Foot Problems in Dog:

As a dog owner, you will have to face a lot of pet idiosyncrasies and one of these is the practice of continuous licking by a dog. This is something that sometimes may not mean much but when your dog does this continuously, it is usually a sign of some kind of an infection taking hold. As you would have noticed, a dog’s paw is quite different to any other kind of paw with a very rough patch where a palm would be. This is usually where most of the fungal infections that can take place do. This is something that is completely curable but you must remember that the only real impediment to treating an infection of the foot is the dog itself. Dog’s don’t really take very well to medicine and end up licking off any ointments that you apply. This is not a good thing, as no topical ointment should ever be ingested orally. A good way to prevent this would be to simply bandage up the affected area, but this is sometimes impossible. The best way to treat the problem therefore is to simply use quick treatments like Triclosan and some shampoo antifungals. Remember that the things that might seem quite innocuous to us can be deadly for animals. Take for example garlic. This is extremely useful in humans to deal with infections as it contains the antibiotic allacin. However, using this on animals can result in a fatality. The same thing goes for essential oils like tea tree oil.

Fungal infections on dogs are usually caused by a fungus that is common with humans and dogs called malessezia. In humans, it causes a simple case of dandruff but can also cause tinea versicolor and eczemas. In dogs, it does cause dermatitis and worse. The good news is that it is quite easy to treat as well.

If your dog already has a sore paw and the flesh is exposed, the first thing to do is to apply hydrogen peroxide to the area, wait until the bubbling stops, and then wash off in warm distilled water. Your dog will experience pain so be prepared for it. This will take care of most bacterial and fungal infections in the first application itself but keep up this treatment until the dog stops licking its paw. Also wash the paws with a simple anti-dandruff shampoo and some antiseptic soap.