What's causing my dog's inflamed paw? Bug bite or vet needed?

I can see that Tucker has some redness and hair loss on the top of his paw. This can be a skin infection or caused by certain types of cancers and wounds. It is definitely best to have this seen by a vet as soon as possible. In the meantime, an E-collar or “cone” can prevent Tucker from licking the area and making it more severe. I hope all is well and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Very interesting looking. Given the young age of your dog I am optimistic it isn’t anything particularly infiltrative or aggressive. However, it does concern me that it is likely cause your dog some discomfort with the resultant self-mutilation. I think you need to have that paw and those lesions along with the rest of your dog examined after the holiday weekend for a more thorough work up of the issue. In the mean time if you have get one, place an e-collar on Ruger to prevent further unwanted licking and injury. You can potentially try like booties as well if you think he won’t just rip them off right away. When you get to the vet, depending on the results of the physical examination they will likely want to potentially get needle aspirates of the lesions to get a better idea of what they might be. They may even recommend a full thickness biopsy instead. I think this because needle aspirates on the feet are frequently subject to contamination from blood - gravity does not work in out favor in that particular instance. If the areas is small enough and it is causing your dog discomfort, your vet may even just want to schedule to have it removes and worry about biopsying the area after its gone. Pre surgical biopsy would be nice though to better plan out the procedure and how much margins might be needed when removing. Finally, I realize your dog is having issues with this paw only. However, I would look at each and every one of your dog’s paw pads to see if anything else is forming elsewhere. If so, this might suggest a more generalized problem that would require a non-surgical approach if something is curable or treatable. Shepherds in general do like to get lots of weird skin issues so it wouldn’t be a far stretch. Things to consider that might be causing this are cysts, benign growths, malignant growths, some sort of abscessing tissue, a primary dermatological problem, or an auto immune problem. Hope this makes sense. I can discuss with more detail with your in a consult if you’d like.

In your second picture it does look like Val might have a skin growth that could be a papilloma or wart, or might be something like an adenoma. I doubt that is the ultimate cause of her signs since both legs are affected. Her toes look red and I'd be suspicious of a secondary bacterial or fungal infection. Mites are possible and would show up on a skin scrape. Allergies might also be triggering these recurrent infections. I wouldn't recommend any home treatments especially since this is recurrent - I'd recommend talking to your vet to see what they would recommend as the next step.

Since this has been going on for some time, I recommend getting him in to your vet for an exam. Without being seen by your vet, there is no way to know why your dog is so itchy, it could be allergies, fleas, bacterial or fungal skin infection, or more and the treatment is different depending on what the underlying cause is. Your vet can help you get to the cause of the problem so that can be treated rather than just treating the symptoms.

It could have an allergic component or be an interdigital cyst. A closer physical exam and possibly x-rays of the paw would be recommended. Ruling out a foreign body (grass seed, awn, foxtail, etc) or tumor would also be recommended. If your veterinarian will not pursue a more definitive diagnosis, consider a different vet in the practice or a different clinic entirely. Discuss allergy testing, hydrolyzed diets, food elimination trials and even antihistamine use with the vet. It looks like Cleo will need antibiotics once again anyway. Use an e-collar (cone) to prevent licking which can delay healing and may introduce infection.

Poor Fang! He could have a bacterial infection, ringworm, mites, injury, and/or an allergic dermatitis. His toe looks very swollen and I think he should be examined by a vet to determine the cause and treat. He might need an antibiotic, corticosteroid, anti-fungal, or other medications to help. Your vet can do a skin scrape, culture, or cytology, if needed, to help diagnose. In the mean time, you could soak his paw in a warm Epsom salt solution and see if that helps. Call your vet and schedule an appointment to have him seen.

I am sorry to hear about your pup. One of our major rule-outs/possible causes in these cases is an allergy. We can have allergies to things in the environment like grass, pollen, dust (called atopy) or food allergies. We can also have flea bite hypersensitivity where just one or two flea bites can make a dog break out all over and itch. Often a secondary skin infection with bacteria or yeast develops in these cases, which require antibiotic therapy. There are some lower cost antibiotics available ahttp://m.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/trouble_affording_veterinary_care.htmls generic drugs at many grocery stores, so if you let your vet know your financial limitations, they can try to find the most cost effective options. Sometimes once the secondary infection is under control the itching may be managed with a lower cost drug like an antihistamine such as hydroxyzine, benadryl, or zyrtec, along with a fatty acid supplement. Being on an effective flea preventative is also crucial in these cases. You can read more about allergies at https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952662 . I would look around to see if there are any low cost clinics in your area. Sometimes the human society or APL or ASPCA will have these. Some vet clinics will also take payment plans or work with companies like Care Credit to offer payment plans. You can read more about ideas to help pay for vet care at http://m.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/trouble_affording_veterinary_care.html