gone that route if what we were doing didn't seem to be working.  I did use Frontline to clear up the fleas, as that was the most immediate issue for all the pets. Good luck, figuring out skin issues can be a huge pain, and the poor dogs are so uncomfortable in the meantime!