Puzzling problem…

Piper's mom

Piper's mom

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About 3 weeks ago I’d noticed that Blueberry had been licking her back paw (she’d turned the white fur pink). I’d never seen her lick it and the fur was always dry…I’m assuming she must’ve licked it during the night. I checked it out…no irritation or cut, nails were fine and she seemed no more bothered by my touching it than her other back paw. I also felt for a foxtail and after trimming her fur I couldn’t feel anything unusual.
Her paw is still pink but it seems like the pink has spread upwards a bit…she is not an allergy dog, never had any issues really. She doesn’t limp nor has she shown any soreness in that paw although I’m more inclined to think it’s sore as opposed to an allergy as she doesn’t lick any other paw. I’m also not sure how recent the licking was because I know the pink will stay until the fur sheds out…my conundrum on what the heck is going on. She also hasn’t been playing with Finnie for well over a month now…evening is their play time and every time Finnie initiates play she runs away or jumps on the furniture to avoid him…now I’m wondering if the two are connected…I should point out however that her behaviour is normal otherwise, she’s her normal self so this change could just be Blueberry being Blueberry…
Of course then the thought of Lyme did cross my mind but again no limping. I might get her tested just to rule it out if the vet thinks it’s a possibility.
I do have an appointment with the vet for next week to get it checked out but I’m just not sure she’ll be able to find anything wrong.
Just putting it out here in case someone has an idea I haven’t thought of.
 
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Sharon7 said:
No idea either if you can't find any bumps, skin irritation or abrasions/cuts. She may have strained something in her toes that's causing her a bit of discomfort and they will lick an area for that reason as well.
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That’s what I thought as well. I showed my vet a photo id taken and she said it appears to be a problem between her 3rd and 4th toe.
As to her behaviour she said it’s probably hormones…she’s seen a lot of dogs going into heat.
On the plus side Piper’s ears are good now so we’ll see if his hearing improves…he’s off the drops now
This is the photo I showed her…
 

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Sharon7 said:
All kinds of ligaments and tendons around the toes. Maybe she just strained or pulled something. Would explain if she's not wanting to run around.
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That would definitely make sense. She’s been really sucky with me lately as well…when Finnie chases her to play she’ll come and hide beside me (she’s partly under the table). I’m thinking it’s more likely as sprain or something as opposed to a previous cut or something. That I would’ve noticed and she’d have been licking it more often.
Since she’s not limping it’s probably something that’ll just take time to heal but we’ll see the vet next week anyhow.
I was telling the vet how Finnie is the healthiest of all my dogs (knock on wood lol) and the only issue he had was his hock when he was almost 2. Nice to be able to help the vet…she once again thanked me for giving her a teaching moment…she said she learned a lot from Finnie’s injury and was able to apply it to another dog! It’s nice when us responsible pet owners can help he veterinarians! And I noticed it (after 2 months of not being able to figure it out) only because I felt his joints and felt the heat on the one hock (it was very sporadic) right after he’d yelped. Turns out the hock has very little blood supply (not as many blood vessels through there) so there is very little swelling. She ended up X-raying both hocks and from that we could see the difference.
For anyone that suspects a hock injury X-ray BOTH hocks and compare.
We were very fortunate that his hock was able to heal and that he had no further complications although I do worry whenever he goes crazy running (and at almost 8 he still does this!)
 
woof said:
I was going to say a strain or maybe a bit of arthritis kind of thing...maybe just displacement activity too. My male goes after his paws a lot with no visible signs of a problem and no limp etc??
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Probably something along those lines. Hopefully we get an answer and she’ll leave that paw alone and eventually get rid of the pink! I’m going to have to dye her fur white🤣.
 
Those mystery issues are always the hardest to treat. Allergies crop up this time of year when we close up the house for winter so I wouldn’t rule that out. But more likely she did injure something on the paw since that’s the only one she’s licking. Glad you’re seeing the vet, I hope she can figure it out!
 
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