# Chewing on paws



## Dogmom77 (Jan 31, 2017)

My golden, Rudy, has been chewing on his paws in recent months. After going to the vet, back in the spring, the vet thought it was seasonal allergies and put him on apoquel. It seemed to work for a while, but he is back to chewing his paws again. He has been eating Fromm Four Star Chicken A La Veg and salmon a la veg. He’s currently on a chicken bag. I’m wondering if he is having a chicken allergy as opposed to seasonal allergies? I have no idea which of the two foods he was on back in the spring. We seem to change it every couple bags. I’d like to get him off of apoquel as well. His ears have been fine, although he does have a couple sores on the non hairy side of his ears, he hasn’t had any black gunk building up like our last golden. We are taking him in today for another possible infection in his paw, and I’m having the hair cut out in his pads on Thursday. Has anyone had good luck with another brand of food after having paw chewing. I’m getting desperate. Thanks in advance. 


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## MilesToEmpty (Sep 3, 2015)

Your guess is as good as mine.

Our boy is on Acana Duck and that's the only food that doesn't give him anal gland issues and feet chewing issues. But now we need to get him off that.

Right now he's on Apoquel for his allergy issues (tested negative for yeast on his feet) but as soon as we change his food, he goes to his feet. Just started mixing farmina into his diet and 30min later he was at his feet. He hadn't touched them for 3 weeks.

We're starting to think its a reaction thing for him, whenever something changes with his food he goes to his feet. When you change his meds, he goes to his feet.

I wish you luck!


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## BrianO (Apr 7, 2016)

My understanding is that the allergy tests are not particularly reliable for food allergies. My vet recommends a process of careful elimination of suspected allergens one at a time until progress is noted. It takes a week or longer after a change to know if a change has been effective. There are allergy shots available, but they are costly and not very good at treating food allergies if that is what you are dealing with.

I would suggest trying a chicken free diet and seeing if that changes things. Be a careful label looker as chicken is a common ingredient in treats and dog foods. To be sure it is a chicken allergy, you have to remove any chicken from the diet. Chicken seems to be an allergen that affects Goldens with skin issues. We have had good results with Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach, a salmon based food. We also supplement with a squirt of fish oil on each meal.

You may wish to get into the habit of wiping down paws after being outside. Allergens in the grass, etc. could be coming in on the paws.

We had a battery of allergy tests run and found that our pup’s greatest allergen is the natural yeast that lives on his skin. What helps is good grooming of the feet so that they are not always holding moisture in fur between the pads, and a prescription shampoo that contains benzoyl peroxide. I’m not crazy about the smell of the shampoo—- not a bad smell, just medicine-like— but if he starts itching or chewing, the shampoo does the trick better than anything else we have done, including apoquel or antibiotics. The shampoo needs to be lathered up and then sit on the skin for 10-15 minutes before rinsing. It really seems to bring my pup relief. We give him a bath at least once a month, much more frequently when seasonal allergens are bugging him. It is also important for us to blow his coat dry after the bath as laying around with damp fur causes the yeast (his allergen) to bloom.

The odd thing is that my human children also suffer from allergies, so we are able to sense when allergens are high. The dog fits right into the family!

Your dog’s issues may be different from mine. I hope this helps. Good luck.

Brian


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

I can second the Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach. I went through the same thing last spring and after switching from PPP chicken and rice and PPP Sport to Merrick Salmon and Sweet Potato Grain Free for a few months (which definitely cured the paw licking). After all the current research I wasn't going to stay on a grain free food. I have ended up on the Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach and am very happy. I also do try to keep his feet dry and clean. He hunts so he loves to swim and get muddy. I dry his feet every time he comes in these days because the rain just won't stop here. We as well had to do two shots last spring because he just had licked the fur off his lower legs, not apoquel but CADI shots. Since switching the food we have had no issues. If he does start to lick, which I do sometimes think is still a little bit of a boredom habit, I spray his legs with Burts Bees all natural Hot Spot Spray after drying them thoroughly and he completely stops. He's a big baby and does love some attention. I think through the process he has figured out that if he licks his feet he gets it immediately and we have a new puppy in the house as well.


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## Dogmom77 (Jan 31, 2017)

Thanks for all the input. For those of you feeding the Pro Plan sensitive skin and stomach have you had any concerns with the worms and moths that people are finding in their food? My other thought was Farmina ancestral grain cod and orange. Anyone using that particular one with issues, good or bad?


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## BrianO (Apr 7, 2016)

No moths or worms for us. My understanding is that the product with the problem was PPP “Focus.” Have they got that under control yet?

The pantry moths are annoying, but not harmful to people or pets. Difficult to get rid of.


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

No problems with moths or worms. I do store it in air tight containers once I open the bag as well. I can have my vet order it direct with 2 days notice along with my other food for a few dollars cheaper then the on-line site and cheaper then my local pet store so maybe it's not sitting in a warehouse for as long. I'm not sure but it makes me feel better.


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## Maggie'sVoice (Apr 4, 2018)

It actually takes 4-6 weeks to see full effect of changing the food if there is an allergy. Unless it is grass that the dog is allergic to, then paw licking and chewing is actually a food allergy. eliminating 1 at a time is the wrong way to go. They best is to go as limited as possible and when the reactions stop, slowly add back in. It could take months to happen upon the right ingredient if you have a lot of stuff in your food or treats.


An allergy test is going to give false positives and false negatives if the dog is reacting already during a blood draw and steroids suppress the immune system so that is pointless to do one if on steroids. The trick is to get their system calm BEFORE the allergy test. Also, the cheap tests are not really worth it as they will group things together like rice and poultry. Duck, chicken, turkey are all different, so if it's positive for poultry, you will still have to trial and error feeding to do to see which it is. The better tests will separate everything out and leave really no guess work.


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## Maggie'sVoice (Apr 4, 2018)

BrianO said:


> No moths or worms for us. My understanding is that the product with the problem was PPP “Focus.” Have they got that under control yet?
> 
> The pantry moths are annoying, but not harmful to people or pets. Difficult to get rid of.





Purina has had moth and worm issues in their foods for years (going to back to 20011 or so) actually. More so with the Purina One, Dog Chow, Beneful but sometimes with the small bags of Pro Plan. I believe they are Indian meal moths. overall hard to deal with as they are in the grains of the food they use and since Pro Plan uses a ton of grain, you will always have them likely.


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## Dogmom77 (Jan 31, 2017)

Thanks again for the feedback. Rudy got back from the vet with prednisone and cephelaxan, to deal with the starting infection in his paw. After we are done with the meds we will start looking into trying just the Fromm salmon for awhile and see how it goes. And for now we will keep a towel by the door to wipe his feet when he comes in the house. Thanks for the help. 


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