[MeadowCat]

Sigh. I'm very frustrated. Simon has had lick sores off and on since coming into rescue (starting in his foster home). They went away while he was on the heavy dose of doxycycline as part of his heartworm treatment. He had one lick sore on his side and another on the hock of his leg. Now he's created a new one on one toe. I'm pretty positive he's not licking because of allergies. He's generally not an anxious boy, but he's kind of OCD with licking sometimes.

The sore on his toe was not healing because he's licking it so much. We recently have put a toddler sock on his foot to keep him from licking it to try and let it heal.

Does anyone have any suggestions or resources for dealing with this? I obviously don't want him to have open wounds because of the licking. He tolerates wearing the sock for this particular wound, although he is quite intolerant of having his feet handled, including putting the sock on. Once it's on he just leaves it alone.

I'm pretty frustrated and stumped about what to do, and would really appreciate any input.

 

[MeadowCat]

And now I have to take back what I said about the sock. He pulled it off when we weren't watching. Then he took his vengeance on the boot that had been left out in the living room, tearing it to shreds.

 

[MeadowCat]

You hit the nail on the head. It is a form of OCD, and the wound is a "licking granuloma". Google it, but don't take the literature too personally. My girl was my running training partner for two marathons (we did short run and sprint days together). She won her class in "rover runs", was never under exercised or bored.

Never could stop this, she was almost 11 when she died. It was MANAGEABLE, but not something I ever figured out how to stop.

What did you do to manage it?

 

[MeadowCat]

He just tested normal thyroid, but I'm probably going to retest in a few months.

This is a very frustrating problem. I don't think it's lack of exercise or boredom. It seems more compulsive than that. Maybe I'll try a calming collar or something for him. Sigh.

 

[MeadowCat]

Can the Nurtured Pets anti-lick strips be put on if there's an actual open wound? It's really tricky, because the spot Simon has going is on his toe, right where the nail enters the toe. It's not a very easy place to wrap.

I'm going to check our Petco for both the Vetericyn and the anti-lick strips. I'll have to see how Simon reacts to the cone. I'd prefer not to increase his anxiety with the cone if I don't have to, but we might not have a choice.

 

[MeadowCat]

Thanks for the great information, EmilyB. I'm thankful that Simon's sore is very small right now, but I don't want it to get any bigger. In the few hours we were gone this morning he licked open the scab that had started to form while he was in the boot. He did leave it alone overnight, but must have started after we left the house this morning.

I stopped using the boot because it was causing some baldness on his ankle. I may have to go back to the boot, perhaps with a sock underneath. Right now, I have cleaned the sore and used the Vetericyn (wow, expensive at Petco!) liberally on the wound. We then covered it with the sock and used vet wrap to "seal' the top of the sock so he can't pull it off (I was careful that it won't get too tight). I sprayed the outside of the sock/vet wrap with the no-lick bitter spray for additional discouragement. We're going to see how that goes for a while. I also bought a calming collar and put that on him, too.

I think what I find most discouraging is that when he was on his 30 days of doxy for the heartworm, his sores completely dried up and healed and he didn't bother them at all. So I just feel like, why is he licking now, if he didn't lick that whole time, you know?

Did you find any particular type of boot works best, EmilyB? The one I had on him was a little troubling, both because it was causing some baldness on the ankle and because I found that dirt was getting into the boot and thus into the wound, which is going to hurt the healing process for sure.

I don't know if we have something genetic going on or if it's anxiety. I have a pretty good guess about his breeder, and I know one dog there had some obsessive type water drinking. But, it could very well be anxiety, too. To be abandoned by the only family you've ever had at eight years old has to be pretty stressful.

 

[MeadowCat]

not sure what you paid for Vetericyn but I would check out these prices, for future orders

Vetericyn

I order from this site a good bit, very prompt service, fast shipping.

I guess it wasn't that bad at Petco - only $35. I just wasn't expecting it! I just wanted to get started with it right away, too.

I may have to look into a better boot once we see how it goes with the sock.

I really, really appreciate all the information and advice.

 

[MeadowCat]

I got the boot from dogleggs.

Custom Dog Boots for Dogs of All Sizes: DogLeggs Booties

The toe sore could be something else perhaps as well? I had Priscilla's checked out because I thought it was a cancer metastasis, and they gave her penicillin which cleared it up quickly. It was a cyst or something.

Since he has had two other lick sores prior to working on the toe, I don't think so. I also catch him licking it all the time. I do plan to talk with the vet about this, but I was kind of hoping to wait a bit as we're going to have to go in for some other stuff in a month or two. If I'm not getting anywhere with our strategies and seeing no improvement in a week or two I will probably take him in.

 

[MeadowCat]

Rocket had matching sores on the top of each foot. I tried about everything, but the only thing that worked was a combo of Schreiner's solution and tea tree oil spray. I didn't wrap his foot, just liberally sprayed twice a day and waited for it to dry. For awhile there he refused to even look at his feet.

I'm seeing good results with the Vetericyn, but Simon's figured out how to get his wrap off, so I may have to do something else to discourage him from licking the area. Did you use a straight tea tree oil spray? Did you spray it right on the sores, or just in the general area?

 

[MeadowCat]

Thanks for asking. I guess we're kind of at a stalemate. The sore on his toe closed up because he decided to make a new one on the top of his paw instead. He's had a couple of weird, out of the blue chewing stuff up in the house incidents lately (a dog bed, the coat Shanoa was WEARING!, etc.) so I'm a little nervous about putting something on his leg that he might chew off and ingest. He has swallow some (thankfully) extremely small pieces. He seems to have stopped chewing but you can see why I'd be nervous to put anything on him while we aren't here.

It seems like the more I try to treat the sore (Vetericyn, tea tree, all of that) the more he wants to lick it. If I leave it alone it seems to be healing a little. So we have detente for now.

I'm kind of stumped and frustrated, to be honest. But right now it's a pretty small sore and it's not getting worse (if not much better) so we're kind of staying in a holding pattern to see what happens.

I wonder if you could put pinholes in the clear packing tape to get air in and make it work?

 

[MeadowCat]

ARRRGH! Now Simon's started a second sore on his other paw. I've covered both in socks, wrapped with vet wrap and sprayed with anti-lick/calming spray.

EmilyB, were you serious about sending away your lick strips?

 

[MeadowCat]

Let me know if chiro helps at all.

The socks/vet wrap made it through the night intact. Here's hoping we can keep it on him and he doesn't start a new sore somewhere else.

 

[MeadowCat]

Socks still on, despite being home alone!

Sad boy:

 

[MeadowCat]

Adorable.....he's got "I'm sorry Mom" written all over his face....

Swilly loves vet wrap. NOM.

Tell Swilly not to give Simon any ideas!

 

[MeadowCat]

Wait, no Gold Bond...what do I do with that? I must have missed it.

 

[MeadowCat]

Please see my long detailed post I just wrote in response to Lori Z about Eli. Our Great Pyrenees used to chew herself bloody due to flea allergy. She now has a full beautiful coat with no bald, red spots. It is on another recent thread. (Tilly and Collette)

Simon's licking is an OCD/behavioral thing, not allergies, unfortunately. I almost wish it was allergies, because those seem easier to treat (though no fun, either).

 

[MeadowCat]

Sigh. I'm very frustrated. Simon has had lick sores off and on since coming into rescue (starting in his foster home). They went away while he was on the heavy dose of doxycycline as part of his heartworm treatment. He had one lick sore on his side and another on the hock of his leg. Now he's created a new one on one toe. I'm pretty positive he's not licking because of allergies. He's generally not an anxious boy, but he's kind of OCD with licking sometimes.

The sore on his toe was not healing because he's licking it so much. We recently have put a toddler sock on his foot to keep him from licking it to try and let it heal.

Does anyone have any suggestions or resources for dealing with this? I obviously don't want him to have open wounds because of the licking. He tolerates wearing the sock for this particular wound, although he is quite intolerant of having his feet handled, including putting the sock on. Once it's on he just leaves it alone.

I'm pretty frustrated and stumped about what to do, and would really appreciate any input.[/Q

Bitter-Apple Spray may or may not work but inexpensive and worth a try.

We're having some initial success with Nature's Miracle no bite spray. It's supposed to deter licking and also has "calming" properties. He had no trouble licking through the Bitter Apple, of course

 

[MeadowCat]

Do I need to worry about wrapping vet wrap too tightly? I mean, I know you have to be careful with ears, but I think it's okay to wrap a bit more firmly on the legs, right? I obviously need it to be tight enough to keep his socks on.

 

[MeadowCat]

I wonder if this would work for Si?

Full Length Adjustable DogLeggs

If the socks don't work or if he's going back to licking after that, we're going to have to do another vet consult and talk about something like these. I do think they might work, but I'd like to avoid spending the money unless the cheaper idea fails.

 

[MeadowCat]

EmilyB, I know you said you had no improvement from prescription meds (was it Clomicalm you tried?)...have you tried a lower protein diet with Swilly, and if so, did you see any improvement?