Hi all,



Just curious what you guys think this might be? It's our 4 yr old female gsd's front left paw. The other 3 paws are fine. She started licking it Thursday in the middle of the night. She is not limping, and does not act like it bothers her much. We couldn't get a vet appointment until Tuesday evening. They told me over the phone to give her Benadryl, the standard canine dose, which hasn't seemed to help. For 2 days I have applied Tritop and kept it wrapped, which also hasn't seemed to help.

The only thing that has changed is her diet. I slowly introduced a formula of THK that we have never fed her in the past. It contains whole grains (they were out of stock of her usual formula) I rotate daily between two different proteins, Embark and Love. Instead of Love we bought Verve.

I am perplexed, and keep oscilating between allergies and injury. We do play in the house, and she sometimes slides on the carpet. We obviously quit this activity, much to her dismay. I just want to be able to treat it properly until we can get her to the Doctor.

Thank you for any insight or advice. Sorry the photo is so large, not sure how to change that.

I would not be thinking allergy for one foot, unless the dog is a super allergy type dog, and this is a common thing for this pet.

I'd be thinking the dog stepped in something -- gasoline, pool chemical, yard chemical, bees, something caused inflammation , led to itching/burning/led to licking, now there's a little infection and a lot of inflammation.

For Rx I'd be thinking a short blast of cortisone and a good skin antibiotic. Short term for both, and perhaps a hood or collar if she won't leave it alone.

And I'd peak in between those pads and make certain there isn't some sort of foreign body (grass awn) (glass) if the dog will let you.

JUST A GUESS! Get professional help! Pad stuff can get ugly.

Dr. Betty, thank you for the great advice. She has an appointment tomorrow evening, and it is looking much better already!

Hi Christy. Just wondering what the vet had to say and how your girl is doing?

We tried a new vet closer to our house. She put Molly on a ten day course of Keflex, hydrocortisone cream, and Benadryl. It's been several days since she finished her antibiotics.

As the paw pads look back to normal the furry area between her pads remain pinkish. She halfheartedly licks it occasionally. The vet couldn't determine the cause of the irritation/inflamation, so I guess we'll never know.

Thanks for asking, Cheri.

One of mine gets this too. The red-brown stain (in my experience) is usually an indication of fungus/yeast, combined with licking; saliva stains hair a rusty color.

Dogs are barefoot. They step in puddles. They step in crud. The foldy areas on the bottom of the foot are a good place for fungi to grow, especially if it stays wet, warm, and dirty. Licking keeps it moist and dirty.

I've had good success treating this kind of thing by 1. keeping it dry, 2. keeping it clean, and 3. using any kind of home remedy that treats a broad spectrum of fungus/yeast. Gentian violet, iodine, fungus cream from Walgreens, Miconizole spray, lime sulfur---lots of ordinary topical treatments will safely kill fungus/yeast spores. Just washing the foot with soapy water and drying it would dramatically reduce the population of fungal spores. Daily treatment for a week or so, along with keeping the foot clean and dry usually does the trick.

Thanks Tracy,

That's a bunch of really great info. Looks like I'll be doing some online research this evening.

Just another though.

Some dog can become obsessive compulsive about licking. It's not uncommon in Dobes but it's "usually" on the dogs wrist or top of a foot.

You would normally see raw, hairless spots in this behavior though.