[goldylox]

My dog has been gnawing his paws for the last week. I spoke to the vet and they suggested that I try benedryl which does seem to help some, but it seems more of emotional gnawing. Has anyone else had this problem and what was the cause and solution>

[one.juniper]

Yes and I would say its frustration! My dogs always chew on their feet when they are frustrated. Has anything been different the past week - i.e. less play time or less walking maybe b/c of weather or something? If it rains for several days in a row my dogs get walked less and will start doing this.

Can you distract them with a bone or something better to chew on?

The other thing I've experienced was an adverse reaction to food. My cat insistently gnawed on her legs after we changed her food once and we finally figured out it was the food. Again this comes back to any changes in your dogs regular routine?

[SpazTaz]

More than likely it is food related, and if that is the case Benadryl won't help much and many times not at all.

What food(s) (including treats) do you feed? Anything high in grains, corn, wheat, are common allergy triggers for all domestic animals.

[goldylox]

Thanks for the replies. He was switched to Science Diet prescription dog food about 3 months ago and seems to transition well. The only new thing that I can think of is the bottle of enzymatic cleaner that I bought to rub on his gums to remove plaque. Since his last bath in which I took extra care to wash his paws and condition them and rince really well, he has cut down on the gnawing considerably. I will watch his reaction the next time I use the enzymatic cleaner to see if that's the culprit. Other than that, nothing new going on in the house or in the way of food.

[SpazTaz]

Science Diet is one of the worst foods on the market (despite the hefty price tag) and contains a lot of preservatives, corn, wheat, many many allergens. I would recommend that you find another food. The prescription diets are more of a marketing gimmick anyway, and really don't have a lot of basis for medical purposes.

[goldylox]

Originally Posted by Mommie2One

Science Diet is one of the worst foods on the market (despite the hefty price tag) and contains a lot of preservatives, corn, wheat, many many allergens. I would recommend that you find another food. The prescription diets are more of a marketing gimmick anyway, and really don't have a lot of basis for medical purposes.

Thanks Mommie2One, This is the first time he's ever been on store brand or prescription food. I ususlly give him Blue and before that I gave him Black Gold, but he had some medical issues and had to be put on a very low fat dog food. Since I didn't have time to research them, I went with what his doctor prescribed. I figured once he got the all clear from his doctor I could switch him, but for now his liver enzymes are still a bit high. What do you use?

[SpazTaz]

Originally Posted by goldylox

Thanks Mommie2One, This is the first time he's ever been on store brand or prescription food. I ususlly give him Blue and before that I gave him Black Gold, but he had some medical issues and had to be put on a very low fat dog food. Since I didn't have time to research them, I went with what his doctor prescribed. I figured once he got the all clear from his doctor I could switch him, but for now his liver enzymes are still a bit high. What do you use?

Honestly, that concerns me because high liver enzymes don't need a low fat diet, they need a diet with specific types of proteins, not low fat and recommending a low fat or low protein diet is a VERY old school way of thinking. I would recommend you visit with a specialist. My dog had liver disease (which I cured I might add) for a good 9 months, I have more knowledge than I care to have in this area. But I can tell you that you need proteins that do not create ammonia in the system so you want to stay away from red meats and duck, and go with simple proteins like chicken, turkey, lamb, cottage cheese, eggs, soy, among others. Any kibble diet is going to be not ideal for a dog with high liver enzymes first off. I would recommend you switch to a homemade diet, chicken and rice, turkey and rice (or potatoe), with some veggies, cottage cheese, egg, soy milk (the non sweetened/flavored stuff), goat's milk, that type of thing.

If there is liver damage, the liver will regenerate itself, however you have to know why he is having high liver enzymes in the first place. There is always a reason (a medication or disease are usually the first 2 culprits), high liver enzymes don't just happen on a whim.

If a reason hasn't been given as to why, I would recommend you see an internal medicine specialist and get that discovered first, otherwise the diet isn't going to make much difference. If the reason can be eliminated, a special hepatic diet should only be necessary for a a few months (depending on how bad the liver damage is). If the reason cannot be eliminated, then additional liver support, such as SAM-e and/or milk thistle is usually recommended.

Hope this helps some. You're welcome to PM me. I've had 2 dogs with liver issues, both were due to medications, both we were able to rehabilitate.

Here's a couple of links:

http://www.dogaware.com/health/liver.html

http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/HEALTH/diet2.htm

http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/liver/

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-...liver_diet.htm

http://www.doggiecook.com/homemade_f...r_disease.html

[goldylox]

Thanks. I'm going to reread this tomorrow when I'm not so tired. The low fat was for two reasons. One, he doesn't metabolize fat well and it shows up in his blood stream and two, when the liver enzymes first came up high, he also had some indication that he was having trouble with his pancreas. The doctor suspected pancreatitis and immediately put him on a low fat diet. The next check showed things getting better so we kept doing the same thing. The third check showed the pancreas doing fine, but the liver enzymes were still high. We switched his food to one that was slightly higher in fat and she put him on dynasil. His next check showed them slightly better, but not enough. He doesn't go back until December for a recheck.

Interesting that you should say old school because she is an older doctor. If I were looking for a specialist, how should I go about finding one? I am going to pm you tomorrow to get some suggestions on the food.

Thanks for all the advice.

[SpazTaz]

You can either ask your regular vet's office, or you can do a Google search for your area. Internal medicine vet is what you'd be looking for.