Tasha won't leave her ouchie alone

[K9soul]

A couple days ago, I noticed a little raw spot on Tasha's leg, almost at her paw area. Over the past couple of days it has gotten alarmingly bigger. Tasha has always been a very meticulous groomer of herself, especially spending a lot of time cleaning her legs and feet, and nipping her own toenails down. Today I caught her licking the ouchie and then pinching the area with her teeth and tugging more hair out around it!

The small little spot is rapidly becoming bigger and more irritated and I'm not sure how to make her stop. I have bitter apple spray but I don't want to spray it on the raw wound. I took a picture of it last night, but this morning it's even a bit bigger now :(.

Any advice?

[wolfsoul]

Aww poor Tasha. :( Stop chewing yourself, silly!

Leather has canine complulsive disorder. Mixed with her allergies, all she wants to do is chew herself. :( The vet gave us this ointment that would help it heal faster, and it tasted terrible (My dad even tasted it :rolleyes: ).

[K9soul]

Oh my gosh that looks awful! Poor Leather :(. I'm afraid Tasha's will end up looking something like that if I don't find a way to stop her now.

Maybe I should call my vet and ask him if he has something like that I could get to put on it.

[Pam]

One of my past poodles (RB) occasionally would chew on her leg. She did it so much at one point that the fur in the area starting growing in darker (from silver to almost black). The vet told me that often a dog will do this out of boredom. :rolleyes: I don't remember doing anything in particular to get her to stop other than offering her a toy, etc. when I saw her do it. Eventually she did stop though.

[K9soul]

Hmm, I am not sure if Tasha made the sore herself or if there was a small sore from a scrape or something that she has made worse. She has always licked and cleaned her front legs the most often so that her hair there is a bit thinner than anywhere else, but she has never done it to the point that there were sores formed or major hair loss.

I'm almost positive it isn't an anxious behavior though, pretty sure there was a little spot and then she just wouldn't leave it alone and made it worse.

She's a very "cleaning" type, she loves to lick and clean herself and anyone around her. She loves giving Mommy or Daddy hand and foot baths :p. She will even sometimes lick and "clean" Tommy's feet. She will nibble my fingernails sometimes to try to "trim" them.

She just won't leave that spot alone though. I have got to do something.

[ChrisH]

Poor Tasha. :(
I found this site earlier today and it could be there is a product, or two, on there that may help. :) This first page has a couple and if you trawl through all the pages I am sure you will find more.

http://nationalpetpharmacy.com/store/dept.asp?dept%5Fid=203&brand%5Fid=&Page=1&root%5Fid=100&mscssid=RJKNA5TD6TDK8H4WMWSBKC2N3KSC5MNE

I also found this product on another site which may be just whats needed.
http://www.ferretstore.com/4oztomalwitb.html

[tatsxxx11]

Oh, poor Tasha baby! I think you may be right, K9S. It sounds like she's trying to cleanse the wound more than it being compulsive behavior; especially if the licking started after the wound was already there. Chris posted a great link. And I wouldn't hesitate to call the vet to get some suggestions either. Maybe you could try spraying some bitter apple around the perimeter of the sore, on her fur? Doggies have big tongues and I'm sure she'd still get a hefty taste of it. Friends of mine whose doggies have had such licking wound issues either ended up with bandaged paws or an E-collar!:( Hopefully the vet will have some good suggestions! And p.s...My Cody loves giving foot baths too!:D Hugs to you Tasha!

[K9soul]

Oh thanks for the links Chris, that Allercaine looks good. For today I put some Biocaine on it, (looks like the same brand as the Allercaine), and then carefully tried to spritz some bitter apple around the area (she wasn't too happy with that). So far I think it is working to keep her from bothering it. I think I'll get some of that Allercaine though.

Tats, your friend's wound-licking problems reminds me of how Willie was too. Nothing, no matter how foul tasting it was, would keep him from licking and licking a hotspot or sore. He had some skin allergy problems and made some nasty sores on himself a few times. I wonder if he had functioning taste buds because I would put bitter apple, cayenne pepper paste, etc etc, and he'd immediately lick it right on off. I had to use the E-collar.

Thankfully Tasha is not that bad.

[Shelteez2]

If what you're doing doesn't work (although it sounds like it might) maybe you could try putting a bandage over it and then spraying the bandage with bitter apple.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

I would defiantly try Allercaine, it works great! The lidocaine in it relieves any itching or pain, I even use it on myself. I would also wrap the lick granuloma with vet wrap when you're not home or not watching her. Good luck.

[K9soul]

Thanks so much for all the suggestions and advice! It's looking a lot better this morning, not red and raw looking like it was. The Biocaine I have has lidocaine in it as well, but it's a lotion and I like the idea of a spray-on better so I still plan to get the Allercaine. Hopefully she'll keep leaving it alone. I plan to keep treating it for a few more days to make sure.

[tatsxxx11]

I'm so happy to hear that Tasha's ochies's doing better and she's not licking so much!:) Good girl, sweetheart!