Right this is possibly going to be a long post so if you're sitting comfortable we'll begin.
We adopted in February 2012 and she settled in straight away. No accidents no crying, loved her food everything was great!
We noticed quite quickly after a few days that if we left her for a period of time (anything from 5 minutes to a few hours) when we returned there was a wet patch where she had been sitting. We assumed that she would do this while sleeping and took her to the vets who gave her the all clear.
This continued for a while and one day my gf noticed that Oreo was limping on her back leg. It turned out that she was licking her feet to the point where she had made herself bald and sore. I must point out that it was her back feet only.
So off we go to the vets who put it down to an allergy gave her a steriod injection, some expensive shampoo (to wash her feet with) and a head collar to stop her biting and licking.
This cleared up however a month or so later it happened again, so we took her to the vets again who told us the same thing and we spend a lot more money.
Eventually, we moved house and took the oportunity to register at another vet for a second opinion. He agreed it was allergies however recommended that we use a tablet form of steriod along with an human allergy relief (piriton), special shampoo, and a head collar. At this point Oreo had been living in her collar at all times when we were out the room. The vet also suggested we tried a food elemination diet.
Oreo has pretty much been a picky eater. She will pick and choose meals so finding a food for her has always been difficult. So elimnating all foods apart from the vet food was hard for us and her.
There was no change in Oreo's condition apart from the fact that she started to rub her face on the carpet.
At this point we had tried a lot of things seperate to the vet, for example removing air fresheners from around the house washing her bedding more regular on a higher heat, washing her feet after every walk, supplements, nothing seemed to work.
We were told that it was a case of managing the situation rather than curing it.
We even sent of samples to a hollistic vet who told us she was allergic to salmon and various other things as well as various skin scrapes and tests.
She was getting so down and so were we!
Again, we changed vets this time after a lot of research. He started by checking her anal glands which were full to bursting!
We got Oreo home and it was like we had a new dog, she was runnning around and jumping it was an instant change!
The licking and the biting reduced but not completely however the vet gave us some steriod cream to apply every other day.
This lasted a few months until Oreo became unwell and had an upset tummy and started to have small fits.
So off we go back to the vets, various blood tests later she was given the all clear. Eventually we found out the food company had changed the recipie of their food! While we were there he checked her glands once again to find they were infected which was probably caused by her bad tummy.
So various antibiotics later and a small op to flush out her glands and a new food she seems to be doing better.
However the last few days she has started to lick the tops of her back feet and caused hotspots between her paws.
After two years of searching I honestly believe that this is a fungal infection caused by the inbalance in her system and her body has never had time to fully recover.
I have started to give her a spoonfull of natural yogurt a day and have treated her feet with a human foot fungal powder which has dried her feet right up.
I am hoping we have found a reason to all of this and I am hoping this is the begining of the end of paw troubles!
However, I am still open to advice so if anyone has been through this and has any tips I'd be more than greatful to receive them.
Thanks
We adopted in February 2012 and she settled in straight away. No accidents no crying, loved her food everything was great!
We noticed quite quickly after a few days that if we left her for a period of time (anything from 5 minutes to a few hours) when we returned there was a wet patch where she had been sitting. We assumed that she would do this while sleeping and took her to the vets who gave her the all clear.
This continued for a while and one day my gf noticed that Oreo was limping on her back leg. It turned out that she was licking her feet to the point where she had made herself bald and sore. I must point out that it was her back feet only.
So off we go to the vets who put it down to an allergy gave her a steriod injection, some expensive shampoo (to wash her feet with) and a head collar to stop her biting and licking.
This cleared up however a month or so later it happened again, so we took her to the vets again who told us the same thing and we spend a lot more money.
Eventually, we moved house and took the oportunity to register at another vet for a second opinion. He agreed it was allergies however recommended that we use a tablet form of steriod along with an human allergy relief (piriton), special shampoo, and a head collar. At this point Oreo had been living in her collar at all times when we were out the room. The vet also suggested we tried a food elemination diet.
Oreo has pretty much been a picky eater. She will pick and choose meals so finding a food for her has always been difficult. So elimnating all foods apart from the vet food was hard for us and her.
There was no change in Oreo's condition apart from the fact that she started to rub her face on the carpet.
At this point we had tried a lot of things seperate to the vet, for example removing air fresheners from around the house washing her bedding more regular on a higher heat, washing her feet after every walk, supplements, nothing seemed to work.
We were told that it was a case of managing the situation rather than curing it.
We even sent of samples to a hollistic vet who told us she was allergic to salmon and various other things as well as various skin scrapes and tests.
She was getting so down and so were we!
Again, we changed vets this time after a lot of research. He started by checking her anal glands which were full to bursting!
We got Oreo home and it was like we had a new dog, she was runnning around and jumping it was an instant change!
The licking and the biting reduced but not completely however the vet gave us some steriod cream to apply every other day.
This lasted a few months until Oreo became unwell and had an upset tummy and started to have small fits.
So off we go back to the vets, various blood tests later she was given the all clear. Eventually we found out the food company had changed the recipie of their food! While we were there he checked her glands once again to find they were infected which was probably caused by her bad tummy.
So various antibiotics later and a small op to flush out her glands and a new food she seems to be doing better.
However the last few days she has started to lick the tops of her back feet and caused hotspots between her paws.
After two years of searching I honestly believe that this is a fungal infection caused by the inbalance in her system and her body has never had time to fully recover.
I have started to give her a spoonfull of natural yogurt a day and have treated her feet with a human foot fungal powder which has dried her feet right up.
I am hoping we have found a reason to all of this and I am hoping this is the begining of the end of paw troubles!
However, I am still open to advice so if anyone has been through this and has any tips I'd be more than greatful to receive them.
Thanks
