Licking (and licking)

[MattB]

We've got a 12 yo girl who is constantly licking and I think she has maybe had a few different issues which have made it difficult for us and the very to work out what is going on.

Daisy has had ongoing difficulties with her anal glands which, despite trying different foods, she needs to have expressed every 3 months when she needs this done a usual sign is lots of licking. However about 12 months ago she started licking and biting her back legs too, the vet suggested Apoquel which completely stopped it, this seemed to wear off progressively and the itching returned - we then stopped the medication tried using 'sensitive' dried food which seemed to fix the itching.

In the past 2 or 3 months we have had a lot of licking and some big wet patches which we assumed was from the licking itself but I've realised that she seems to be exclusively licking her vulva and I've looked with a torch and can see small droplets of urine coming out. We've had old girls with 'leakage' before but not with the licking but I'm thinking this could be her either being irritated by the sensation or trying hard to keep clean - does this sound plausible? I'm going to suggest this idea to the vet as I know there's some medication that can be effective.

Has anyone else experienced similar?

[macoduck]

Gradually over a few months I noticed Georgie, age 11, frequently licking her girly parts. Dog beds had big wet spots. Her hind quarters were wet.

Then I noticed a little drop of urine on her and vigorous licking ensued. Her, not me. 

She didn't have a urinary tract infection. I did not want to jump into giving her a prescription medication. If your girl happens to need it though, do not use Proin. Encurin and DES are safer.

At the suggestion of a vet friend and others, I started Georgie on "Bladder Strength" by VetriScience and I order via Chewy.com Within days the licking stopped, and no more big wet spots which were probably saliva from trying to clean herself.

https://www.chewy.com/vetriscience-bladder-strength-dog/dp/42068

There are other products, like cranberry based, but I didn't bother trying them.

Male dogs can also use this same Bladder Strength product.

[MattB]

Thank you very much. I'm in the UK and it looks like this product will be difficult to get hold of but I'll definitely try to find something similar of it exists. Much appreciated.

 

[Victor]

One of our girls was licking excessively due to urinary incontinence. After ruling out a UTI, our vet had us apply Desitin to help calm the skin and give Estriol to help control the urinary incontinence. The Estriol helped but not enough, so our vet switched the prescription to DES (a nonsteroidal estrogen derivative) and that has worked quite well. The other thing we do is encourage her to go outside more often to urinate.

 

[MattB]

2 hours ago, Victor said:

The other thing we do is encourage her to go outside more often to urinate.

 

Good point re UTI we will check this out but also re going out, this winter Daisy has slowed right down - she used to go outside at any opportunity but now we have to persuade her to get out of bed!