What Causes a Dog to Itch His Paws?
It has been reported that many dogs spend large amount of time for licking and itching its own paws. Well, have you ever seen such a nuisance behavior from your pet with itchy paws? This condition is not understood by many dog's owners today. But there may be underlying various causes behind this frequent itching of its paws. However, the blood test and general health may not have any traits of diseases in such dogs.
Hence it is very difficult to spot the underlying causes of itchy paws. Here we shall discus a few common causes of a dog to itch its paws unusually. Sometimes your dog may lick its paws due the presence of sensitive ingredients of food in their paws. This behavior is very common and usual in dogs. But it will damage your dog's paws once it is very frequent and chronic. This compulsive behavior will cause bacterial infection in the paws and make your dog walking very painful. This can be avoided by feeding your dog in proper bowels with nutritious food. Chronic paw itching is also found in dogs due to boredom. Such dogs may spend a long chunk of its time in grooming its paws. Even though it is a common canine activity it will damage its paws if not forced to limit the activity. Boredom can lead your dog to continue this grooming act without any control and causes infection to its paws. Constant itching may also lead to swelling and inflammation in the paws. Paw licking or itching may also be triggered in dogs due to loneliness and separation anxiety. It is very difficult to treat this kind of obsessive itching and licking to its paws and there is no medication available to stop this unusual behavior. Interestingly this type of chronic behavior can be controlled and eliminated by changing the routine of your dog and by increasing its activities in certain dog's training. Many dogs respond very quickly to this change in its routine and completely stops the paw itching.
Remedies for Itchy Paws and Scratching
Another common problem of paw itching is found in older pets with arthritis disease. Obese dogs are also not free from this type of persistent itching behavior. But this can be easily diagnosed by general physical examination and x-ray. If it is due to arthritis then drugs are available for treating such bone problems and to stop the itching behavior. Often bitter mist is widely used to stop this unusual itching behavior to its paws. The bitter mist will discourage persistent licking and itching to its paws along with other medications. Once you find your dog with sever itching and inflammation in the paws then it is wise to use aloe vera gel to the area. Aloe vera gel will sooth and reduce the itching very quickly and it is advised to keep your dog paw banded in cotton soaks until the itching area becomes normal.
If paw itching is found mild then anti-itching spray can be used three to five times in a day. If your dog' feet is continued to remain red, swollen and flaky then it is better to seek guidance from a professional vet.