Our old dog has allergies that cause biting and chewing on her feet. We have tried all the remedy suggestions from all natural to medication and found these 5 to be best products when used altogether!
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If you just want the list, scroll on down below, but if you want to hear that you are not alone I thought I would share our itchy feet journey with you!
Biting Her Feet
Alright, our old girl Sammy is a mess. She is an all American, pound puppy but she looks like a cocker spaniel and has all the problems that they have including itchy feet, allergies and ear infections! I can't even imagine being as uncomfortable as she must be sometimes…sigh.
But the worst is when she is licking and biting her feet. This happens here in Florida during the rainy seasons (some summer, some winter) and is probably some form of allergies to the grass and mold that grows in it!
One suggestion that we got early on was to wipe her feet every time she comes in and that worked a little bit, but once she goes full on attack, we have to find something to help her.
A Really Good Girl
Honestly, I don't know that I would have tried so many things to help her if she wasn't such a good girl. She is super sweet and all she wants is for her people to love her and tell her she is a good girl… which hardly ever happens if she is licking her feet!
We yell at her and squirt her with the water bottle, lovingly because she is actually hurting herself, but I am sure it feels horrible from her end!!
So here are the products I have found that work for us and Sammy in order from holistic and all natural to medication and chemicals.
Note: I am a bit of tree hugger so the more that we can do naturally that doesn't make her nuts the better… but at the end of the day I want her to feel better too so we do use medication where necessary!
She Always Looks Sad
Before you see Sammy's pictures I just need to let you know that she is not sad when I took her picture (she was getting lots of treats.) She just always looks glum, no dogs were harmed in the making of this post!
Fabric Cone of Shame
We got this fabric recovery collar about a year ago and it has been a life saver! She can kinda, sorta get around it sometimes to reach a pushed out leg or contort herself to hit a back foot from time to time, but it cuts WAY DOWN on her ability to lick and bite her paws!
Honestly, I had never heard of such a thing, a fabric, lightly padded cone instead of the hard plastic ones that we got at the vet and this just made her so much more comfortable! She uses it as a pillow and gets around pretty well, only getting “stuck” behind a chair every now and then!
I love that we can throw it into the laundry and air dry it to get the doggie drool off it!
Dog Booties With Velcro
Dog booties with velcro is our latest way to keep her from chewing her feet! They are really handy to put on and give her much more range of movement than the cone does.
Some things I like…. because they are plastic she doesn't get the allergy causing oogies on her paws from the grass. They also don't get covered in pee when she goes potty.
Also the velcro fasteners are VITAL. We tried to do “sock feet” where we would put tube socks on her feet and then duct tape around it to hold them up (don't judge me… we were DESPERATE!!!… hahaha) The problem with this was that they would fall down and puddle when she pulled on them and then she could pull them off (we found them all over the house).
Having the velcro attached has made a world of difference!
Check Out the KOOLTAIL Dog Socks Anti Slip with Straps
Medical Itchy Paws Remedies
Okay there are three other things that we have found that help with the itchies! While I would love to use only natural remedies, just keeping her from chewing still leaves Sammy super uncomfortable and itchy so we use a variety of other products.
Burt's Bees Itch Soothing Spray
This spray is really neat because you can put it on and topically stop the itching for a short while. When she is super itchy in the middle of the night I will often give her some squirts and it takes just enough of the edge off that we can all get back to sleep!
Check Out Burt's Bees Itch Spray For Dogs
Medicated Antiseptic Shampoo
Our vet prescribed some medicated shampoo that seems to quiet the overall itchies, and slightly help her itchy feet. The problem is that she has to stand in the tub for at least 10 minutes to make it effective and Sammy does not like standing in the tub!
She tends to shake her feet and jump around, negating the effects of the shampoo. We are considering trying some homemade dog shampoos, but haven't gotten around to it yet!
Get this at your veterinarian!
Apoquel
Apoquel is the brand name for a medicine used to treat dermatitis and allergies in dogs. We have used this off and on for a few years now when she is super itchy without any weird side effects, other than she is a little more lethargic on it.
We know it works because we took her off it to try some kind injectable solution that was supposed to use her own antibodies to fight the itchies (that did NOT work at all!) So back to the vet for an emergency bottle of Apoquel and she was better in no time.
Get this or other medication at your veterinarian!
Itchy Paws Wrapup
Okay, that is all my best info about helping your dog with allergies, biting and chewing her feet! While I wished there was one remedy to rule them all, we use a combination depending on how severe her reaction is. All natural tends to work when it is light, and medication needed when she is having full blown allergy problems!
If you have any other suggestions to help the old girl out, let me know in the comments below!
Shamie
Sunday 22nd of October 2023
Our bullmastiff is allergic to grass. I use Zyrtec. It has worked wonders. It is important to start it before allergy season starts.
Nancy
Tuesday 12th of September 2023
We too, have a very itchy, allergic dermatitis 12 year old Boykin spaniel. He had an allergy panel done and he's allergic to everything-environmental wise. We have used all of the above. We had to stop with socks, he would eat them. And then throw them up a couple of days later. We've been lucky he hasn't needed surgery! We used the booties too, but then tend to keep their paws moist, so it's very short term, and only when he goes out on the grassy areas. We did the Apoquel, but I was leary of the side affects, and D/C it. (and Vet doesn't like it). Found that the Cytopoint works-most of the time. It lasts for about 4-5 weeks, and really just takes the 'edge' off.. The soft, fabric cone goes on every night, and he settles right down with it on and his feet get a chance to dry out and heal. The cone is awesome, it is padded and the top of it is soft plastic that he can see through. I also got a gallon jug of chlorohexidine (sp?) and mixed with water to make a spray to use when he comes in if he doesn't have his shoes on-which can be a pain for a quickie -am I right? ;) I also got a can of hydrocortisone 1% (CVS brand-'Cooling Itch Relief spray' ). We also have the CVS 'Pain Relieving Antiseptic Spray' which has some lidocaine and that really helps. He is watched so he doesn't lick it -or he has his comfy cone which seems to actually calm him down. It's important he doesn't lick these two things, so he mostly wears the cone when I use the spray. But it works, the combo has made our nights lick free. It's so hard to keep from yelling NO! when I know he's got this itch. My vet also told me that he can have Trazodone at night and he does well with it-no stomach issues, but it can make him lethargic and we only use it when he goes full on with the itch and is miserable. He can also have Zyrtec, but I didn't see any relief with that so we stopped it. Otherwise, he's happy, eats and drinks well and when he's not itching, it gives us all peace of mind. There is nothing worse that that sound of licking! I feel your pain!!
Kerrie
Sunday 25th of June 2023
Apple cider viniger, I have found that it work's for my boy, it is a 50 50 mix, and you can was your dog. In it and put, it on there paws. All the best.
Billie Ashmore
Tuesday 21st of December 2021
My dog bungle has extremely sore feet at the moment and he suffers with a very sensitive muzzle to the point he quivers if we accidentally touch his whiskers.he's currently on apoquel but this seems to be having little effect at this time. I had to carry him home from a walk two days ago because he was stopping and licking his foot. So I'm now trying epsom salt soaks every morning just his feet in the bath and a a little on his muzzle and unfortunately house rest to prevent any mud getting into his sore foot. Anyone have any advice? He's so miserable and withdrawn poor mite 😔
Angela
Thursday 9th of December 2021
Cytopoint..."This biological medication is a protein, not a drug, that works like your dog’s own immune system to block the main protein that sends signals that trigger itch.
That may be what you already tried, I'm not sure. We quit Apoquel due to side effects and started using Cytopoint. It worked 1000% better than Apoquel ever did.
I have a white Boxer that is allergic to every environmental thin the outside world has to offer LOL. Im right there with you on itchy feet, itchy stomach and itchy everything else. With Cytopont it truly was like someone turned off her itchy switch and lasts for about six weeks with her.
Vicki
Thursday 16th of November 2023
@Angela, I think cytopoint is a great product. My boys insurance company first paid for the injection and now I'm being turned down. They tell me it was a pre-existing condition which it wasn't. Anyway, I still have to bathe him with an anti fungal shampoo and a medicated mousse on his feet.
Tara Jacobsen
Thursday 9th of December 2021
We tried that on our itchy girl and it didn't do anything...sigh... thanks for the info... we are all in this itchy mess together!