Itchy Tail and Excess Licking

[Time4ANap]

LaVida has had an issue for a while now where she licks around the base of her tail,  right where it hangs over her butt. Obviously it's itching or irritated. The vet had us clean the area with Witch Hazel to help eliminate the irritation. Results are minimal. We have also tried using Bag Balm to soothe it, and she pretty much just licks it off. This morning the licking is constant. I just gave her a Benadryl to see if that helps. So far it is not infected, but I fear it will be if she keeps licking. The underside is very pink from her licking.  Any thoughts on another cream or gel to try to calm this down? 

I figured that if the Benadryl works this is going to be some kind of allergy. We will likely head back to the vet if that's the case, but wanted to see if anyone has used something that worked to heal the area and stopped the licking. 

Thanks. 

[Jerilyn]

I use this Neosporin/Bandaid spray on Wiki's metal leg when she gets a wound over the pins and is licking it. It stops the licking, I imagine it tastes horrible.

https://www.neosporin.com/products/wound-care/pain-relief/spray

Can you wrap it up somehow?  I've also put regular bandaids on Wiki's leg when it's got a hole.  The flexible fabric ones stick to fur really well.

Good luck with that sweet girl!

[FiveRoooooers]

Is she at all stinky back there (not normal stinky lol). Wondering if she has an impacted or infected anal gland or something about to brew. 

[ramonaghan]

12 minutes ago, FiveRoooooers said:

Is she at all stinky back there (not normal stinky lol). Wondering if she has an impacted or infected anal gland or something about to brew. 

My first thought as well. We experienced that with Sweep, and although her anal glands weren't that full, having them expressed stopped the licking.

[Remolacha]

Now that y’all mention it, Val did have to have her anal glands expressed once. I had forgotten, it was a few years ago. Something worth mentioning to your vet. (Vets just love to express anal glands )

[Time4ANap]

2 hours ago, FiveRoooooers said:

Is she at all stinky back there (not normal stinky lol). Wondering if she has an impacted or infected anal gland or something about to brew. 

We brought this up at her recent vet visit and they did express the anal glands. There was virtually nothing. The vet seemed to think it was just some sort of irritation.  The licking has gotten more intense the past few days but there's been nothing new to pin it on.  The area is very clean, not stinky at all. Benadryl tablet seems to have helped today. 

46 minutes ago, Remolacha said:

Now that y’all mention it, Val did have to have her anal glands expressed once. I had forgotten, it was a few years ago. Something worth mentioning to your vet. (Vets just love to express anal glands )

The vet turned LaVida over to the vet tech when it was time for that on our recent visit.  That didn't seem to be the issue. 

I gave her a Benadryl tablet this morning when the licking got ridiculous. She has stopped licking.  She doesn't appear to be groggy and hasn't fallen asleep, so maybe we are on to something with an allergy of some kind. We will see how long it lasts before the licking starts back up and go from there. I'm hoping that if we can deter the licking for a few days, the irritated area will have a chence to heal and not be so inflamed looking. 

 

4 hours ago, Jerilyn said:

I use this Neosporin/Bandaid spray on Wiki's metal leg when she gets a wound over the pins and is licking it. It stops the licking, I imagine it tastes horrible.

https://www.neosporin.com/products/wound-care/pain-relief/spray

Can you wrap it up somehow?  I've also put regular bandaids on Wiki's leg when it's got a hole.  The flexible fabric ones stick to fur really well.

Good luck with that sweet girl!

Thanks. I thought about wrapping it but wasn't sure that I should. Will keep the spray in mind. Thanks. 

Edited June 30, 2022 by Time4ANap

[BatterseaBrindl]

Nigel once had a very minor scrape on his leg that he licked constantly and it became quite raw.  We tried various topicals and oral meds (including benadryl) ... not much worked.    It was like the licking became a habit... not because the area was actually itchy or sore.

Our Vet finally suggested some acupuncture around the area, as well as other sites on his body, and amazingly two sessions cured him of the licking 

Not sure how LaVida would feel about those needles in that particular area    

[macoduck]

Just adding a linky about Benadryl:
https://www.bestiepaws.com/dog/benadryl-alternative-for-dogs/

I seem to recall Tracy the vet tech preferring Zyrtec instead. Hopefully she'll see your post and comment.
https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/cetirizine

[greysmom]

Have you changed any food or added any treats recently?  A lot of times dietary changes will change the Ph of waste making it more acidic and likely to irritate skin.  Same with allergies or food intolerances.  A lot of dog food manufacturers have been having to substitute items and change up formulas due to supply chain shortages.  And they don't have to make any announcements when they do.  So that may be a factor, as well.

[Time4ANap]

16 hours ago, macoduck said:

Just adding a linky about Benadryl:
https://www.bestiepaws.com/dog/benadryl-alternative-for-dogs/

I seem to recall Tracy the vet tech preferring Zyrtec instead. Hopefully she'll see your post and comment.
https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/cetirizine

The Benadryl seems to have taken care of whatever the issue is. We are at almost 24 hours later and she has not licked her tail once. We have only given the one Benadryl so I fully expected the licking to start back up during the night, but it didn't.  She and Mark go out every morning and lay on the turf in the back yard which is full of dust and pollen etc., so I'm hoping that this is just an environmental thing that we can deal with. There's no really good way to clean the artifical turf except to hose it down. 

EDITED TO ADD: The one time we used Zyrtec the dog became hype and agitated for most of the day. I can't remember which dog it was but I'm thinking it was Rocket. The vet wanted us to try Zyrtec for whatever was going on at the time, and he did not have a good day at all after taking it. I have been reluctant to try it again with the other dogs, so usually just start with Benadryl and go from there. 

 

1 hour ago, greysmom said:

Have you changed any food or added any treats recently?  A lot of times dietary changes will change the Ph of waste making it more acidic and likely to irritate skin.  Same with allergies or food intolerances.  A lot of dog food manufacturers have been having to substitute items and change up formulas due to supply chain shortages.  And they don't have to make any announcements when they do.  So that may be a factor, as well.

No changes on our end at all except that we added Olewo carrots to firm things up. The licking was an issue before we added the carrots so I don't think they are a factor. For whatever reason, one Benadryl tablet has stopped the licking for almost 24 hours. It could be something she is picking up on the grass outside when she sun bathes, but given the location, I was thinking possible food allergytoo,  but knew that we hadn't made any significant changes. She is eating Purina Pro Plan Large Breed which is the food she's had since she arrived. Same treats as well. 

Thanks for all of the responses. 

Edited July 1, 2022 by Time4ANap

[Remolacha]

Perhaps the one Benadryl broke the cycle, sometimes it becomes a habit and interrupting makes them “forget”. Whatever,  it keeps working.

edited to add, I did have one dog, I think it was Fletcher, that Zyrtec worked better with, I guess just like everything else, it depends on the individual.

Edited July 1, 2022 by Remolacha

[Time4ANap]

31 minutes ago, Remolacha said:

Perhaps the one Benadryl broke the cycle, sometimes it becomes a habit and interrupting makes them “forget”. Whatever,  it keeps working.

edited to add, I did have one dog, I think it was Fletcher, that Zyrtec worked better with, I guess just like everything else, it depends on the individual.

I wondered about that too. As long as it's working and the area under her tail gets to heal, I'm okay with whatever worked. 

We've seen a few weird reactions over the years with some meds, so I'm always pretty careful about trying new ones. For allergy meds we've had pretty good luck with Benadryl and Chlor-Trimeton, but that reaction to the Zyrtec was a little scary, so I always try the others before trying Zyrtec. No different than humans reacting to meds - it's a little different for each of us.