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Obsessive Licking - Giving Herself Sores


Guest zombrie

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Guest zombrie

Not sure if this is the right spot or if anyone can actually help...

Minerva has been here for over a month now. I have discovered that she is not only a licker, but an obsessive licker.

She is always licking. Her bum, legs, paws, me, anything for a seemingly endless amount of time. I get fed up with her licking and actually have to pull her head away from whatever she is licking. The only way for me to break her concentration on it is to give her a bully stick. But today I discovered that she is licking to the point where she is giving herself sores.

 

She has had happy tail since day 2 and had an infection and now her tail is balding (she is facing amputation if there is no improvement by the end of her round of antibiotics). Could it be she is agitated about her tail and is just licking anything to feel better? Is it boredom? Is it just her? I don't know what to do about this one. I feel awful, I have to muzzle her when I'm not right there watching her so she doesn't do more damage to herself!

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Guest JustGreyt05

My dog does this too. Time for a work up for the common causes of pruritus: ectoparasites, cutaneous adverse food reaction, and atopy. If no results, see a veterinarian with an interest in derm or a boarded dermatologist.

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Sounds like you might get some good direction next week.

 

The other angle you are on is behavioral. Cats, as you probably know, can be finicky like this when under stress. They lick and lick until they're bald. There may or may not be an underlying medical reason but we all know how stress can manifest itself physically. So, that could be a possibility in addition to an underlying medical (skin) cause.

 

I'd do nothing until discussing with the vet because they may want to look at the current state of skin, diet, etc etc. Then you can problem solve going forward and consider allergies, medical, behavioral. I personally wouldn't want to change anything now until she is seen next week, unless of course the sores are becoming hugely problematic.

 

I'll be interested to hear other thoughts and your vet's opinion as well.

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Derek

Follow my Ironman journeys and life with dogs, cats and busy kids: A long road

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Could be allergies or dry skin that are getting her started (maybe that's what the previous poster said :blush) and then she just keeps going :rolleyes: I had one who would lick her self into hot spots, she was very timid & shy and I think stress was a big part of it. I found putting EMT gel on the sores stopped her from licking those spots, but the only thing that really stopped her was time. As she got more used to me and being in my home, she eventually stopped.

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Has she had a good bath or two since she came home? (Note that if you decide to bathe her, you'll have to keep the tail DRY until it's healed.) Some dogs are allergic to flea dirt, and even a smidge can make them very itchy.

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Guest zombrie

Good points! I'm leaning more towards behavioral then medical because she also licks me :dunno She doesn't appear to be stressed or worried at all, but she could be hiding it well and it all goes into the licking. I guess time will tell! I definitely will mention it to the vet, though.

 

Has she had a good bath or two since she came home? (Note that if you decide to bathe her, you'll have to keep the tail DRY until it's healed.) Some dogs are allergic to flea dirt, and even a smidge can make them very itchy.

 

I did not because her trainer gave her a bath before she left, so I didn't feel it was needed. I guess it couldn't hurt to bathe her again just to make sure

Edited by zombrie
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Guest avadogner

We went though a similar episode with Ava when we adopted her. She licked and chewed spots into open sores. She was parasite and flea free and we eventually found out she is alergic to chicken. We switched her Salmon Grain Free and it was a magical cure. We have had two warm winters which has left us covered up in fleas. The fleas have built resistance to the Topicals. We have to be extra diligent with keeping her flea free. She loses her hair with flea exposure too. I will keep your baby in my prayers and hope her tail heals fast and her stress reduces. Both my greys lick the hardwood floors when storms are coming through. Unfortunately, it's hard to tell which is the true cause at each episode. Hang in there!

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Guest zombrie

We went though a similar episode with Ava when we adopted her. She licked and chewed spots into open sores. She was parasite and flea free and we eventually found out she is alergic to chicken. We switched her Salmon Grain Free and it was a magical cure. We have had two warm winters which has left us covered up in fleas. The fleas have built resistance to the Topicals. We have to be extra diligent with keeping her flea free. She loses her hair with flea exposure too. I will keep your baby in my prayers and hope her tail heals fast and her stress reduces. Both my greys lick the hardwood floors when storms are coming through. Unfortunately, it's hard to tell which is the true cause at each episode. Hang in there!

 

Interesting, was the licking her only symptom? Minerva seems perfectly healthy otherwise, on the outside at least. Doolin, her littermate, is sensitive to foods so it would make sense. Only his was obvious, he got rashes and loose stool

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Teague chews and knits a bit on his arms when he is shedding but when he had an itty bitty cut on his leg he licked and licked it until there was blood everywhere :blink: It could be that her tail starts the licking, and then she just goes everywhere! If she is getting really raw and sore, the only thing I can suggest is to put a lightweight, breatheable shirt on her (with legs if she chews those too), like a thin cotton t-shirt or nightgown. This can block the chewing and sometimes once they are out of the habit it stops. Good luck!

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Try adding some cooked oatmeal to one of her meals - sometimes it can help to soothe skin problems.

 

Also, if you can contact the trainer you might want to find out if they were feeding beef or chicken at the track and switch to whatever they were doing. As a note, if they were feeding beef, it will be hard but, not impossible to find a kibble without chicken parts/fat or "unlabeled" ingredients.

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Have you talked to her trainer to see if she did it in the kennel? If she didn't my guess would be a change in her diet or stress from leaving the kennel life to home life.

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Guest zombrie

Have you talked to her trainer to see if she did it in the kennel? If she didn't my guess would be a change in her diet or stress from leaving the kennel life to home life.

 

Good point, I didn't think to ask. I will send off an email tonight. Although I believe in her kennel they are muzzled most of the time so they may not know if she did this. Can't hurt to ask.

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Henry started obsessively licking during a food switch once. There must've been some ingredient in all the Taste of the Wild formulas that he couldn't tolerate. I wouldn't rule out food allergies or a food-related issue. Especially if she was a good racer and ate track food all her life, she might be having a hard time getting used to regular food.

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Guest zombrie

Henry started obsessively licking during a food switch once. There must've been some ingredient in all the Taste of the Wild formulas that he couldn't tolerate. I wouldn't rule out food allergies or a food-related issue. Especially if she was a good racer and ate track food all her life, she might be having a hard time getting used to regular food.

 

Very true. I feed her Canidae. Her brother couldn't tolerate that food at all. I didn't really think of allergies since everything else is normal. Sounds like I need to do some experimenting after she sees the vet

Thanks for the responses everyone!

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Guest sweetpea

My Rat Terrier is a compulsive licker.

 

Usually just his front legs, but at his former home he had

open oozing sores on all four legs from his hyper-grooming.

It got so bad they were considering AMPUTATION! (I kid you not)

They also had him on prednisone indefinitely, but at least for the last 6 months they had him.

(Which did not keep him from licking, plus-also it made him even more manic than his baseline manic. :blink: )

 

We got him off the pred, which helped with a myriad of his other problems, poor little plinker.

 

We tried different foods, but like you, it seemed obvious to me that it was behavioral.

 

We have him on a low dose of prozac, and we have a topical spray for his legs when he "flares".

 

The combination has really helped.

 

Good luck!

 

Buzzy

Edited by sweetpea
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Razzy licks a lot too. Her bum, her belly, her feet, my hands! She also bites her nails at night and rubs her eyes a lot. She's also been drinking water obsessively since Wylie got here. I think it may be a combo of allergies (she has a sensitive tummy too) and soothing her stress. I've started adding fish oil & oatmeal to her food and noticed some improvement, but not total improvement. I'm leaning toward vet visit too, but if it is allergies, it can be so tricky to figure out the cause. :(

Good luck!

 
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Razzy licks a lot too. Her bum, her belly, her feet, my hands! She also bites her nails at night and rubs her eyes a lot. She's also been drinking water obsessively since Wylie got here. I think it may be a combo of allergies (she has a sensitive tummy too) and soothing her stress. I've started adding fish oil & oatmeal to her food and noticed some improvement, but not total improvement. I'm leaning toward vet visit too, but if it is allergies, it can be so tricky to figure out the cause. :(

Good luck!

 

 

Try gradually adding some more oatmeal - my dogs morning meal is more than 50% oatmeal (5 minute type).

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Guest zombrie

Update:

I am on spring break and Minerva and I have been with my parents and the rest of the pack for a few days. She has stopped the licking :eek Not just that, her other issues have disappeared. Nothing in her diet has changed or anything. I'm thinking it's being with the other dogs, she is so much more confident and relaxed with them. I really don't want to get a second dog! :lol :lol :lol I'm going back to my apartment today, it will be interesting if her issues come back.

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Update:

I am on spring break and Minerva and I have been with my parents and the rest of the pack for a few days. She has stopped the licking :eek Not just that, her other issues have disappeared. Nothing in her diet has changed or anything. I'm thinking it's being with the other dogs, she is so much more confident and relaxed with them. I really don't want to get a second dog! :lol :lol :lol I'm going back to my apartment today, it will be interesting if her issues come back.

 

You could take Doolin ya know? ;)

 

Curious, does she lick herself when you aren't home or when you are?

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Guest mariah

It's weird...Gussie did this too for the first few weeks. She had little sores on the insides of her front elbows and had worn her fur very thin where her front legs meet the rest of her body. She would do it a lot when she was laying down in her bed. Then she just stopped. I think it was stress. Hope it's the same for Ms. M and she'll stop doing it now! Glad to hear she's getting along with the other dogs.

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