Dog keeps chewing pad of foot off!!
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Q:Hi,
I have an ongoing issue with my pitbull. From time to time, she will actually chew the pad off the bottom of her foot. I can't figure out why or how to stop it. I don't think it's strictly behavioral (i.e. boredom etc.) because I notice that around the same time she does this, she is usually shedding profusely and scratching a lot. So we've thought that it must be an allergy that is causing itching of her paw which leads to licking and eventually biting and chewing of her feet. We have noticed that when we've given her chicken or food with chicken in it, or she's gotten some other food she doesn't normally eat, it often precipitates this. We have her on Wellness Fish and Potato now and prior to this we had her on Wellness Lamb and Rice and she has had good periods of months at a time where she didn't chew or itch so I think both of these foods are ok. Also we are keeping strictly to one particular type of dog treat (has no meat products in it) and she gets no table scraps or food of any other type. However this morning when I got home I found that she chewed her paw again, and she hasn't eaten anything out of the way this time. So I don't know what to do. Giving her Benadryl seems to stop it along with the itching, but I don't know if it's the antihistamine or if it's the drowsiness. This particular chewing episode has been going on for over two months, as soon as it gets mostly healed she chews it off again. I don't want to keep her on allergy meds the rest of her life but I don't know what else to eliminate.
I have an ongoing issue with my pitbull. From time to time, she will actually chew the pad off the bottom of her foot. I can't figure out why or how to stop it. I don't think it's strictly behavioral (i.e. boredom etc.) because I notice that around the same time she does this, she is usually shedding profusely and scratching a lot. So we've thought that it must be an allergy that is causing itching of her paw which leads to licking and eventually biting and chewing of her feet. We have noticed that when we've given her chicken or food with chicken in it, or she's gotten some other food she doesn't normally eat, it often precipitates this. We have her on Wellness Fish and Potato now and prior to this we had her on Wellness Lamb and Rice and she has had good periods of months at a time where she didn't chew or itch so I think both of these foods are ok. Also we are keeping strictly to one particular type of dog treat (has no meat products in it) and she gets no table scraps or food of any other type. However this morning when I got home I found that she chewed her paw again, and she hasn't eaten anything out of the way this time. So I don't know what to do. Giving her Benadryl seems to stop it along with the itching, but I don't know if it's the antihistamine or if it's the drowsiness. This particular chewing episode has been going on for over two months, as soon as it gets mostly healed she chews it off again. I don't want to keep her on allergy meds the rest of her life but I don't know what else to eliminate.
A:You could get allergy testing done, since you seem to have tried to pinpoint the problem without much luck.
It may be an environmental allergy perhaps......
I know with my own dogs, once they start licking a spot they tend to continue, so you really need to remove access to the area until it heals completely.
Have you spoken to a vet about this at all?
It may be an environmental allergy perhaps......
I know with my own dogs, once they start licking a spot they tend to continue, so you really need to remove access to the area until it heals completely.
Have you spoken to a vet about this at all?
A:It could be an environmental allergy. Without allergy tests, you'd be guessing (but you can still get pretty good at guessing...). Here, now, it's ragweed season. My Jemma is allergic to ragweed and rips the fur out from between her pads.
A:awe, poor jemmaaa :(
i agree... would be worth the allergy tests to figure out if your dog suffers from food allergies, environmental allergies, both or neither. it's that much easier to address a problem once you know what it is
i agree... would be worth the allergy tests to figure out if your dog suffers from food allergies, environmental allergies, both or neither. it's that much easier to address a problem once you know what it is