Red swollen between toes, allergies?

[gregbulldog]

Greg has had some redness between his toes on his front paws for a few months now. The vet said it was probably allergies. If it seems to start bothering him (licking/biting) I could give him some benedryl. This was almost two months ago when it was not bad and he was not licking.

I changed dog foods from Eukanuba (I know, not good) to Royal canin bulldog 24 (yes i know, still not very good) and his paws have gotten worse since I put him on RC (a few weeks ago) and hes beginning to lick them. He also has a red area on the top of his head, some of his hair fell out there as well, and i think this is a hotspot or an allergy. Then I started reading this website and realized that I needed to get a better food, thinking this paw issue could be allergy related.

Needless to say I have a bag of FROMM 4 star surf n turf in the mail.

Has anyone had this paw issue?
do you think its food allegy? I know the surf n turf is grain free, so maybe this will work?

Anything to put on it? creams or anything?

thanks

 

[2BullyMama]

Totally allergies.... both our bullies had them. Get an allergy screening done (just a blood test) and find out what it is instead of playing with the food for months. Do the blood test and you'll know in a few days to a week what is cause the issue. My pups are both allergic to grass (and several other things = chicken, rice, dairy, weeds, etc) so we have to wash their feet when they come in from outside.

 

[Donna LeBlanc]

Might be allergies or a case of Demodex. I say "Demodex" because you mention the hair loss on his head. Your vet should be able to do a scraping and tell you immediately if it's Demodex which is fairly easy to treat if caught soon. I'm not familiar with Fromm...is it (grain free) corn, wheat and soy free? Some dogs are allergic to those fillers. We were having paw licking problems and switched to a grain free/lamb formula and it only took a week for the paw problem to go away.

 

[Donna LeBlanc]

P.S....just re-read your post and I see that Fromm is grain free. That's a good start if the paw licking and spot on his head are indeed allergies. Good luck!

 

[Davidh]

Lucy used to get them too, but since we changed to FROMM she has not had any.

 

[bullmama]

Sounds like he may be having a reaction to the new food, you can soak his paws in Epsom salt to help. Hopefully Fromm will help! Switch slow and let us know how it goes!

 

[Maximus]

They are Inter-digital cysts. Max has them on all 4-paws. There is alot of information regarding inter-digital cysts on the Internet. My VET examines them every time he sees Max. Right now I am cleaning them with a solution of Chlorhexidine prepared by the Vet.

 

[cali~jenn]

and prep h on them will help the swelling also. I agree very likely can be food allergies. My boy got a couple once a LONG time ago and I switched foods and never ha them since. Have no idea what he was allergic to but it worked so try switching to a diff brand and perhaps a diff protein of food first. Grain free cant hurt either, I feed the fromm grain free and the boys LOVE it.

 

[GatorRay]

Mine also had the interdigital cysts and and as soon as we changed food, they went away. We switched to fromm as well (beef frittata). I used to put peroxide on his and that worked well but I think the best relief is the epson salt soak.

 

[Wlw9x]

Katie has paw issues too.. we are on a Fromm Four Star, but I might have to go on and switch to the Beef Frittata.

 

[cowsmom]

sarah has had cysts on her 2 front feet forever and redness and everything. I find that the feet soaking with the shampoo the vet gave me works very well. its just chlorhexidine and ketoconazole and gluconate mix. you can order chloraseb or malaket shampoo online and its pretty much the same thing. Sarahs feet are much better with her soaks. but until you find the right food their probably not going to go away. sarahs will be better or worsen as she has acquired them on her back feet as well with the different foods ive fed her. chloraseb and malaket also make wipes and spray and such. i ordered mine at entirelypets online. havent tried epsom salt soak yet so dont know bout that but as you can get that pretty much anywhere might be worth a try first. hope they get better.

 

[anatess]

whops, wrong thread...

carry on.

 

[izstigspunks]

I would try switching the food too, since there's a good chance that it's the culprit.

When Stig had interdigital cysts from the salt on the ground last winter, soaking his feet in epsom salt solution for a week did wonders.

 

[Maximus]

sarah has had cysts on her 2 front feet forever and redness and everything. I find that the feet soaking with the shampoo the vet gave me works very well. its just chlorhexidine and ketoconazole and gluconate mix. you can order chloraseb or malaket shampoo online and its pretty much the same thing. Sarahs feet are much better with her soaks. but until you find the right food their probably not going to go away. sarahs will be better or worsen as she has acquired them on her back feet as well with the different foods ive fed her. chloraseb and malaket also make wipes and spray and such. i ordered mine at entirelypets online. havent tried epsom salt soak yet so dont know bout that but as you can get that pretty much anywhere might be worth a try first. hope they get better.

Yep. I have to agree with you. My VET gave me a large bottle of Chlorhexidine solution for cleaning Max's tail pocket, but also recommended I use it for his Interdigital-cysts. I don't think these are 'food related' problems. I've had Max on Grain-Free, and his diet did not help heal or eliminate the cysts. So I soak the cysts in the Chlorhexidine solution. Hope it helps in the long-term.

 

[karenben]

dont forget bullys are prone to interdigital cysts as they are heavy fronted dogs so not always food/allergy related,karen