[Dailydrool] Licking

[cathy.rice1]

I am sure this problem has already been addressed but if anyone has ideas about how to fix this my husband and I (and Emmylou) would be eternally grateful. Emmylou licks her feet constantly, both the tops and the pads to the point where they have turned dark brown. She also has this dark brown discoloration around her mouth as well. Thankfully she hasn’t made any sores or developed a lick granuloma from it but I really don’t know how since she is licking about eighty percent of the time that she is awake. She has kept us awake at night with licking.  Emmylou is a sweet little red and white basset girl that we took in to foster for Ohio Basset Rescue last August. She was in sad shape and has had two surgeries since we have had her. The first was to remove a mast cell tumor from the top of her head as well as benign growths from each eyelid. The second was to remove a button tumor from the inside of her ear flap which was benign but “suspicious”. She recovered well and her coat is in good condition overall.  She does have arthritis in both rear knees and both will vibrate when she is standing. The vet said this would be from muscle deterioration because of the arthritis. Currently she is on glucosamine, Duralactin, fish oil and gets tramadol twice a day.  We have tried antibiotics, benedryl, hydroxyzine, pledget wipes and antibacterial wipes but none of these made a difference. We just started using Composure this week but so far no slowing down on the licking. She has been on a grain free lamb and rice diet but two months ago I changed her to  salmon and sweet potato. All this did was put weight on her. She is back on the lamb and rice now.
If anyone has any ideas we will certainly try them. I am wondering if this is some learned behavior or if she needs an anti anxiety med? She isn’t a dog that cares about toys but I have been trying  different things to try to stimulate her thinking maybe she is just bored. She does live in a home with three seniors but up to this point hasn’t shown much interest in playing with another dog. I took her to Bassetfest last year and she never left my side all day even with all of the other dogs and people.  Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks,

Cathy, Momslave to Dozer, Grace, foster Emmylou (“what’s wrong with keeping my feet clean") , GSD Leah, Nathan ATB, Barry ATB, Daphne ATB
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