We have a bit of a mystery and are wondering whether anyone recognises this and has any solutions. Our lab (nearly 3) is currently on steroids for hay fever/allergy. It started last May when he suffered from an itchy chest and itches at the top of his forelegs. A short course of steroids from the vet cleared it up and life went back to normal. This year, almost to the day, it started again and again steroids from the vet resolved it. We all thought the culprit was some seasonal grass/plant allergy. However while weaning him off the steroids this time he started licking the area immediately above his front paw pads - so at the back of the leg not the front. He sniffs all around his lower legs/paw area before licking repetitively for a few minutes each time. It's only the front legs and it's mostly first thing in the morning and before he goes to bed. But we've just realised it may also be after he has played or moved around after a spell of lying down. The vet is encouraging us to go down a food allergy elimination route or move on to something called Apoquel and we are discussing options but we just wondered if anyone has seen anything similar in their lab and resolved it. Thanks for reading!
