My dog's paws are red and irritated from licking. What should I do?

Hi there and thanks for posting! While using Vagisil on inflamed paw pads is certainly a unconventional treatment, I'm happy to hear his paw had gotten better and not bothering it. If you notice the paw worsens or the redness comes back, I would recommend he sees his veterinarian as he may need to be on antibiotics if an infection is present. Best wishes to you and BoDeen!

That paw does look inflamed. If your home care is not working after a week, your pup needs to be examined. Bacterial and yeast infections are common in the paws. It could also be skin mites or allergies. Likely Odin will need some oral medications. He should also be wearing an elizabethan collar at all times to prevent any further licking. I hope this helps.

Place an e-collar (cone) on her to prevent further licking. You can soak the paw in an Epsom salt foot bath for 10-15 minutes daily. Make sure the paw is completely dry afterwards. A soak in diluted chlorhexidine (Hibiclens) may also provide some relief.

The change of color could be as a result of constant licking. This could be due to an allergy, fleas, an infection or mites. If it's been a while already it is recommended to have it checked by a vet in order to rule out parasites first, then a treatment for allergy or infection can be started.

Hello. This is a very typical presentation of a dog with Atopy, an inhalant or contact skin allergy. Your veterinarian can recommend several different manners in which to address this problem, including medicated shampoos or oral/injectable antiallergy treatments. It is curious that we commonly only see this in 1 foot, but the irritation can develop anywhere on the body. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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.

That does look really red! More than likely, it is caused by his allergies. The Apoquel is a great allergy medicine that seems to work very well but he may need an additional medicine to try and get this flare up under control. He might need an antihistamine for a little bit so you could call your vet and see if he/she would prescribe an anti-histamine. If there is any evidence of infection than he might also need an antibiotic to treat. You could also soak his paw in a warm Epsom salt solution and see if that helps with the redness and itching. Using Mal-A-Ket wipes may also help.