German Shepherd can't stop scratching or licking paws

[Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 971
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My 9 year old German Shepherd can't stop scratching her body which has resulted in sore armpits and underbelly.

There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the skin having a closer look so there are not any fleas or mites (vet did a skin scrape test). Sudocrem only helps for a small period of time

She also can't stop licking her paws which has made them very red and sore. The vet gave us some cortavance spray and fuciderm gel but that doesn't seem to be working, or putting piriton in her breakfast and dinner. We've tried bathing them in tepid salt water as well but that hasn't really helped either.

Every summer this usually happens but it seems to have gone on for the whole year this time and ever since we gave her a medicated shampoo bath the irritation has seemed to have gotten worse for her.


has anyone had this sort of thing with German Shepherds before and offer some remedies?

Comments

  • CroctacusCroctacus Posts: 18,216
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    To help greyhounds with sore feet from hot concrete an old remedy was to soak them in a solution of potassium permanganate, available from most pharmacists.

    Also try googling Bob grass herbal remedies. My mum bred GSDs years ago and never had your particular problem but did have one that had a bad reaction to a bee sting and lost all the hair round her chin and neck. After trying loads it was a bob grass preparation that finally sorted it months later.
  • GrannyGruntbuckGrannyGruntbuck Posts: 3,638
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    Boredom?

    Boredom can lead to stress which can make a dog do the above.

    Does it get enough exercise or interaction / play?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 971
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    Boredom?

    Boredom can lead to stress which can make a dog do the above.

    Does it get enough exercise or interaction / play?

    no she gets plenty of attention and walks
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,801
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    You could try antihistamines.

    I had a dog who was allergic to grass seed and used to itch & sneeze. My vet told me to give him the nromal piriton that humans take. One tablet a day in his food in the morning. It worked. Give your vet a call first and see if there's any reason your dog can't take it.
  • Vodkafairy75Vodkafairy75 Posts: 43
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    Has she had any allergy tests done? Sometimes they can be allergic to contents in their food or dust/pollen/anything. I remember a dog having skin irritation on its paws as the owner used to use shake n vac on their carpets. Do you use anything like that on your floors?
  • GrannyGruntbuckGrannyGruntbuck Posts: 3,638
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    Grass seeds?

    i seem to recall some of my dogs having problems with them in the way you describe.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 971
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    Has she had any allergy tests done? Sometimes they can be allergic to contents in their food or dust/pollen/anything. I remember a dog having skin irritation on its paws as the owner used to use shake n vac on their carpets. Do you use anything like that on your floors?

    nope don't use any of that on carpets. have changed her food but hasn't changed anything. haven't had any allergy tests done.
  • Wee TinkersWee Tinkers Posts: 12,782
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    Our old lab started out with similar symptoms and we had many, many years of trying to get to the bottom of her problems.

    She had skin scraping & allergy tests - inconclusive. She was prescribed ultraallergen diet but no improvement. We lifted carpets and put down wooden floors. She was on daily antihistamines & fatty acid supplements for years.... But all made no difference to the wee woman's scratching and distress. Her weekly medicated shampoos soothed it for a day or two though. She ended up on steroids as a last resort (but that's another story :-().

    In her later years she needed blood tests - they showed hypothyroidism which I can't help but wonder how long she had it and how much it contributed to her itching.

    Anyway! I waffle! I'm not saying this is what is happening with your dog. Just sharing our experience.... They're are so many things that could cause this and often testing e.g. Allergy, etc is inconclusive and expensive (or show up to something you can't possibly control anyway like the blasted dust mite!). So my advice would be keep liaising with the vet in a bid to get to bottom of it (hopefully you have a good vet rather than out to fleece), discuss diet (usually red meat & pork are to be avoided with skin complaints), if making changes (diet, washing powder or bedding, etc) only make one change at a time and observe for signs of licking, etc improving or getting worse.

    I hope you get some ease for your wee dog and would love to hear how you get on. Reading your post took me back years.
  • Wee TinkersWee Tinkers Posts: 12,782
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    Just want to clarify my last post was just our experience and in no way typical - I'm suggesting you rip up your floors and renovate half your house, killthedirector!

    I read it back and it sounded terribly alarmist - sorry about that (& the typos!).

    (btw apparently, even if you get no specific diagnosis, often the antihistamine & fatty acid supplement is pretty effective... anyway discuss with your vet. But don't let them go down the most expensive route right off the bat; a good vet should try to find the trigger by ruling out the cheapest and easiest thing first.)

    Good luck.
  • IvanIVIvanIV Posts: 30,301
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    I would ask dog owners in the area if they had similar problems. Maybe it's something she gets in contact with, on the streets, pavements and such.
  • xdowxdow Posts: 2,388
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    ask around your area for sure as IvanIV says

    our old collie would get super itchy whenever summer came around, she ended up on steroids a couple of times as she scratched her face that much that she tore it open - despite being on daily piriton. (the steroids actually affected her hair growth, so it was almost like turning her from a short haired collie into a long haired one - which was odd, but very pretty!) it did usually calm down after a month or so.

    into her old age though, she continued to lick & chat at her paws - they should have been white, but they were stained a pink colour
    we never had any allergy tests done on her, but we established that she had an aversion to metal (bald, irritated muzzle from eating out of a metal dish, bald, irritated, greasy neck from her ID tag & collar when she was a pup)

    we put the paws down to irritated scent glands. in the later days we thought it just habit, as if you looked at her while she was doing it, she'd stop and give you a sideways look.

    what food did you switch to and from?

    the main problems our miss had came around the time she was eating dog meat.
    a lot of it cleared up and calmed down when she refused to eat it any more and we put her onto (quite an awful diet) of tinned stewed steak/roast beef in gravy/chicken in gravy and frozen fish & chicken breast

    later on improved slightly by adding vegetables and pasta/rice.to it. as well as removing the gravy and introducing offal like heart, liver, kidney. (in other words she was spoiled rotten)

    this all along side a bowl of bakers she would ask for and pick at every evening. :rolleyes:
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 971
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    Just want to clarify my last post was just our experience and in no way typical - I'm suggesting you rip up your floors and renovate half your house, killthedirector!

    I read it back and it sounded terribly alarmist - sorry about that (& the typos!).

    don't worry i wasn't too alarmed. i would redecorate the house but my house is up for sale at the moment so it would be a bit of a waste of time and money (i don't have) lol.
    IvanIV wrote: »
    I would ask dog owners in the area if they had similar problems. Maybe it's something she gets in contact with, on the streets, pavements and such.

    i'll give that a try although unfortunately where i am people are a bit 'up them selves' and will probably ignore me thinking i'm some sort of village idiot'.
    xdow wrote: »
    .

    what food did you switch to and from?

    we switched from dr johns biscuits to chappie on the vets advice. we haven't changed her meat yet which is- winalot classics jelly stuff. so maybe i'll changing the meat provider.



    thanks for the advice guys
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,449
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    Our German shepherd had the symptoms to say with yours apart from the licking of paws. Turned out to be chicken in her diet. German shepherds are apparently known for being allergic to chicken. Had a terrible job finding a food without chicken in as most foods that say lamb etc are actually chicken with flavourings.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 941
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    I have a lab who spends about 50% of her waking day scratching, nibbling and licking her paws/body. She gets a recurrent ear infection every 6 months, (she has this down to exact day!). My vet suggested adding Yumega Plus to her food. It's a salmon oil based and is made for dogs with sensitive/itchy skin. I've also recently started bathing her in oatmeal based shampoo. We started using the Yumega Plus at the weekend and there is a noticeable difference already.

    Heres the link: http://www.lintbells.com/products/yumega-plus

    The shampoo I use is Groomers Oatmeal and Honey. Every other dog shampoo irritated her skin so I used Johnsons baby shampoo that helped to start with but I've since found this one and it's brilliant.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 971
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    Unfortunately we were never able to solve her skin and scratching. We tried a variety of products and changing her diet but nothing worked. Apparently there was a lot of skin problems going around in my area at the time. But unfortunately yesterday we had to have her put to sleep due to a tumour rupturing in her spleen.
  • ktboilsktboils Posts: 494
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    I am so sorry to read that. xx
  • missmaisiemissmaisie Posts: 170
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    I was constantly at the vet's for various skin issues with my dog and, to be frank, found it time consuming and difficult to keep on top of the issue. Her paws are a particular problem as she is prone to all kinds of things and although I followed the vet's advice (amongst other things using shampoo that had to be massaged in for 10 mins), her paws and under her neck remained pink. Anyway, I was out with the dogs one day and I met a woman who spotted the pink paws as she had a similar problem with her dog - she recommended using Pear's Soap, a quick wash on and wash off (music to my ears) .... I tried it and it has been amazing. She now has lovely furry paws and her neck is no longer pink.

    I still have to wash her paws on a regular basis as she does have some flare-ups, but it is so much better and I reckon worth a try. She's also prone to interdigital cysts and I've found that soaking her paws in Epsom Salts, then washing with the pears reduces them drastically.

    Good luck, hope this helps!
  • blossom24blossom24 Posts: 411
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    I am so sorry, how very sad x
  • StressMonkeyStressMonkey Posts: 13,347
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    So sorry to hear your news. :( x
  • missmaisiemissmaisie Posts: 170
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    Oh my goodness!

    Dashed off a reply to you this morning and have come back to actually read all the thread (which I should have done in the first place)

    What a dipstick I am ...

    I am so very sorry for your loss and I hope you'll forgive my idiot behaviour - it wasn't intentional
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 971
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    missmaisie wrote: »
    Oh my goodness!

    Dashed off a reply to you this morning and have come back to actually read all the thread (which I should have done in the first place)

    What a dipstick I am ...

    I am so very sorry for your loss and I hope you'll forgive my idiot behaviour - it wasn't intentional

    Don't worry I know it wasn't intentional.

    Thank you for your kind messages guys
  • missmaisiemissmaisie Posts: 170
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    Thank you
    ((((((((((((())))))))))))
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