Why is my dog licking himself
Why Do Pets Itch and Lick Themselves so Often?
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all right time now for better pets today
back to question why do pets lick
themselves and its themselves so much
dr. Andrea Denis of the Bloomfield
Animal Hospital is the veterinarian with
the answers hey Doc how are you I'm
terrific okay every time I look at my
cat well cats sometimes it's hard to
differentiate you'd like to take baths
all day they do clean themselves but you
can usually figure out when it's
excessive especially when there's little
bald spots on their backs or even on
their belly it's a very common for cats
that have allergies too like have no
hair on their abdomen okay and that's
that's abnormal so then when you get to
that point you know that needs to be
seen but it that is our job to sort of
differentiate what's normal licking
after they go to the bathroom use a lip
you know go outside then that's normal
and for dogs and cats I didn't realize
the reason they're licking may be
seasonal allergies that's the number one
reason and a lot of people don't realize
that because they'll talk to their
friends and they'll say oh if your pet
is scratching or licking look at those
babies scratching themselves and and
people say well you know I tell them to
stop it they stop it so it can't be that
bad well of course they're gonna say
they're gonna stop it but then they're
gonna go into another room and do it
again and get started again there's this
not gonna do it in front of you and then
when people talk about it they say oh
well you have to just change the food
and that's not the case so I think
there's a lot of misinformation out
there and that's what we'd like to
correct that today well our executive
producer said her dog is at home licking
his paws constantly yes and my people
think that's boredom and usually it's
not especially in Connecticut we tend to
have a lot of allergens this time of
year and particularly ragweed is
horrendous so the paws are the one area
where they sweat from so it's exposed
when they're walking on the grasses and
the trees and the leaves those things
get absorbed into their paws and that's
what makes them itchy that's why they're
licking and that's why that becomes a
problem so you know got some a picture
of a dog getting a bath like it's not so
much that they're dirty right no baby
thing is can be so soothing if you have
someone that is just licking and it's
like 2 o'clock in the morning on a
Saturday you know Saturday morning just
give them a lukewarm bath that will at
least make them feel better now you're
just taking care of this wait till 6
a.m.
[Laughter]
keep inching I gotta sleep can you tell
you never had a newborn it's sometimes
you can't sleep they can't sleep and
it's everybody's taking a bath at 2 a.m.
you brought some products what are some
other things we can do we've been taking
a bath at 2 a.m. yeah first I want to
get it diagnosed the right way I just
don't just try these things yourself
okay don't just try I heard of benadryl
is gonna help benadryl is just basically
gonna make them sleepy alright so I
would lay at least like we have a
diagnosed first so I know this is all
not all about doing it at home and self
diagnosing let's use the professional
but because once we diagnose it if it is
seasonal allergies we talked about
shampooing just washing their paws is
really ideal but most of the time we
have to use oral medication to really
control it and one of the most common
ones is one this one here called the Tim
role-p which is a combination of an
antihistamine and a little steroid
you've heard about prednisone and
cortisol yeah that one that one is a
prescription item okay now some dogs not
a lot respond this is an antihistamine
again a prescription antihistamine but I
would say about 15 to 20 percent of the
population could is really well
controlled with antihistamine then we
get into our big guns okay our big guns
are something like we we've got the
Apple which is right here and that's a
real allergy medication a little bit on
the expensive side but it really works
and it's safe and the last one right
next to it the medrol you've heard about
prednisone this is called
methylprednisolone which will stop them
from itching right away but it can have
potential side effects these are all
things that are specifically designed
for pets like we shouldn't put cortisone
cream on like you would for your child
or if you use any human things on them
you can but again I'm always hesitant to
say that because people will like even
using an antihistamine like zyrtec if
they choose a zyrtec D that's dangerous
for them so call your veterinarian
veterinary will be happy to help you yes
some sores can have topical things put
on there like miss boring that's an
antibiotic that's not gonna do anything
for the itch okay before to protect it
no but then you might be blocking in the
infection okay yes exactly you don't
really do anything I don't how to make
them feel better just call the vet right
other than the BAFF at 2:00 a.m. okay
that can make them feel better you're
not good but there's so much and the
thing is we can't cure allergies we can
only control them so usually once your
dog starts licking their paws and it
becomes excessive then you know you
always have to stay on top of it year
after year we're talking 24 hours of
licking 48 if you can hear them you hear
that chain usually when they're sleeping
at night no one should be licking so if
you have a dog or even a cat that has a
bell on and you hear that in the middle
of the night then that is a real big
sign and also if you say oh every time I
see them they're licking about hour
every hour every two hours have to say
stop that that you will know it's not
the norm just don't ignore it that's the
problem and then there are lots of
topical things that just make them feel
better
and you know they're these are all do
different things one of them is an
antibiotic one's a little mousse that
just calms down their skin but again
it's a matter of knowing the right
product your veterinarian will help you
I think the main thing again the
takeaway is over-the-counter like a
oatmeal bath is not going to hurt them
but usually there is so much that happen
this time of year 2 we see fleas can
cause them to be itchy to determine is
there fleas exactly something and then
also I mean the mange have you ever
heard of a dog having me cats having
mange those are microscopic mites that
invade the skin and you can't tell you
can't tell with the naked eye your
veterinarian has to check it all right
all right as a reminder doctor Genesis
the owner of long field Animal Hospital
on old Windsor Road in Bloomfield on
alternating Saturday afternoons from 2
to 3 she is taking your list our
questions during pep talk on WTIC 1080
radio so tune in there if you can