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Senior Shih Tzu's red, sore paws won't heal. What should I do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Shih Tzu | Female | spayed | 12 years and 5 months old | 16.5 lbs

Our shih tzu of 11 Years has sore front paws all of a sudden. She has been on cortisone and antibiotics for some time by vet to treat. Still sore and red. She is on apoquel for couple years. Any ideas?

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1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Mara Howard, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on October 12th, 2017

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I’m sorry to hear Lollipop is having skin issues. If her issue has been so persistent, if she hasn’t had more focused diagnostic testing, I would recommend considering doing a culture to try to isolate any yeast or bacteria that is causing her issue, and possibly a skin biopsy to ensure that it is secondary to an allergy. If it is an allergy, there is a new injection that is used to treat allergies called Cytopoint. I would recommend reaching out to your regular veterinarian to discuss either further testing or treatment that she may need. Good luck!

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