Quote:
Originally Posted by PILOTthePuppy  Pax has been licking his paws for quite some time (well before this), if I distract him or tell him no, he usually stops.
His brother Pilot has had redness between his paws in the past and they told us to give him children's sugar free benadryl for a few days. I think they have environmental allergies such as detergents and some types of pollen or grass.
I read that chicken could be an allergy as well but true food allergies are actually very rare. Their main protein in their home cooked food is fat free chicken breast to help avoid pancreatitis from fattier meats. |
Paw licking is a cardinal sign of allergies. In dogs, the histamine reaction causes an actual physical sensation in their paws - very uncomfortable - this is why they need to lick/chew the paws. Yep, food allergies only account for about 10-15% of dog allergies - most are environmental. However, chicken IS the most common protein allergy in dogs who do have food allergies.
Benadryl is not a great treatment for allergies. Because of its short half-life, it
has to be given every 4-6hrs to remain therapeutic (if it even IS therapeutic in the first place, that is). Other OTC meds for dogs are Zyrtec and Claritin - both are 24 hr meds (once a day). Again though, rarely super effective in alleviating symptoms in dogs.
Many of us here have yorkies w/ terrible allergies bc this is so very common in yorkies now -- and most of find that the relief comes from either Apoquel or Atopica. My Marcel has been on both (currently Apoquel) - and both made a tremendous difference in his quality of life -- he used to wake up at 1am at times just to lick his paws
. Both of those meds affect the immune system cells.
The redness in the paws you're seeing could be from moist skin and irritation (from licking) -or- could be signs of a yeast infection (again, mostly due to excessive moisture, but also allergy related).
More on Atopica and Apoquel here:
https://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/di...allergies.html