Pink feet

[Michaelwade]

My greyhound is licking his feet excessively and they have turned pink. Any ideas what could be causing his feet to be irritated. No diet change same dog yard he’s been in for last 2 years. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[kudzu]

Allergies? Stress licking? Pain? I’ve had dogs who did all of that. The worst looking was my senior who had started to have spinal issues. He licked so much in one week his toes looked raw. Took him to vet. She started him in pain meds & licking stopped. 
The allergies for my dog were not food related. Seemed more seasonal & bathing with medicated shampoo every couple weeks handled it.

There are so many possible causes. A vet visit would be a place to start. 

[macoduck]

If allergy testing is suggested I would hold off on that. It's expensive and not always reliable. Your vet can prescribe something (pills or an injection that lasts about 3 months) but ask about just trying Zyrtec first.

Have you recently put any fertilizer or weed killer on your lawn? Any chance of an over-spray from a neighbors yard?

[racindog]

Could be reacting to all the pollen.  Some folks say wiping their feet off with a wet wipe etc helps.

[greysmom]

Yes to all the above.

Start by scheduling a vet visit.  You want to rule out anything physical causing pain or tingling in his feet or dragging his feet.  As you wait to get in start wiping his feet off with hypoallergenic baby wipes when he comes inside in case it's some sort of allergy or other reaction.  Also, do a bit of research on his food and treats to check and see if they've changed anything in the formulation recently.  Companies aren't required to report when they make changes to established formulas so you may need to email the company and ask.  

[Time4ANap]

Look around during your walks and see if something in particlular is blloming that isn't normally present. When we had this happen there was a massive ragweed bloom in our area. Rocket also licked his paws to the point of being pink or red. He had to have steroids and and allergy drug to get it under control. At the time, all of the other dogs that we usually saw on our walks were having the same issue, and as we talked to other owners we learned that they all had ended up at the vet and prescribed pretty much the same meds. 

We also used baby wipes to clean the paws after every walk and every trip outside. If you don't the problem just continues. 

[cleptogrey]

allergy to mold in grasses/dirt? very common. OR FUNGUS? at one point emily was licking away- my vet inspected her webbing, what i thought was just dirt turned out to be fungus. Felix had an issue w/ his nail bed at the same time- fungus. we used human jock itch spray and it healed up quickly. but let your vet look at it.

[grey14me]

Has anyone put down fertilzer lately? Definitely sounds like an allergy.

[Sundrop]

One of our girls has the same problem and it started last summer. We noticed some new weeds in our yard and the more they spread, the more issues she had. We had her at the vet 3-4x last summer and ended up getting a Cytopoint shot and cleaning/drying her feet every single time she went out. That cleared up her issues. We're doing the same thing this summer. We're pretty sure it's an allergy to whatever those dumb weeds are!

Edited June 19, 2023 by Sundrop