Feet Problems

[Guest icuCHEATERS]

I have 6 year old greyhound who has beautiful shinny coat other than his feet. He use to not have any problems with is feet either but now they are red and the he is loosing hair on his feet. It started with the bottom of his feet and now moving to the top. We where feeding Purina One Sensitive System and switch him to Nutro Senior. He has been on Nutro for about 2 months now with no signs of improvements. I took him to the vet and we tried Prednisone with no improvements and we also ran several blood test. All came back normal for greyhounds. The test that where run was Thyroid, t4, TSH and I believe free t4. I'm at a loss and feel bad for our hound. We can't let him run thru the house because when he does is feet bleed. Also I had a greyhound before and he had no stinky dog oder. Now with our current greyhound having problem w/ his feet he has to get a bath at least weekly other wise you can smell him when you walk in the door. He doesn't act like he feels bad and in fact would love to be running. He doesn't lick his feet what I would say anymore than a normal dog. I'm at a loss. ??

[Guest Energy11]

Sounds like it could be allergies ... maybe to the food?

 

A lot of people have to feed grain free foods to their dogs, due to allergies.

 

Maybe the allergies are due to your grass, soil, whatever. Do you treat your lawn? Maybe the allergies are to the carpets if you have any? Hard to say. I would see the vet about it, and you could TRY Benedryl, (not the allergy/sinus kind) to see if that helps. You can give 50 mg, every four to six hours if needed, but you will probably see sedation with this.

 

Another thought is booties. I LOVE these: The Voyagers: http://www.k9apparel.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=5.

 

I use them for Staggerlee when he walks, becasue of his corns.

 

Good Luck with this!

[Sighthounds4me]

Are they red because the dog licks them? Saliva turns the hair reddish in color, if there is prolonged exposure. If that is the case, I would think he has an allergy of some type, that is causing itching, and he is licking in response to the itch.

 

Try giving Benadryl, and seeing if that helps the issue. If it does, have an allergy.

[Guest icuCHEATERS]

He started the feet problem in our old house after about 2 years of living there. We never treated the grass w/ any kind of pestiside or fertilizer. And we actually use to have him wear booties on walks because he has corns on the bottom of his feet.

Is there a brand name for grain free diet? I'm willing to try anything.

We went to the vet and he not sure why only his feet are showing problems w/ the rest of his coat and ears looking great.

Thanks you for the suggestions.

 

I can try benadryl. Around his mouth where he licks the side of his mouth the fur is reddish color but the skin color is normal. He is a black hound and where is skin is turning red the hair is following out. I see him licking his feet maybe once a day.

[TheFullHouse]

Taste Of The Wild is a grain free food you can try. I'd dose him with Benadryl for a couple of days to see if he leaves his feet alone and the redness starts to subside. You can give him 2 to 3 Benadryl every 4 to 6 hours. The pills are 25 mg. each. If it's allergies, that should help a lot. One of our girls has allergies and I keep her dosed on Benadryl while she is itching and licking and nibbling at herself. We are picking up some Taste Of The Wild today to get her started on it to see if it helps her also.

 

BTW, allergies can start at any time.

[GeorgeofNE]

Sounds like allergies to me.

 

I'm frankly shocked your vet didn't say the same thing.

 

As everyone else has already said, Benedryl (I actually use Tavist on George; it worked better for him) should help if it IS allergies. Could be anything from his diet to your carpet to something you clean with. An allergy typically is to something the dog has been exposed to many times, not something new. So if you've been in that house for two years, it could easily be something in the home.

 

Do you have a dermatologist in your area? You might consider that too.

 

Not sure what red feet have to do with your dog smelling bad?

[Guest mcsheltie]

I would think allergies too. Body odor is often seen (errr...smelled ) with allergies. One of ours had food allergies to quite a few things. Until we got him stabilized, he really smelled and his saliva was reddish too. We got him stabilized on a raw diet. Now he does okay on Evo.

 

You could try Temaril P. It also has a low dose of Prednisolone, rather than Prednisone which works better in some cases.

 

Unfortunately he could be allergic to anything. Even your laundry detergent. But I'd start with food. An elimination diet is the route we went. Pick a novel protein source. Check the food you are feeding to make sure you pick one that is not in it, as a lot of foods now have several meat sources. I fed only that protein for three weeks. If all is okay than add a carb source. Again one that isn't in the food you are feeding. If that works then you start adding in supplements.

 

One vet told me yeast allergies are associated with body odor. It is hard to find a food that doesn't have yeast in it. It can be used in producing the carb source and not be listed as an ingredient.

 

It can take 1-2 months for the immune system to quiet down.

[Guest LindsaySF]

The odor makes me think a yeast infection, possibly between the toes. Did you get a skin scraping or try to culture it? What are you using for baths?

 

 

[tbhounds]

Could be so many things with of course numerous treatment options. Could be food or environmental/seasonal allergies. Could be contact dermatitis, mange or an immune mediated disease. I would really recommend you seek out a Board Certified Dermatologist. They will be run all the diagnostic tests necessary and treat him appropriately.

[Guest TeddysMom]

Could have picked up a fungus of some kind especially if it is spreading.

[Batmom]

Skin scraping and analysis first, if that hasn't been done yet. Then a true elimination diet as mcsheltie suggests. I would do the elimination diet rather than grain-free food because the grain-free foods on the market have many ingredients, any of which could be an allergen to your dog. My "red itchy feet" dog was allergic to fish and fish oil. Grain free wouldn't've helped.

 

But I'd start with food. An elimination diet is the route we went. Pick a novel protein source. Check the food you are feeding to make sure you pick one that is not in it, as a lot of foods now have several meat sources. I fed only that protein for three weeks. If all is okay than add a carb source. Again one that isn't in the food you are feeding. If that works then you start adding in supplements.

 

mcsheltie is right on with this. Start out by feeding exactly one protein and absolutely nothing else. No treats, no supplements, no "just a spoonful." I prefer to wait a bit longer than the 3 weeks noted above (maybe symptoms gone + 2 weeks). Then add ONE other food item (one carb if you want, or another protein). Give it a good 3 weeks. If no symptoms, add ONE more thing. Etc.

 

An alternative to elimination diets is one of the prescription hypoallergenic foods like Hills Z/D Ultra. These are completely different from so-called "limited ingredient" foods. The protein is preprocessed so the body doesn't recognize it and mount an allergic response to it. Some folks find them useful for elimination diets; others prefer the single-protein route.

 

Hugs and best luck with your pup.