My dog is licking paws and losing hair. Can I use hydrocortisone?

You are correct that long term steroid use is not generally good for the body. The four main reasons for continued itching are allergies to fleas, allergies to something in the environment, food allergy or endocrine disease. Each one of these problems is detected and addressed differently and I recommend to discuss with your veterinarian which one to start hunting down first. Parasites are often ruled out with an oral medication like Simparica. Food allergy is best ruled out with a diet trial using a hydrolyzed protein. Endocrine diseases are detected with blood work. Environmental allergies are a little more difficult to detect but a response to therapy or a blood test can give an indication. Once you figure out and address the underlying cause, the itching should not come back. There are a couple things you can do at home and they can help but they may not address the underlying cause. You can try adding in an omega 3 fatty acid supplement for dogs, this can help improve the skin health. You may also try changing his diet to something like Royal Canin or Nutro as they are aimed at skin health. Also protect the area from trauma by having Nunu wear an elizabethan collar at all times. Regarding the diet, a hydrolyzed protein diet is best and I recommend Royal Canin Ultamino. You also need to be sure to conduct a proper food trial to see if it helps. He can only eat this diet and not treats or ANYTHING else for 12 weeks to see if it help. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

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. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. 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 a severe allergy, although it could also be fleas or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat Wist with a high quality flea treatment (e.g. advocate or advantage), then get him to the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveale an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try discovering the cause of the allergy. Some medications can be given by the vet in order to stop the chewing and repair the skin lesions (steroids and antibiotics). simultaneously you should start him on a prescription hypoallergenic diet for at least 2 months. There is also a nice topical spray available if the problem remains on the paws only, it's called Cortavance and you can get it at the vets. Hopefully you will see some results after all this, if not you and your vet should consider putting him on a long term allergy treatment (Atopica or Apoquel).

There really isn't much else you can do at this point other than using topical steroids (like hydrocortisone spray) on the feet but if you are going to do allergy testing soon your vet may not want you to use it. Steroids can interfere with testing/results. I would suggest this Zymox 1% Hydrocortisone spray but ask your vet first if they are OK with you using it. This will reduce the redness, inflammation and itching. ( https://www.allivet.com/p-1529-zymox-spray.aspx ) You could also ask your vet about either changing the dose of the antihistamine or changing the type of antihistamine all together especially if she has been on the same one for a long time. They will build a tolerance. Also, some dogs, just like people, respond better to one medication vs another. Hope this helps. If you have more questions you can always opt for a private consultation where we can chat back and forth. That way you can ask as many questions as you'd like. Best wishes.

It looks like he has a severe dermatitis so he needs to be examined by a vet to determine the cause. He may need an antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-histamine, and/or other medications and your vet can prescribe. At this point, I don't think over the counter medications are going to treat his problem.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This could certainly be allergies. In reality, Benadryl probably would not help much in this case. Medications to decrease the itch that could help him include prednisone or a medication called Apoquel. The possible secondary infection would have to be treated as well. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. 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!

Poor Moose. He could be licking that area if that wound is still bothering him. If he is licking all of his paws, it could be due to allergies. You could try 50mg (2 tablets) of benadryl twice a day to see if that helps with the licking in case this is secondary to allergies. If the areas are getting raw, I would place a cone collar on him to prevent the licking and contact your vet for an exam.