Cysts on paws

[woodlander]

Sweep has now finally been diagnosed with an under active thyroid and she is doing really well. She has perked up and is almost a different dog.  Coat is still rather thin but it is growing again which is such a relief. 
However we now have a different problem - she is suffering from awful cysts between her toes which seem to be constantly swelling up then bursting - repeat, repeat.  On a couple of occasions we have had to go to our lovely vet to have them lanced at very short notice because Sweep could hardly put her paw down it was so painful.  She is now on apoquel and doses of antibiotics to try & keep infections at bay.  I am getting very good at applying dressings, socks, boots etc and our lovely girl is soooooo patient and stoic.
We are just about to start trying to find out if Sweep has some sort of food allergy (which might have been triggered by the thyroid situation) which is triggering the cysts.
This week the cysts are especially bad and I guess I am clutching at straws but she has  been having quite a lot of chicken in her diet and I wondered if there was a link.
Has anyone else had any experience of food allergies or a chicken allergy causing skin irritations etc
Any thoughts gratefully received

[ejp]

Hello, glad Sweep is doing better now  Her poor paws, that sounds horrible. I have not had experience of chicken causing an issue for Daisy, but she did have tummy troubles when she came to us, and research shows that chicken is a common allergen for dogs. It is definitely worth excluding it from her diet. I tend not to use a lot of chicken based food or treats for Daisy, just in case. She gets a lot of fish, in fact I have just has fishy kisses as she had sardines for breakfast    Turkey is a good alternative as it is not used so much in dog food. Definitely worth a try.

[its.sme]

Sounds really painful.

I wondered if it could be something other than food, could it be an allergy to grass, both myself and Bea's Hay Feaver has started already this year 

Have you thought of Raw feeding, it's not for everyone but can often help ?

[Tawny]

I have a 6 year old blue roan bitch. She has also been diagnosed with an under active thyroid. We had her allergy tested as well and she was allergic to chicken and salmon , along with some pollens, harder to keep away from ! Chicken is in a lot of food and treats even when they are beef etc, either as chicken meat or chicken / poultry fat. I was really surprised and now I read all the small print very carefully. She is fed Gentle fish (white fish)variety and raw. We do have problems on and off with her ears and she gets itchy skin but a dose of antibiotics and apoquel does the job.
Hope this helps.

[Archie bean]

Food allergies could easily be the cause. Archie used to have terrible problems with his skin. As well as itchiness, he used to lick himself raw (lick granulomas) on his paws. We had a terrible time until I had him allergy tested. He is sensitive to lots of difffernt things including various grasses and seasonal plants that I can’t do much about but also soya and peas. Pea protein is a hidden ingredient in LOADS of food and treats but cutting out those two things has really worked. He is on a fish and potato diet and just has fish skin treats. The allergy test was just a blood test and I think it cost about £100 but was defiantly worth it rather than just stabbing in the dark.

[woodlander]

Thanks for those thoughts - very helpful.  I have just rung the vet to have a chat about an allergy test and currently waiting for a call back.
I will let you know how we get on.
Thanks again

[woodlander]

So a quick update.  The vet said that a blood test was good for possible environmental allergens but not so reliable for food allergens.  So we have excluded chicken from Sweeps diet for the last two weeks just starting our third week and whilst its early days things are looking more positive.  I don't know whether I am clutching at straws but to me her coat is not quite a dry and flaky as it was but as I say early days.
Also more importantly we haven't had any more flare ups with her paws and we have been able to go out without socks and boots on which is really good news.  Had a lovely walk on the beach yesterday.
The acid test will be later this week when her course of antibiotics finishes and we see what happens. 
Fingers crossed - will let you know how we progress

[ejp]

Thanks for the update, that is interesting to know.  I hope the improvement continues once the antibiotics finish.  Will hear how it goes.