At the time we thought it was a seasonal thing... you know, maybe summer/fall produces something that doesn't agree with her paws. But since that's obviously not it...
We've been wrapping them with some stretchy gauze bandage-type stuff to keep her from chewing on them, and so they'll heal.
She chews them raw... I mean, literally. They're disgusting and swollen and hairless and we don't know what to do about it. We tried some anti-itch cream, but once that wore off, she'd start chewing again, and we weren't going to put it on open wounds.
We've taken her to the vet... and he can't really do anything about it. He pretty much doesn't know what's wrong, either. He'll give her a shot and she'll do good for about two weeks or so, before she gets sick again. She's lost about a pound and a half (she originally weighed about 14 or 15, so she doesn't have much to lose). She won't eat her dry dog food anymore, my mom has to give her canned food and the occasional snackage throughout the day so she won't starve.
We tried putting a little hairspray on her paws, when they still had fur on them, and that did do some good, but she'd go outside or something and it, for the most part, didn't last...
Thought maybe she had dry skin, so we put vaseline on them and then some baby socks over that so she wouldn't get vaseline everywhere... no good.
Tried soaking them in some water and Epson salt (the vet reccommended it). No good.
Well... she tried to start on her back paws a couple of days ago... and we're just running out of ideas. We've tried just about everything we could think of. She won't play, she's usually shaking whenever somebody picks her up, she limps all over the house...
And basically... I was just wondering if any of you had any ideas, or anything that we might not have considered.
Thanks..
[ 07-10-2002: Message edited by: Kloie ]
[ 07-10-2002: Message edited by: Katrinity ]
Hugs Kloklo
Hope everything works out. :/
I've seen them for sale at Pet Smart before.
Sure sounds like she is allergic to something though.
Poor pup.
Sorry to hear about your poor dog, though.
quote:
ImNotTrent Inc. said this about your mom:
Dog boots maybe...
Tried those... the gauze and a little bit of masking tape to keep her from getting the gauze bandages off works better.
Kinda wanting her to stop doing it in the first place, though. :\
Wasn't one of your first posts about Frankie?
quote:
ACES! Another post by Cap'n Elethi:
Wasn't one of your first posts about Frankie?
Heh.. yes... yes it was. I think it was my very first post, in fact.
Maybe something in her food or hell, could be anything. Maybe mange, or fleas, if there even are fleas in OK...
Try another vet too, they may have a new idea or perspective. A vet school if you have one close by, a bunch of people then trying to see if they can figure the problem out.
Wish I had more ideas to offer ya.
quote:
Kloie was listening to Cher while typing:
Heh.. yes... yes it was. I think it was my very first post, in fact.
I thought so.
We have a lawyer in EC, and plenty of techies, now we need a vet.
[ 07-10-2002: Message edited by: Cap'n Elethi ]
quote:
ImNotTrent Inc. had this to say about the Spice Girls:
It would probably be expensive, but can the vet do allergy tests on her?Maybe something in her food or hell, could be anything. Maybe mange, or fleas, if there even are fleas in OK...
Try another vet too, they may have a new idea or perspective. A vet school if you have one close by, a bunch of people then trying to see if they can figure the problem out.
Wish I had more ideas to offer ya.
We can't afford to get her tested or anything...
She started chewing before she stopped eating her dry dog food, but now she'll barely touch the dry dog food, and it takes encouragment to get her to eat the canned stuff we have to buy now, too. We've never had problems with her having fleas, although we did with our last dog, King. He was a Yorkie, fleas loved him, but he was also allergic to them... sux0r. =\ (He died when I was in 3rd grade.)
I'll have to talk to my mom about going to another vet or anything like that, and I'm not sure about distance, but that's a good idea.
quote:
Lalamile wrote, obviously thinking too hard:
I would do something along the lines of what Arrenn said. Hot sause or something that tastes terrible...
We already tried hairspray.
Hope something works out Kloie.
If you've tried everything you can think of, and it continues getting worse, and I mean, becomes a serious health risk (I'm surprised it hasn't been worse, yet. open wounds are a pool-party for bacteria) there might not be much you can do. And although I'm no fan of it, you might have to be ready for outward peer pressure of putting her under.
I mean. I'm not exactly an advocet for shooting your dog with a 12-gauge in your backyard to "put it out of its misery", but if you 1.) don't know what it is, then you 2.) don't know how to fix it. Thusly, 3.) the moral delimma of waiting and enduring a lot more misery in hope of a diagnosis or not waiting and going through a lot more misery because she's gone.
I know it's not very appealing either way. Have you tried another vet? Maybe a 'specialist'?
Hope that helps.
"It's something even the Masters don't reveal about the hidden nature of the universe... the deepest and darkest of all that the Force lets you see... the universe has a sense of humour." Callista, Children of the Jedi
quote:
Mr. Wilams got all f'ed up on Angel Dust and wrote:
open wounds are a pool-party for bacteria
[whisper]Pssst... the bandages and anti-bacterial stuff (A.K.A. neosporin) are working their magic on that one.[/whisper]
quote:
Kloie had this to say about (_|_):
[whisper]Pssst... the bandages and anti-bacterial stuff (A.K.A. neosporin) are working their magic on that one.[/whisper]
psst, I must've missed the part where you said they were still on. [ 07-10-2002: Message edited by: Mr. Wilams ]
quote:
StarShadow Model 2000 was programmed to say:
[QB][/QB]
We do not have a large garden, she doesn't really go near it unless it's snowing. (Even then, if it's snowing, the plants are all dead anyway.)
We keep her from chewing by wrapping her paws with gauze bandages with some neosporin and a little masking tape so she can't get them off.
We can't afford to find out what she's allergic to. A plant of some sort gets knocked out because she did it throughout a chunk of Winter.
Right now she spends almost all of her time sleeping. (Half a children's Benadryl, remember?) Even when she isn't doped up so we can keep her from chewing on her paws when we aren't watching, she doesn't do much of anything.
quote:
Mr. Wilams had this to say about (_|_):
psst, I must've missed the part where you said they were still on.
quote:
Kloie had this to say about pies:
We've been wrapping them with some stretchy gauze bandage-type stuff to keep her from chewing on them, and so they'll heal.
quote:
Kloie had this to say about Reading Rainbow:
Tried those... the gauze and a little bit of masking tape to keep her from getting the gauze bandages off works better.
:P
You can even make it out of household materials!
quote:
Kloie's unholy Backstreet Boys obsession manifested in:
:P
Yes, but I didn't know you were DOING IT NOW. I could've figured but I don't like assuming.
Sorry.
quote:
This one time, at Ferret camp:
Maybe she's allergic to your carpet?
We've had the carpet almost as long as we've had her. 
And my mom said that she took her to another vet, and they wanted to give her allergy shots. But they were really expensive and even then, there's no guarentee that it'll work. =\
Second, do some searches for dog groups on the internet. Ask there, someone may know the answer or at least have better advice.
quote:
Kloie had this to say about Punky Brewster:
We've had the carpet almost as long as we've had her.
It could be something that's gotten onto/into the carpet. A good cleaning with a Rug Doctor or something may not help her, but it's something you might want to try.
quote:
When the babel fish was in place, it was apparent Palador ChibiDragon said:
It could be something that's gotten onto/into the carpet. A good cleaning with a Rug Doctor or something may not help her, but it's something you might want to try.
The carpet has been shampooed between now and the time she started chewing. I am sure of it.
If a dab of hair spray (one of the worst things in the world to get in your mouth) didn't work, do you really think this "bitter apple" stuff will?
quote:
Kloie had this to say about Knight Rider:
If a dab of hair spray (one of the worst things in the world to get in your mouth) didn't work, do you really think this "bitter apple" stuff will?
Maybe. I know it has to be less toxic than hair spray is though. Also, if it's some kind of skin problem, hair spray might make it worse.
quote:
Kloie had this to say about dark elf butts:
[QB]The carpet has been shampooed between now and the time she started chewing. I am sure of it.
QB]
Maybe he's allergic to the carpet itself?
"It's something even the Masters don't reveal about the hidden nature of the universe... the deepest and darkest of all that the Force lets you see... the universe has a sense of humour." Callista, Children of the Jedi
I've known that dogs can chew their fur or groom themselves repeatedly until raw when stressed.
Maybe you should take her to a pet psych? Sounds stupid, I know. But if you run out of options...
R.
If you can get her to a new vet, or if your regular vet is open to it, see if you can get her on a very low dose of Prozac - puppy prozac. It really does work on these obsessive types of things.
As for the hot sauce remedy, dang OUCH - lets see you put hot sauce on your next owie, ok? ;p
But check for cancerous sores on the pads of her front paws, and between the toes. You'll also probably see some swelling, and at first some sets of small bumps.
Dogs can develope a type of cancer in thier paws during middle age which annoys them fiercely, and they will do this sort of behaviour, because they can't help it. Most people just pass this off as sysmptoms of mange, or an acute alergic reaction. Your vet would know for sure, but you'd have to get your doggie in for tests somehow.
It's not THAT serious, but it can be if left untreated or contained. IF thats even what it is. Even if it's not, allergic or nervous behaviours such as these are very bad for pets health, and if left untreated, can be devistating.
[ 07-11-2002: Message edited by: Lalian Viajante ]
