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Dog chewing/licking feet

Our 11 year old schipperke started to refuse to walk on the pavement during her daily walks then she started to lick & chew her feet until the were raw. She has been to the vet twice & she tested negative for yeast infection. She has been on 250 mg of Cephalexin for 2 weeks then 375 mg Clavamox for 2 weeks. They are still sore but a little better. We have also been giving her 25 mg Benadryl twice a day and bathing her feet with Benzoyl-Plus Shampoo & Pramoxine HCI Cream rinse. She also has developed spots on her front elbows. We keep the cone on her when she becomes obsessed with licking & chewing, Any suggestions????
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Avatar universal
I buy Bubba's can food at the Vet. It is venison and lamb base and is slightly moist not stall like the store. Anyway can the coconut oil be added to his food.  Thanks for the initial posting very informative.  Have a great w itches and goblins  weekend
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462827 tn?1333168952
Good luck and please keep me posted on her......I'd appreciate it....Karla
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Avatar universal
Thanks again for the info - we have changed her diet and will check out your other suggestions.
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462827 tn?1333168952
Hi Juju...I'm concerned about your dog......Now that the tops of the feet are involved, that usually indicates a Inhaled Allergy or food allergy.....
But, since this itching seems to be sooooo intense, I think she needs to be checked again...Here's why:

Yeast was ruled out, two rounds of Antibiotics didn't help, so I assume not an infection, Benedryl made little difference & now her elbows are involved! First, your Vet should have never blown off your question about the spots on her elbows.....Yes, dogs get Calluses from laying on concrete....However, I don't suppose this applies to your indoor dog!

The scaley, crust (On the elbows) is indictative of where Mites collect.....I now feel she has a Mite infestation of her feet & elbows....Mange Mites are hard to detect with a scraping, but I would be back at the Vet, demanding one!

This intense itching fits the bill & again, everything else has basically been ruled out.

That said, Mites are common on dogs & Humans...When they get out of control like this, it means a very weak immune system....When has your girl had a Full Panel Blood Screening? SHe needs one, just incase she has a systematic illness that has not been diagnosed as of yet.....In Senior dogs, it's usually an illness that causes the low immune system that in turn causes the Mites to over populate....

If your Vet is not interested in getting to the bottom of her feet problems, find another Vet....This must be treated!!! She is miserable & will only get worse!

Please, still follow my suggestions on better nutrition....That will help build her Immune System.....Let me know what you think.....Mange in common on feet & elbows and with the intense itching, I think it fits........I'll be thinking about her & you.......Bless her Heart.....Karla

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Avatar universal
Thanks for all of the information. I will try your suggestions. She has licked the tops of her feet enough that they are sore around the toenails. Would this also cause sores on her elbows? The vet said it was from laying on them but they seem to be to scally for that.
Helpful - 0
462827 tn?1333168952
Hello, I wanted to start with her foods, since they are incredibly awful as far as healthy goes...She will only get worse without proper nutrition.....Both of the above reviews are from DogfoodAdvisor.com....However, I will include other sites/sources that will agree that these two foods should never be consumed....They are both more harmful than beneficial!
DogfoodScoop.com
DogfoodAnalysis.com
Dogfoodchat.com
Petfoodratings.net

Now, her feet: If it's solely the bottoms of her feet, it's normally a Contact Allergy. Give some thought to anything different she is walking on....Pesticides on the lawn, oils coming up through blacktop surfaces, New Carpet, Carpet cleaning products, Laundry Detergent on her bedding, cleaning fluids on the floors or patios, New grass that has just strouted....ANything new, that she is coming in contact with will trigger the reaction....

It can also be that she has become allergic to any of the shampoos or medications your using....It might be something simple as the laundry detergent residue in the towels your drying her feet with! Use paper towels.....Do you use fabric softener? It's highly toxic to people & pets and causes severe allergies.....Is it on your bed, maybe? Or her bed?

If she has always eaten a dry food, she needs added moisture to her diet....Skin diseases need moisture to heal....That can be a HIGH QUALITY CANNED food, one meal a day down to a fresh food meal with lots of high moisture ingredients such as fresh meats, cooked vegetables (Green beans, squashes, carrots, sweet potatoes) & fruits.....Apple slices are wonderful treats....

If she were mine, I'd immediately start her on a high quality food, (CANNOT be bought at a discount center or grocery store)..You will have to transition her very slowly from the old food to the new as with what she has been eating, digestive upset is likely! You mix alittle new food to the old..Add more new each day & less old....This process should take at least a week to 10 days.....

Once she gets the old food out of her system,(A few weeks), I believe she will improve....ONly rinse her feet with water...Especially when she comes in from outside...Use paper towels to dry them off....Apply Organic Coconut Oil (Purchase at any healthfood store) to her paws once or twice a day.....Especially at night....It won't matter if she licks it...It's very healthy and non-toxic....Can be given to her orally, also....1tsp. per 10lbs. daily is a wonderful omega3 fatty acid....Does wonders for skin!!!! Conconut oil is Anti-Bacterial & Anti-Fungal & very soothing to the skin...Full of moisture, but not as oily as you'd think, after it soaks in....

If you need help with how to find her some proper foods, let me know....The web sites I posted above will steer you in the right direction, also....

Check in and let me know what you think....Have a great Holiday weekend......Karla

Helpful - 0
462827 tn?1333168952
The Kibbles ‘n Bits product line lists eight dry dog foods. Yet although they appear to be designed for adult animals, we found no AAFCO nutritional adequacy statements for these products on the Kibbles ‘n Bits website.

Kibbles ‘n Bits Original Chicken and Beef
Kibbles ‘n Bits Wholesome Medley
Kibbles ‘n Bits Homestyle Chicken
Kibbles ‘n Bits Homestyle Beef
Kibbles ‘n Bits Balanced Bites
Kibbles ‘n Bits Brushing Bites
Kibbles ‘n Bits ‘n Beefy Bits
Kibbles ‘n Bits Mini Bits
Kibbles ‘n Bits Original Savory Chicken and Beef dry dog food was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.


Kibbles 'n Bits Original Savory Chicken and Beef
Dry Dog Food

Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content

Ingredients: corn, soybean meal, beef and bone meal, ground wheat flour, animal fat (BHA used as preservative), corn syrup, wheat middlings, water sufficient for processing, animal digest (source of chicken flavor), propylene glycol, salt, hydrochloric acid, potassium chloride, caramel color, sorbic acid (used as a preservative), sodium carbonate, minerals (ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, manganous oxide, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), choline chloride, vitamins (vitamin E supplement, vitamin A supplement, niacin supplement, D-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement), calcium sulfate, titanium dioxide, yellow 5, yellow 6, red 40, BHA (used as a preservative), dl methionine

Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 4.9%

Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients

The first ingredient in this dog food is corn. Now, contrary to what you may have heard, corn isn’t necessarily a bad ingredient.

On the other hand, although there’s no way to know for sure here, the corn used in making many pet foods can be similar to the kind used to make feed for livestock.

And that can sometimes be problematic.

What’s more, corn is commonly linked to canine food allergies1.

For these reasons, we rarely consider corn a preferred component in any dog food.

The second ingredient is soybean meal. Soybean meal is actually a useful by-product. It’s what remains of soybeans after all the oil has been removed.

Soybean meal contains 48% protein. However, compared to meat, this is an inferior plant-based protein. So, it’s important to allow for this boosting effect as we judge the meat content of this food.

The third item lists beef and bone meal… a dry rendered product from (beef) tissues, including bone, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents”.2

Beef and bone meal has a lower digestibility than most other meat meals.

Scientists believe this decreased protein quality may be due to the ingredient’s higher ash and lower essential amino acid content.3

On the brighter side, beef and bone meals are meat concentrates and contain nearly 300% more protein than fresh meat.

In any case, beef and bone meal is not considered a better quality dog food ingredient.

The fourth item is wheat. Wheat is nutritionally similar to corn and subject to corn’s same shortcomings and problems.

The fifth ingredient is animal fat. Animal fat is a generic by-product of “rendering”… the same high-temperature process used to make meat meals.

Since there’s no mention of a specific animal, this stuff could come from almost anywhere… restaurant grease, slaughterhouse waste, diseased cattle… even euthanized pets.

And to make matters worse, this fat is preserved with BHA… a suspected carcinogen (cancer-causing agent).

We don’t consider generic animal fat a quality ingredient.

The sixth ingredient is corn syrup. Corn syrup consists mainly of glucose… a sugar capable of causing an unhealthy rise in a dog’s blood sugar.

The seventh ingredient is wheat middlings… commonly known as “wheat mill run”. Though it may sound fairly wholesome, wheat mill run is actually a inexpensive by-product of cereal grain processing.

In reality, middlings are nothing more than milling dust and floor sweepings.

After water, we find animal digest. Animal digest is a chemically hydrolyzed concoction of unspecified body parts… from unspecified animals. This product is usually sprayed onto the surface of a dry kibble to improve its taste.

This Kibbles ‘n Bits dry product contains the controversial food moisturizer, propylene glycol. Propylene glycol has been banned by the FDA for use in making cat food.

But it can still be found to this day in lower quality dog foods.

We’re always disappointed to find artificial coloring in any dog food.

Coloring is used to make the product more appealing to you… not your dog. After all, do you really think your dog cares what color his food is?

From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.

But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to have much of an effect on the overall rating of this product.

With two notable exceptions…

First, we find no evidence of probiotics… friendly bacteria applied to the surface of the kibble after processing.

Lastly, the minerals listed here do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Non-chelated minerals are usually associated with lower quality dog foods.

Kibbles ‘n Bits Dry Dog Food
The Bottom Line

Judging by its ingredients alone, Kibbles ‘n Bits appears to be a below-average dry dog food.

But ingredient quality by itself cannot tell the whole story. We still need to estimate the product’s meat content before determining a final rating.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 23%, a fat level of 10% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 59%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 24% and an average fat level of 10%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate portion size of 58% for the overall product line.

Below-average protein and fat. And above-average carbohydrates when compared to a typical dry dog food.

Yet when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the soybean meal, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing only a modest amount of meat.

Bottom line?

Kibbles ‘n Bits dry dog food is primarily a plant-based kibble using only a modest amount of beef and bone meal as its main source of animal protein… thus earning the brand one star.

Not recommended.

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462827 tn?1333168952
From Dogfood Advisor.Com: Review of food

The Purina Moist and Meaty product line includes five semi-moist dog foods. Each pouched formula meets AAFCO nutrient profiles for adult maintenance.

Purina Moist and Meaty Chicken Dinner
Purina Moist and Meaty Chopped Burger
Purina Moist and Meaty with Lamb and Rice
Purina Moist and Meaty Less Active Formula
Purina Moist and Meaty Burger with Cheddar Cheese
Purina Moist and Meaty Burger with Cheddar Cheese Dog Food was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.


Purina Moist and Meaty Burger with Cheddar Cheese
Semi-Moist Dog Food

Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content

  
Ingredients: Beef by-product, soy grits, soy flour, high fructose corn syrup, wheat flour, water, corn syrup, beef, phosphoric acid, calcium carbonate, salt, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of vitamin E), sorbic acid (a preservative), dried cheese powder (predominantly cheddar cheese), calcium propionate (a preservative), dl-methionine, choline chloride, added color (yellow 6, red 40, yellow 5 and other color), zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, ethoxyquin (a preservative), vitamin E supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin, vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), sodium selenite

Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 4.5%

Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients

The first ingredient in this food lists beef by-products… otherwise known as slaughterhouse waste. This is what’s left of a slaughtered cow after all the prime cuts have been removed.

In a nutshell, beef by-products are all those unsavory leftovers of meat processing frequently deemed “unfit for human consumption”.

With the exception of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, this stuff can include almost anything else… heads, ovaries, developing fetuses… you name it.1

Although this item does contain all the amino acids a dog needs, we do not consider beef by-products a quality component.

The second ingredient lists soy grits… soybeans which have been toasted and broken into small pieces.

The third ingredient includes soy flour… a high-protein by-product of soybean processing.

Soy protein has a low biological value compared to meat. Yet both soy grits and soy flour are capable of boosting the reported protein content of any dog food.

The fourth item is high fructose corn syrup (or HFCS). HFCS is a corn-based sugary mixture commonly used to make soft drinks, cookies and candy. Sugar is an empty nutrient… just as unhealthy for dogs as it is for humans.

The fifth ingredient lists wheat. Now, contrary to what you may have heard, wheat isn’t necessarily a bad ingredient.

On the other hand, although there’s no way to know for sure here, the wheat used in making many pet foods can be similar to the kind used to make feed for livestock.

And that can sometimes be problematic.

What’s more, wheat is commonly linked to canine food allergies2.

For these reasons, we rarely consider wheat a preferred component in any dog food.

Following water, we find corn syrup. Corn syrup consists mainly of glucose… a sugar capable of causing an unhealthy rise in a dog’s blood sugar.

Yes, more sugar.

The eighth ingredient is beef. Although it is a quality item, raw beef contains about 80% water. After cooking, most of that moisture is lost… reducing the meat content to just 20% of its original weight.

After processing, this item would probably occupy an even lower position on the list. So, this item likely contributes little to the nutritional content of this food.

Later on, we find animal fat. Animal fat is a generic by-product of “rendering”… the same high-temperature process used to make meat meals.

Since there’s no mention of a specific animal, this stuff could come from almost anywhere… restaurant grease, slaughterhouse waste, diseased cattle… even euthanized pets.

We do not consider generic animal fat a quality ingredient.

We’re always disappointed to find artificial coloring in any dog food.

Coloring is used to make the product more appealing to you… not your dog. After all, do you really think your dog cares what color his food is?

From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.

But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to have much of an effect on the overall rating of this product.

With three notable exceptions…

First, this recipe includes the controversial preservative ethoxyquin. Ethoxyquin has been “implicated in birth defects, stillborn puppies, liver failure, infertility and cancer”.3

Unfortunately, Purina Moist and Meaty also contains menadione… a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.

And finally, the minerals here do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Non-chelated minerals are usually associated with lower quality dog foods.

Purina Moist and Meaty Dog Food
The Bottom Line

Judging by its ingredients alone, Purina Moist and Meaty appears to be a below-average dog food.

But ingredient quality by itself cannot tell the whole story. We still need to estimate the product’s meat content before determining a final rating.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 27%, a fat level of 10% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 55%.

All six products present the same nutrient percentages as our chosen example.

Below-average protein and fat. And above-average carbohydrates… when compared to a typical dog food in our overall database.

Yet when you consider the plant-based protein-boosting effect of the soy ingredients, this appears to be the profile of a semi-moist product containing only a modest amount of meat.

What’s worse, it’s difficult to ignore this line’s exceptional collection of Red Flag ingredients.

Bottom line?

Purina Moist and Meaty is a plant-based semi-moist product using only a modest amount of beef by-product or chicken as its main sources of animal protein… thus earning the brand one star.

Not recommended
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Avatar universal
Kibbles n Bits for a couple of years until about the same time as the foot problem she didn't like the hard parts and would pick out the softer pieces - now we have her on Purina Soft n Moist. She still eats her dog biscuits & chew sticks also carrots at dinner.
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462827 tn?1333168952
What do you feed her? How long has she eaten it?
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