Karen Posted April 8, 2011 Report Share Posted April 8, 2011 Rosie has been licking her wrist joint for a couple of weeks. She's had a steroid injection which made her sleepy for the first day but hasn't stopped the inclination to lick or chew. This week she's had xrays to check there is nothing sinister going on with the joint itself. There was a slight question mark over the bone density on the xrays, so they went off to a specialist for his opinion. He's happy that everything is OK which is great. So, now Rosie has a steroid cream for a week and a course of pain relief. She's also been wearing a sock for the last couple of weeks, with very fetching pink with flowers vet wrap for good effect! She's pretty good at getting rid of the sock though. It's not half so easy to attach to a front paw as it is a back one. The second the sock comes off for walks etc, she still wants to lick. Any ideas on how to stop her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacobean Posted April 8, 2011 Report Share Posted April 8, 2011 Sounds like there is something the matter to me. I've known dogs do that when they're stressed, have an allergy,thyroid problem and potentially if in some kind of pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted April 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2011 The orthopaedic specialist (I think he's the one from the bionic vet programs) has said that in his experience he thinks something else hurts somewhere. Rosie is just chewing the bit nearest to her nose! She's got stronger pain relief and is definitely more active when we are out, I just can't get her to break the cycle of licking though. It's just one patch of the outside of her wrist, which I wouldn't have thought would be a typical allergy problem. Our vet has suggested a DAP diffuser (which we already have) and another dog for company. It seems a bit odd if she suddenly misses Lily after a year and a half though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmagic Posted April 9, 2011 Report Share Posted April 9, 2011 We had a similar problem with our dalmatian and had to use a buster collar to stop him licking after he licked it raw. Between that and a course of Metacam he stopped licking it in a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted April 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2011 I was debating a buster collar. Rosie is rather depressed about wearing a sock and I don't suppose she'd be too impressed with the collar, but I fear that it where she is heading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K9Fran Posted April 9, 2011 Report Share Posted April 9, 2011 Behavior Modification for Itchy Dogs Some ideas here..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted April 9, 2011 Report Share Posted April 9, 2011 Rather than a buster collar, which a lot of dogs don't like, you could try a protective inflatable collar as an alternative Here are some links: Procollar Comfy Collar Kong also do an inflatable protective collar called Kong Cloud Collar. If you Google you'll find some stockists Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmagic Posted April 9, 2011 Report Share Posted April 9, 2011 Depending on how long Rosie's legs are she may still be able to reach her wrist with a soft collar on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted April 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2011 Thank you all I've just been looking at the soft collars and wondering if they'd do the trick. For a lab she has both a long nose and long legs. Just about to google the Kong collar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted April 9, 2011 Report Share Posted April 9, 2011 Try getting something like a towel, rolling it up and putting it round her neck to see if she can still reach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooster Posted April 9, 2011 Report Share Posted April 9, 2011 I had a problem with charliegoo a few years ago constantly chewing and licking around his wrist joint. At first the vet tried treating with fuciderm cream in case his skin was inflammed, however after that didn't work and seeing a different vet in the practice, they discovered he had broken his dew claw which was why he kept chomping it. They just removed the offending dew claw and he's been fine ever since. Another experience I have is with my aunt's westie. He was constantly chewing his feet, and when he was referred to a dermatologist vet, they linked the feet chewing to an ear infection. Now whenever he chews his feet, they get some ear drops and within days he is fine again!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fee Posted April 9, 2011 Report Share Posted April 9, 2011 Dogs with blocked or infected anal glands often chew their paws - I think they do it as general stress relief because they are in discomfort. Might be worth getting it checked if the vet hasn't already? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safneo Posted April 9, 2011 Report Share Posted April 9, 2011 I have this issue with Neo at the moment. He has been on fuciderm preceded by hibiscrub to clean the area for a week. Just when it had all cleaned and dried up nicely and I took his collar off he has licked it raw again! He hates the buster collar and so do I and have the bruises to prove it! As he is muzzle trained due to behaviour problems we alternate between the two to give him (and us) a break. He chills better with his muzzle on but cant have his evening chew and his romp in the garden with it (he has to have a chomp toy in his mouth) so then has his collar on. The vet said some dogs have 'hotspots' occasionally which they lick and they flare up. I seem to remember something about this from a TTouch seminar too? If she has been well vet checked, including all other areas, try distractions when she starts licking instead of drawing attention to it. Maybe not even direct attention, just get up and make a drink or something to get her attention away from licking. That way at least you can see if its behavioural or not maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted April 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2011 Thank you again - all good points to think about. I did catch her chewing the top of her thigh today, which is a typical "my anal glands need emptying" thing, so we'll get that sorted at the next vet visit this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happylittlegreensquirrel Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 How is Rosie now ? We tried soft collars at Dogstar and found all our dogs managed to get them off , eat them ( yes really ) , or knock them backwards so they were not that great however all our dogs were not even used to wearing normal collars so basically freaked out a lot more than a UK dog would For breaking habit of chewing / licking we use vet wrap with varying degrees of success , Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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