My foxhound has chin scabs and licks paws. Could it be allergies?

It looks like Archie does have a skin infection of his paws that would likely benefit from prescription Simplicef (oral antibiotics for the skin), a 2 week course of Apoquel (a non-steroidal allergy medication, an e-collar as well as dose of one of the newer oral flea/tick preventatives that also treats mange such as NexGard, Simparica or Bravecto. An e-collar for a week plus a medicated antibacterial/antifungal shampoo such as Malaseb for the paws would be helpful as well. It may have started from paw licking from stress or from environmental allergies leading to a secondary bacterial and/or yeast infection of the paws. Your vet can do a skin scrape to try to rule out mange, or switch him to NexGard to see if it resolves the lesions. Congrats on your new baby and good luck!

Poor guy. These are classic signs of allergic dermatitis: licking/chewing at the feet and redness/irritation of the paws and lower limbs. Sherlock likely has an lallergy to something in the environment or certain ingredients in his food. Often-times it is a process to determine what the underlying cause is, but here is some information on how to get started. https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952662 https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952600 While determining the cause of your pets allergies, it is best to get him on allergy medication to help control his symptoms (licking of the feet). The two most commonly used treatments for dog allergies are Apoquel or Cytopoint. Ask your vet about them to gain more information and develop a regimen that works best for Sherlock. In addition, you should look into a medicated shampoo for topical relief. Duoxo calm shampoo is available online and works really well. I hope that Shelock is able to manage his allergies well soon! Best wishes and take care.

Hello, thank you for your question about Brownie. Based on the photos you've attached and the symptoms that you describe I would be concerned that Brownie has allergies. Allergies can be secondary to food or the environment, among other things. Often when dogs have bad allergies and they lick and chew alot they can develop secondary bacterial skin infections, which could explain the odor that you are noticing. Since this has been going on for a while and has not improved I would recommend having Brownie evaluated by a veterinarian. They can perform an examination and discuss the need for any additional skin testing such as skin scrapes, impression smears, etc. Depending on the findings of these tests they can then determine the appropriate treatment for Brownie. Hope this helps, good luck!

Hi there. What you are describing is suspicious of allergies. While I always recommend that my clients get a skin scrape first to make sure there are no mites, etc, if this is negative we begin the journey to diagnosing the possible allergens. Many dogs have flea allergies. If your pet is up to date on a good flea preventative, this is not as likely. Commonly, dogs can develop food allergies over time as well. The worst part of checking for this is that a true food trial (a new specialized diet) has to be the ONLY thing you feed and can take a few months to see real resorts. Allergy medications are available now through your veterinarian's office. Depending on what they see on physical exam, your pet might be. Candidate for Apoquel or chtopoint injections to control itching. I hope this information helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. This does look severe and it would be best to have him evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

This is probably due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!