Paws biting

Hi,

Lia bites her paws a lot. Why she does that? I've read that could be a symptom of SM, I don't know if I sould be worried.

Hi Laura, I am not up to speed on the SM, so some of the others can answer that part of the question. However, there are other things that can cause a dog to chew on his paws. Dog can get a yeast/fungal infection between their toes (like tinea I guess), grass allergies or thorns in their feet.

Have you inspected her feet to see if they look red & angry? What parts of her paws is she chewing on... the tops, the bottom or all over?

I would have her checked by the vet as it is not normal for a dog to chew or lick its paws. As was said before there are a lot of things that can cause this so best to get it checked.

Allergies can cause them to bite too, and frankly, some dogs just seem to do this, maybe as an obsessive-compulsive behaviour. Jaspar will chew and lick at his paws; he is MRI-verified not to have SM or the malformation, he has no allergies as far as I can see, he just seems to like chewing or licking at his paws sometimes. If they have eaten treats they have held between their paws this can cause a lot of licking etc as the flavour stays in their fur.

If it is enough chewing or licking that it is affecting her -- losing hair or really obsessive -- have her checked. Otherwise I'd just mention it next time you are at the vets. Do check her paws carefully for anything that might be stuck between the pads though too.

my vet told me that when they lick or nibble their feet a lot, it can be a symptom of the anal glands, and that they need emptying, when daisy was on her feet a lot, he told me this and checked her glands, and they certainly did need emptying.

biting paws

My husbands cousin has a rotweiller and he was biting his pasw and had itchy skin and it turned out he is alergic to dust mites and is now having succesfull treatment hope this helps heather