Abby, animal welfare dog from Romania, lick dermatitis of the front paws, paw pad skin has partially detached

Summery:

Symptom/suspicion: manic licking and nibbling of the front paws, lick dermatitis due to insufficient fat content of the feed and/or zinc deficiency

Laboratory: blood count (Vet.), fecal screening

Recommendation from the veterinary practitioner for all furs: adjust/increase the fat content of the food, zinc treatment, paw ointment with beeswax, virgin olive oil and shea butter + vitamin A (topical)

Duration of therapy: significant improvement in itching after 3 days, the collar could be removed permanently after 2 weeks, the pads were completely healed after 10 weeks

Her dog school had recommended that Miriam come to me with Abby.

She had already adopted Abby a few months earlier, but the paw licking was getting worse instead of better. Abby had already been wearing a collar for several weeks at this point and had so far proved resistant to treatment.

I had to be very careful during the initial examination as Abby was very frightened of strangers.
The "lick dermatitis" was very pronounced. As soon as the collar came down for the examination, she nibbled on her paws.

As an immediate measure, I recommended a vegetable oil and adding omega-3 oils to the dry food. An undersupply of fat can be a problem when feeding dry food. In Abby's case, switching to B.A.R.F. was not the best option for several reasons.
In order to rule out parasitosis or other pathogens, we carried out a blood count and a faecal screening.

I recommended a course of zinc as a diagnostic therapy.
(diagn. Therapy - suspicion is considered confirmed if the symptoms improve under therapy without further prior diagnosis such as blood sampling or similar).

The itching got better at first. In the course of the therapy, we then had to deal with a split claw that became infected and a relapse where Abby licked her hind legs.
Here it is important to go through everything again and to explain in conversation that therapy needs time to work.
Unfortunately, it's not enough to "put something on it" and 2 days later everything is fine.

Experience has shown that in the case of skin diseases and allergies/intolerances, I set a therapy period of 6-12 weeks, which I follow up closely.

"Only" 14 days later, Abby stopped licking and nibbling completely. The collar came off and she "didn't care" about her paws.

She sleeps calmer, longer and is generally much more balanced - which was even noticeable at dog school.

At first the joy was restrained, the worry that Abby would start licking again was too great. Then, the longer the results of the therapy lasted, the greater the joy.

Does your dog also have persistent itching?

Make an appointment with me now.

Mareike Wirth - Tierheilpraktikerin für alle Felle