Reply
Tue 16 Nov, 2004 09:42 pm
Pacco has a troubled paw. Lick lick lick lick, and so on. I saw this on Friday afternoon. Looked at paw, couldn't find anything wrong.
Called veterinarian's office on saturday, and they were all booked up; not too excited by my story, said to wash it and put on some neosporin and a sock. I did that. Sock off of paw in 45 seconds.
Went over to local pet center, shunted to their veterinarians office, stood in line for a half hour, turned out to be a vaccination clinic. No, their veterinarian's office is was closed til Monday.
Well, the Pacc is pretty peppy, and I decide to wait it out, as opposed to going into emergency vet mode.
Lick lick lick lick.
Lick lick lick lick.
Monday comes and around about noon (appointment being two pm, he ceases with the licking and acts perfectly normal. ) I take him anyway.
Charming visit with the veterinarian, who I like as a person and professionally. She's great with the Pacc. Immediately after leaving her company, and her paw exam, he is perfectly fine, until... an hour ago. Lick lick lick lick.
I had left the office with a conehead and various alternatives, the one I picked being to soak the paw in epsom salts and then dry it very well.
Er, I didn't do that, as he was not-licking. and as she applied various probably medicinal emolliants in the office. So, now I am warming the epsom salts.
And Pacco is wearing the cone. 'Tis pitiful. He started out by backing up, up, up. Kept hitting his cone on doorways. Looks at me with those eyes.
So now I am doing the cone and paw watch....
Poor Pacco!
Poor osso!
He knows you love him, and that's what really matters. I just hope his paw is okay...
Aw.... they are so pitiful while they wear those cones. I am going to be soaking Bootsie's rear paw in epsom salted water tonight too. She split a nail down to it's base and it needs some help healing - I finally brought her in after a few weeks. She'll also go on antibiotics tonight.
Pacco will be ok. Maybe just keep the cone on while you're not watching him?
Oy!
Poor Pacco and poor Pacco's companion.
Itchy, scratchy, uncomfortable pets are so hard to deal with. They just can't tell you what's wrong.
They know that they look ridiculous and, worse than that, they look like they are UNCLEAN! we had a pointer that got mange from playing with this wild dog in the woods and he had to wear one. Boy , talk about bozo the dog.
Yes, after I got over whether he'd have a complete fit or not, I couldn't help but giggle.
I let him out to pee and took it off, since there may be raccoons or skunks out there.... though he hasn't grappled with one yet.
He's been back in and is presently not doing the lick lick thing.
Still, he's facing an epsom salted paw before bedtime.
One of our dogs did the lick, lick thing. It turned out to be a weed seed that had entered her foot and eventually required surgery to remove. Nasty bit of plant -- it has spines so that it couldn't be pulled out, it can only move one way and had to be drawn out through the top of her foot.
Hope Pacco has nothing like that.
Our dog, Poppy, has been wearing tee-shirts for the past six days as an alternative to an E-collar. Recommended by the vet, this tee-shirt keeps both her and her sister from licking the wound from surgery she got last Thursday. So much nicer for her and catches her foot so that even scratching doesn't affect the wound (too much). This evening she is wearing a hot, white number with some racing cars on it. A rubber band keeps the bottom edge cinched in. She looks quite dashing!
Picturing Pacco in a long tee shirt... well, maybe...
but I think he'd cotton on to finding his foot pretty fast...
he is a swifty.
That weed seed thing is the kind of thing I am worrying about. Grumble.
Jo
Is it a forepaw or a hindpaw? Is Pacco licki-lick-lickin' at the paw pad, or the top part of his paw? If its a forepaw, there's no sign of injury or irritant, and he's not lickin' at the pad, I'd suspect it might be psychologic as opposed to physiologic. Actually, its pretty common for dogs to develop a habit of just idly lickin' at the top of a forepaw ... its almost like fingertappin' or thumbsuckin' in humans. It is somethin' you wanna discourage, though ... incessant licking will result in a sore, or granuloma, which then becomes very resistant to healin', succeptibale to infection, and is a potential entry path for all sortsa other nasties. If no injury or other irritant is evident by close examination, you might wanna try aversion therapy ... coat the favored lickin' area with somethin' the pup thinks tastes awful. Various capsicum-based "Pepper" nostrums are available, but I don't really like that notion. We've had pretty good luck with Vicks VapoRub and with Extra Strength BenGay. A couple lick attempts and the pattern begins to break down. After a week or so of yucky-tastin' paw, the pup likely won't even think of lickin' idly at it ever again.
Hindpaw. Since I took his cone off to go out to the hinteryard to pee (he has shat already, me thinks, since I saw quite a bit of that earlier today), he has come back in and Not foot licked. Okay, for about an hour, sans footlicking.
This whole thing may be waning, or is some damn thing I should worry about.
We'll see.
I don't mind the odd footlicking, but am more worried about the kind of thing ehbeth mentioned, as in whatchacallit - I'd have to look back at her post to nail it, the seed thing.
Osso
Osso, Maddy went through what you are describing two months ago. He apparently got a sticker between his toes, which he managed to get out. But he kept licking the top of his left front paw, causing a painful inflamation. The vet put an elastic stocking on his foot, which Maddy continually chewed at to get to his paw. But after about 10 days, it got better. Maddy licked his paw a little bit afterwards, but it healed and he leaves it alone now and his fur has grown back.
So there is hope for Pacco. Maddy sends him a big wet smooch.
BBB
Okay, okay, I'll quiet down until I know anything else.
thank you all for being here.
Jo/osso
My own sense is that he is fine.
I just hate to miss his not being.
Thank you all for being here.
j
How is Pacco doing today?
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace