My dog's paw dermatitis keeps coming back after treatment. What to do?

Poor Lola! If she is not getting better, I recommend to have her examined by the veterinarian again. It’s possible she has skin mites or a yeast infection in the foot and the doctor may need to do a basic diagnostic test. Keeping the foot covered can actually increase the risk for infection. It is better to let the air get to the area. To keep her from licking the foot, have Lola wear an Elizabethan collar at all times. Starting her on an omega-3 fatty acid supplement for dogs may also help. Lastly, if the problem continues, it could be related to allergies or an endocrine disease. I hope this helps please feel to post any additional questions.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Bodie, it sounds as if he has had a rough three days. Bodie's lesions on his paw could certainly be related to an underlying environmental or food allergy that resulted in the development of a severe superficial and possible deep pyoderma, which can be difficult to treat if the bacteria present are resistant to normal antibiotics. Other potential causes could include fungal infections (depending on your location), and neoplasia (cancer). For lesions that do not respond to typical therapy with antibiotics and anti-itch medications (such as corticosteroids, Apoquel, Atopica), it may be necessary to perform a culture/sensitivity of the lesions to determine what type of bacteria present (if any) and what antibiotic it is sensitive to, or even a biopsy which could help rule-out certain fungal infections or neoplasia. I would recommend having Bodie re-evaluated by a veterinarian if the sores do not resolve to determine what the appropriate next step will be.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I’m sorry to hear Lollipop is having skin issues. If her issue has been so persistent, if she hasn’t had more focused diagnostic testing, I would recommend considering doing a culture to try to isolate any yeast or bacteria that is causing her issue, and possibly a skin biopsy to ensure that it is secondary to an allergy. If it is an allergy, there is a new injection that is used to treat allergies called Cytopoint. I would recommend reaching out to your regular veterinarian to discuss either further testing or treatment that she may need. Good luck!

I'm sorry to hear Mocha is having skin issues. There can be a variety of underlying reasons for the skin lesions you are seeing, including allergies (breaking through normal treatment), a skin infection (bacterial or fungal), skin parasites (fleas or mites), or an underlying health issue. I would recommend she be seen by her regular veterinarian to try to determine the underlying cause of her lesions and any diagnostics (skin scrapes or cultures) that may be needed to get her on any treatment (antibiotics, anti-itch medications, parasiticide) that she may need to help resolve the issue. Good luck!

Hello, I'm sorry to hear this about Juno. I think allergies are a really good rule out in this case, whether to food or environment. An extremely strict hypoallergenic food trial carried out for a minimum of eight weeks (ideally twelve) would rule out a food related problem. Environmental allergies to things like pollens, grasses, dust, etc may be more responsive to systemic allergy medications (oral tablets like Apoquel or injectable Cytopoint) or topical therapies like regular paw cleanings with medicated shampoos and mousses. Wiping down her paws after going outdoors with a clean damp cloth or hypoallergenic baby wipe may help as well. Due to the location of the sores on the paw pads themselves, auto immune disease could be possible though less common. A deep biopsy may be needed for diagnosis- a consult and diagnostics with an internal medicine specialist or dermatology specialist may be good next steps for working this up if your general practitioner veterinarian feels that allergy treatments have been exhausted. I hope this is helpful. Best of luck getting answers and relief for Juno.

Poor girl. I do feel that culturing this area would be best, that way we know what antibiotic is needed to rid the bacteria present for sure. Especially after being on the same antibiotic for 28 days already. Re-infection of an area is also likely if the pet continues to lick at it. Therefore, if the infection is completely gone, you have to then treat the pets itch. If we are licking our feet due to allergies, then the underlying allergy should be addressed by keeping her on allergy medication. Discuss with your vet about the options of either Cytopoint injections or Apoquel to help manage her allergies. Also soaking her paws in Chlorhexidine solution 3% diluted 1:10 with water daily can help soothe her paws and remove any allergens she picks up on her feet from outside. Chlorhexidine wipes can also be purchase and used to help with this. In the meantime, I would opt to go with a stronger antibiotic prescribed by your vet, perhaps Simplicef should be tried, until you can decide on further testing/treatment. I would also highly recommend having Bini tested for thyroid disease, which can cause chronic skin infections, lethargy and weight gain in dogs. I hope that this helps and best of luck with your pet Bini and her apparent allergies. Take care! : )

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.