The infamous Acral Lick Granuloma
So... about Lacy. Seems Abby's pal has gotten one of these... Yea. If you have ever dealt with this, well, with your dog, I can now empathize. It's almost like the wound that never goes away...
For the past 8 weeks Lacy has had " a place on her foot " that started getting noticeably larger and not healing. The cause? Vet says " who knows?". Thinking maybe she jumped over some fenced area she KNOWS that I have gotten onto her before about. Fenced off area for compost, but back part of fence is the farmers barbed wire for his cattle.
The neighbors said that she repeatedly gets in there chasing a squirrel or after soemthing to eat. Well, the sore got to be about a half dollar size so then I took her to the vet. Standard procedures: Synotic drops (steroid?) for as long as the bottle runs out 3x a day. Did that, got a little better, however I noticed Lacy continually licking at it, almost knawing at it. So, I thought mabe we should put some neosporin on it, keep it lightly rapped, give it a few days. After 12 times of ripping off the bandages, she was still at it.
Called the vet again, got a different one this time. He stated she should have been on antibiotics from the beginning. So, he prescribes Simplicef 200mg, 1x a day for two weeks and not to wrap the foot but buy one of those collars with the cone ( can't remember the name ) and crate her for two weeks with exception of getting out under close supervision. So, that is where we are now, after 2 weeks. The sore is about 85-90% healed. BTW:Changed her from fish based food now to chicken based food. No corn, soy, etc. Trying to eliminate food allergies.
Here is my dilemma, I'm afraid to un-crate her, take off the collar and let her run with Abby now. IT SURE WOULD BE A RELIEF TO ME, however I am concerned. While I don't see her reaching for the foot, she is constantly knawing at the inside of her paws. Where her webs are, almost like she is trying to get a bug out. I looked at them, no harm done yet, but something is "eating at her" sort of speak. I can't really afford the allergy testing route right now after all the previous bills. So, again I asked the vet, he stated to poor poroxide in her paws to kill any infection. Have done that at least 5x.
So after multiple vet visits, antibotic drops and pills, collering, crating, changing food, and a flea bath 2 days ago that didn't work, just not sure if it's time. That's what we get when we care about these Labs so much..
Ready to un-crate her, she's ready for it, and both Abby and Lacy are ready to get back to their routines. What should I do and what is the next step? I don't have anyone to monitor throughout the day, so as of right now she's still spending time in the crate. Really ready to put this thing behind us and get back to normal, but just concerned.
BTW: I hope this post can help someone, I wish I had known how to expedite the healing, without pro-longing the process. Sometimes, old pet owners have to know what to ask for. Almost like at our own doctor's office at times.
Thoughts?