Doggie Help.

[Guest guest]

OK, I've peppered everyone many times with human health problems,

now I'm looking for help with my pooch. He's a 12 year old Golden

Retreiver, in good general health except for some arthritis, but

we've had an ongoing problem with him chewing his front leg. He's

got what's called a lick granuloma, he's chewed all the fur off and

the skin is thickened, red, and maybe a little infected right now.

He had surgery on it a few months ago and wore a collar for a month

or more until it healed, but as soon as the collar came off he went

back at it and now it looks worse than every. The conventional

treatments don't seem to work anymore. Guess what I'm looking for is

maybe something herbal that will not only help it heal, but will

taste bad enough to keep him from chewing. I hate to have the collar

on him again, but right now he is really working it over. Thanks for

any help.

 

Peace,

Laura in VA

[Guest guest]

Lick Granuloma essentially means that your dog licked an area until the fur

was gone and the skin became raw and infected as you've seen. It doesn't

really address why the the dog is doing this though.

 

Some dogs actually develop a habit of licking and biting at their front leg

from anxiety or stress. Simple spending more time in play and excersize with

the dog may help.

 

You mentioned that your dog has some arthritis. He may be licking at a sore

joint caused by the arthritis. Is he on any medication for arthritis?

 

You might consider asking your vet if your dog should be on Rimadyl (not sure

of the spelling) for the arthritis and see if that also helps the licking.

 

Herbs that can be helpful for arthritis include black cohosh, elder, willow,

burdock.

 

I would give the dog golden seal, lecithin, garlic and chamomille in his food

to help improve his skin. I would put golden seal directly on the wound to

promote healing and it tastes nasty.

 

The herbs can be ground and sprinkled in the food or a tea can be made from

them.

 

Also I would take some baby socks, cut off the toes and slide them over the

dogs leg then wrap the sock with tape to cover the wound.

 

The important thing is not the let the vet only treat the infected area, but

to try to find out why the dog is exhibiting the behavior and address that.

 

Good Luck,

 

Phil

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Laura

 

I am sorry that I don't have a real idea how to help your furbaby with

his licking, but I wonder if giving him some glucosamine would help with

the arthritis.

 

BL

 

progressive7862 wrote:

 

> OK, I've peppered everyone many times with human health problems,

> now I'm looking for help with my pooch. He's a 12 year old Golden

> Retreiver,

[Guest guest]

Hi Laura - The only thing I have heard that works for this kind

of " habit " is Prozac or other psychotrophic drugs prescribed by the

dog's vet. It seems to be a neurotic type of behavior and the dog

will continue the behavior despite any bad taste or

other " punishment " they recieve.

Sorry - maybe someone else can help you with a more natural cure.

Tracey =^..^=

www.KindheartedWomen.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

, " progressive7862 "

<allens717@c...> wrote:

> OK, I've peppered everyone many times with human health problems,

> now I'm looking for help with my pooch. He's a 12 year old Golden

> Retreiver, in good general health except for some arthritis, but

> we've had an ongoing problem with him chewing his front leg. He's

> got what's called a lick granuloma, he's chewed all the fur off

and

> the skin is thickened, red, and maybe a little infected right now.

> He had surgery on it a few months ago and wore a collar for a

month

> or more until it healed, but as soon as the collar came off he

went

> back at it and now it looks worse than every. The conventional

> treatments don't seem to work anymore. Guess what I'm looking for

is

> maybe something herbal that will not only help it heal, but will

> taste bad enough to keep him from chewing. I hate to have the

collar

> on him again, but right now he is really working it over. Thanks

for

> any help.

>

> Peace,

> Laura in VA

[Guest guest]

Laura,

 

Sorry to hear about your dog's problem.

 

Try posting your query on the Best Friends health and behavior message board.

They have a vet and other experts who will give your their advice. I've gotten

a lot of help with my animals there.

 

www.bestfriends.org

 

Good luck,

 

Terry

 

P.S. I wonder if tea tree oil would help?

 

 

-

progressive7862

Monday, July 19, 2004 9:43 PM

Doggie Help.

 

 

OK, I've peppered everyone many times with human health problems,

now I'm looking for help with my pooch. He's a 12 year old Golden

Retreiver, in good general health except for some arthritis, but

we've had an ongoing problem with him chewing his front leg. He's

got what's called a lick granuloma, he's chewed all the fur off and

the skin is thickened, red, and maybe a little infected right now.

He had surgery on it a few months ago and wore a collar for a month

or more until it healed, but as soon as the collar came off he went

back at it and now it looks worse than every. The conventional

treatments don't seem to work anymore. Guess what I'm looking for is

maybe something herbal that will not only help it heal, but will

taste bad enough to keep him from chewing. I hate to have the collar

on him again, but right now he is really working it over. Thanks for

any help.

 

Peace,

Laura in VA

 

 

 

 

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