A few pink areas plus paw licking: allergies?

[Peaty]

For about three weeks, Peaty, 1 yr old, has been licking his one paw, and his nose and certain parts of his legs are becoming pinkish. On top of that he’s being pickier about his regular food, he does not seem to be interested in finish the full plate in minutes like before.

One more pink area is under his neck, but we thought it was related to the collar, until we saw more pink areas.

Now, this has improved in the last week (eating better, less pink, but still some slight pink on nose)

Could it be allergies or food sensitivity to treats or something?

[tanza]

@peaty - What are you feeding him? And what is in it?

[Peaty]

Purina Pro Plan With Probiotics Shredded Blend Chicken & Rice Formula Dry. Recommended by the breeder. He has been fine for several months. The only change was ocasional treats at daycare twice a week.

[elbrant]

@peaty said in A few pink areas plus paw licking: allergies?:

The only change was ocasional treats at daycare twice a week.

Sounds a bit like allergies... find out what those treats were! It's my understanding that you can give dogs Benedril for allergy symptoms, but you clearly want to consult a Vet and find out if that is appropriate, and what the correct dosage would be.

[tanza]

@peaty - Look at all the ingredients, seems there is also corn gluten meal and whole corn in that food. Many dogs have issues with corn

[Zande]

Definitely check contents - including what he is given at Day Care. And consult a vet. But it definitely sounds like an allergy to this non-Vet.

Grain-free is often best diet for Basenjis.

[tanza]

One of mine developed terrible allergies to corn and by the age of 4 it was totally apparent what the issue was. Went to grain free, especially NO corn or beet pulp... never had an issue again. Keep in mind that corn (dried corn or corn gluten) is given to cattle and horses (many years ago we would make a corn mash to add to our horses feed) in the winter to generate heat, so giving it to dogs would have the same effect, general heat in the body.... which I believe is the reason that many dogs have problems to corn. I did have one that had allergies to chicken in one of our litters... take away the chicken and she was fine. Many ingredients may be a bit down on the list, but you need to read them all.

[khh819]

Ours has allergies but not to food. The vet said less than 25% of dogs have food allergies. We have her on Apoquel 16 mg. Check with your vet. It has really helped with the pink skin and chewing on herself.

[Peaty]

Thanks for all the replies! This Purina has been recommended by a breeder with +25 years of experience, so why would the corn or wheat in the formula be the reason of his potential allergies? Also we brought him home last July and only noticed this in the past weeks. We will definitely stop the weekly treats at day care to see if that changes the situation. Otherwise we have a scheduled visit on early May for a new shot. We will definitely bring this issue. Beyond this, he is happy and energetic pup!

[elbrant]

@peaty We are just providing "educated guesses" and relating similar experiences that may be of benefit. My first thought about the pink paws was cold/winter conditions possibly mixed with "salted" sidewalks. But, since you said there where other pink spots and not just on the paws.... well, I reconsidered that winter conditions were less likely. There are many reasons a dog would have these spots... another one would be ringworm... please seek an appointment from a professional. (And let us know what they said.)

[eeeefarm]

It could well be a seasonal allergy to something growing outside. My boy had a suspected ragweed allergy and would get a rash on his legs in late August/September if I let him run in the fields.

[tanza]

@peaty - Dogs can react to food allergies as they age... so just because it didn't seem to be an issue in July doesn't mean it is not an issue now, it may have been minor and not noticed. As I said, my one Basenji bitch was 4 (and she was born here, been in the breed for 35+yrs) when it became fully obvious that corn was the issue... She had a dental and then had a reaction to the anesthesia and her kidney's shut down.... Vet recommend food and that food was corn first ingredient. She went nuts with licking/biting her paws, rubbing her face, rubbing her butt. She was (with the rest of our Basenjis) were eating kibble that had corn and beet pulp as the 3rd/4th ingredient. She would have issues off and on. Bottom line, stopped the kibble with any corn or fillers and all stopped. She lived to 16+. So it can show up after some years. I would still find out what is in the treats at day care, but also would change the food to something with no corn. Has really nothing to do with the breeder, as I said I used the same kibble for years until this happened with my one girl.... and changed foods with no types of corn fillers.

[DonC]

Given that it's the right time for seasonal allergies, and the food hasn't been a problem in the past, I'd look first at environmental allergies as @eeeefarm suggests. Plus you have the the Bayesian priors mentioned by @Peaty.

If it is a seasonal allergy then a cytopoint shot may help a lot. They seem to work very well. We've also done allergy testing on some of our dogs. It's cheap and often interesting. We had one dog who was allergic to cotton and one to certain types of grasses.

I'm not a huge fan of grain free dog foods because they've been associated with cancer in retrievers. This isn't 100% certain, and I do use this type of kibble as treats, but it does give me pause.

FWIW we use Purina. It's super cheap and more or less has the same ingredients as pricier alternatives. The only problem is that most pet stores don't carry it (too downscale I think) and it can be hard to find in smaller bags.

[Zande]

@donc said in A few pink areas plus paw licking: allergies?:

FWIW we use Purina. It's super cheap

You are so lucky ! There is no way I could afford to feed the pack on it when we had 8. I might manage now, with only two, but have found alternatives

[tanza]

@donc - All Purina foods contain corn or corn/beet pulp filler... I have used grain free along with Natural Balance limited ingredients... among others for all my Basenjis and also raising our litters. I also feed many veggies/fruits also... raw and steamed with raw meat also. None with fillers. And yes, could be seasonal allergies, but always you need to consider food as the problem.

[eeeefarm]

Back in the day before "designer dog food" I seldom saw the sort of problems that seem to plague dogs these days......and the dogs I knew lived longer (including my own). Coincidence? I do wonder about the effect of pesticides, GMOs, feedlot raising of meat animals, overcrowding and antibiotics, etc. And the mass sourcing of what goes into dog food, including the vitamins and minerals that must be added back in because the processing removes them from the original ingredients.

[tanza]

@eeeefarm - Well, before designer foods was when I found that processed corn was an issue... of course at that time not many fed raw either... or added thing like veggies, fruits or meat or for that matter ever changed up foods...(kibble)... and way before that the only things that dogs ate were what was referred to as table scraps. Now think about that for a minute... scraps were typically "leftovers" from a human meal. So if the human ate it, why not the dog? With my girl that has issues with corn in kibble, she had none with fresh corn and loved eating it off the cob.

[JENGOSMonkey]

We had somewhat similar issues with Jengo. Months after getting him we noticed red spots on his belly. thought maybe they were bug bites. Bathed him and inspected for fleas, etc. My wife read up on it and decided it might be a food allergy. She decided to eliminate grains altogether. That seemed to correct the issue. But, after some time he got picky, so we'd have to explore more grain free foods. It was a bit of a struggle. Still not certain if grain was the issue or not. Speaking to my vet, she mentioned that super high protein diets were all the rage for awhile, but that vets later started seeing more heart and artery problems. She doesn't like them anymore.

I'd never really known about Basenjis and veggies when we had Jengo. I wish that I had. Both new dogs get plenty of daily of unprocessed and processed protein. Kibble is mostly protein, dehydrated meat patties, raw meat, scrambled eggs But, they also get veggies too. Pumpkin, coconut oil, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, etc. We change it up every now and again to keep them guessing. Veggies are also great snacks for starving dogs like Logan.

[tanza]

@jengosmonkey - Totally agree.... changing up foods is great... you never have to worry if you run out as you can give them all kinds of foods. Not sure yet that I agree about the heart and artery problems, but I still use grain free, but not that only. Mine also love lettuce and tomatoes... LOL when we have BLT's the Basenjis get BLT also as a treat... lettuce, tomatoes and a couple of little pieces of Bacon... Keep in mind that many Vets are not educated in food per say... and they lean to go to what salespeople want them to carry in their practice. But sounds like you hit the jackpot! And yes veggies are great snacks....

[eeeefarm]

@tanza, right from the start our family Sheltie shared in "human food" and back then if you bought "dog food" it was canned, not kibble. All of my dogs have liked vegetables, and all have been offered them on a regular basis. Dry food IMO is quite unnatural, not to say I have never used it, but there are better alternatives, e.g. dehydrated or frozen if you need the convenience. Raw can be problematic depending on where you source it, and you really do have to make sure they get something other than straight meat. It's a myth that wild canids only eat meat! For that matter, domestic dogs have eaten grains for rather a long time, since table scraps would generally contain them. I would be suspicious of especially corn these days. Hard to find anything not GMO, same problem with soy. And of course the animals we get the meat from are ingesting these same foods.