Help with Lick Granuloma!?!

[sashadog]

So Sasha has licked a very large granuloma on her front leg. We've tried covering it, but she just licks her other leg. We cover that leg, she'll lick somewhere else. We've tried various pain meds for her "cancer leg" but to no avail. We can't afford surgery yet so does anyone have any tried-and-true methods for keeping her from licking?? Even just brainstorming would help...

[Jax08]

Have you tried an e-collar?

[kennajo]

I would say "Bitter Yuck" but she would just move to somewhere else. ecollars or the inflatable collar??

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

Cancer leg?

Surgery?

I may have missed other stuff!

The cone/e-collar might help for sure!

I had a foster with a good sized lick granuloma and we used a steroid cream on it that was VERY strong, had to be applied with a q-tip so that I didn't touch it myself, and then I would wrap and bag it even though it was best to have it out to the air (I guess) and supervise. Giving him good things to chew helped to complete the plan, adding more exercise every day helped immensely and it went away.

If she's being a bit OCD with the lick you might want to try the PetFax service at Tuft's. They can help a ton with OCD behaviors.

Good luck. They can get really bad.

[mysweetkaos]

Before Kaos got his pain meds adjusted....he was a horrible licker. I would put stuff on him, he would move spots...on and on. I started putting a cone on him anytime I could not be right there to stop him in the act. Once we got his pain under control, he stopped licking. Is Sasha in pain or just a little OCD? Either way I would cone her until they heal up....but try and find the reason behind it in the meantime.

[Anja1Blue]

We had an Alaskan Malamute years ago who developed lick granulomas. Very distressing condition, and he easily removed e-collars..... for years we tried Clavamox, prednisone and a bunch of other things which depressed his immune system and essentially didn't work - the lesions always came back, and often worse.(Probably in part because at that point he also had a deep seated staph infection - this is always a concern when the skin remains broken for any length of time.) Finally we went to an holistic vet. who used acupuncture and a homeopathic remedy called silica. This was successful, his leg healed, and without any of the side effects which can accompany heavy duty steroids and antibiotics.
____________________________________________
Susan

Anja SchH3
Conor GSD
Blue BH WH T1 GSD - waiting at the Bridge

[sashadog]

Thank you for all the suggestions! We have tried an e-collar and she'll chew on her tail since she can still reach it Bigger ones she can just slip right out of. She is getting steroid cream on it right now so thankfully that's keeping it under control at the moment but because she still licks at it, it's not healing fully.

I'm pretty sure that she's licking so obsessively because she's in pain from her back leg. She's not an OCD type personality and we've never had a problem like this with her before.

Would it be cruel to just keep a basket muzzle on her when we aren't supervising her 100%?

Jean: She has fibrosarcoma in her rear knee that we've been dealing with for a while now. It's caused a few other muscular and tendon side effects because of the location as well as scar tissue from the surgery to remove the tumor the first time. Our next treatment step is to amputate the leg but we don't have the money for it right now. So in the meantime we're dealing with pain management the best we can but nothing seems to be working and she's developed these granulomas

Anja: Do you think it'd be effective to use just the silica or does it need to be used in conjunction with the acupuncture? We're trying to balance treating her pain now with still being able to save up for the surgery and it's a delicate process for sure... We want to keep her comfortable but not if it's going to put off the surgery for another couple months.

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

Apply for Assistance
maybe?

[sashadog]

Originally Posted by JeanKBBMMMAAN

Apply for Assistance
maybe?

Thank you! We've applied to a couple other organizations like this but until we can afford further diagnostic tests (repeat chest X-rays, ultra-sound aspiration, etc.) to extra super duper confirm that the cancer is back and not spread to her lungs they can't accept us.

It's put us in a little bit of a bind because the vets, both at CSU and our regular vet, think it's back so we want to go forward with the amputation especially since she's in pain. Buuuutt... the organizations can't guarantee that they can help us even if the diagnostics come back positive, which I understand. So we can spend about $700 confirming that we need to spend $1000 on amputating her leg and possibly get assistance or we can save that $600 and just put it towards the surgery anyways. We are in quite a pickle... It can't hurt to apply though

[Anja1Blue]

Originally Posted by sashadog

Thank you for all the suggestions! We have tried an e-collar and she'll chew on her tail since she can still reach it Bigger ones she can just slip right out of. She is getting steroid cream on it right now so thankfully that's keeping it under control at the moment but because she still licks at it, it's not healing fully.

I'm pretty sure that she's licking so obsessively because she's in pain from her back leg. She's not an OCD type personality and we've never had a problem like this with her before.

Would it be cruel to just keep a basket muzzle on her when we aren't supervising her 100%?

Jean: She has fibrosarcoma in her rear knee that we've been dealing with for a while now. It's caused a few other muscular and tendon side effects because of the location as well as scar tissue from the surgery to remove the tumor the first time. Our next treatment step is to amputate the leg but we don't have the money for it right now. So in the meantime we're dealing with pain management the best we can but nothing seems to be working and she's developed these granulomas

Anja: Do you think it'd be effective to use just the silica or does it need to be used in conjunction with the acupuncture? We're trying to balance treating her pain now with still being able to save up for the surgery and it's a delicate process for sure... We want to keep her comfortable but not if it's going to put off the surgery for another couple months.

I didn't get back to this until today. I missed the part about your dog having cancer, so yes there is a good chance she is licking because of the discomfort. Whether or not silica (or even acupuncture for that matter) would be appropriate for her I wouldn't presume to say - my dog responded to this protocol but he didn't have cancer, he was most likely an OCD guy. I worked with a classic homeopathic vet - if you are in the Denver area and would be interested in consulting with her, you are welcome to PM me and I will give you her info. There are a lot of remedies out there, silica was just the one which worked for us. Good luck with your girl, cancer is a very distressing disease.
___________________________________________

Susan

Anja SchH3 GSD
Conor GSD
Blue BH WH T1 GSD - waiting at the Bridge