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Why is my dog constantly licking her pink paws? What can I do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | spayed | 2 years and 11 months old | 19 lbs

My dog keeps licking her paws. They are turning pinkish and she won’t stop licking. I tried changing her food and have been cleaning her feet everyday with warm water and Epsom salts. What do I do?

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4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jenny, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on October 15th, 2017

This is typical of environment allergens. You can try cortisone cream in between the toes and an e collar so she can't lick it off. If that does not help talk to your vet about allergy medicines such as Apoquel to help

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6Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on April 20th, 2017

    Poor Missy! Licking the paw a lot can be a sign of allergies, an injury, a skin infection (yeast or bacteria), or a foreign body. You can try soaking her paw tonight in an Epsom salt bath to see if that gives her some temporary relief. I would also put an Ecollar on Missy to keep her from licking at it. I will put a link below on how to make one at home: http://dogsaholic.com/care/homemade-dog-cone.html

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    Answered By Angel Alvarado, LVT

    Licensed Veterinary Technician

    Published on January 8th, 2020

    An e-collar (cone) should be placed on her to prevent licking. You can soak her feet in a diluted Betadine solution, just make sure you dry them thoroughly afterwards. The licking or itching can be due to infection (bacterial or fungal) or allergies. In cases of infection, you may need to get medication from your veterinarian. Allergies can be frustrating to diagnose since they have multiple causes. Discuss allergy testing, hydrolyzed diets, food elimination trials and antihistamine use with your veterinarian.

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    2Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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    Answered By Jenny, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on December 16th, 2017

    This may be a sign of pain or an obsessive behavior or an allergy. Without treating the underlying cause, it is hard to get ahead of the problem. The best thing to do at home until you can get her checked is clean the area with soap and water. You can get an e collar from a pet store and use that to get her to stop licking and give it a change to heal. You can place cortisone cream on it to relieve some inflammation also. Medicated powders do work well for areas that rub or trap moisture such as arm pits or in between toes. You can apply it inbetween the pads of her feet and toes to help soothe it and dry up the moisture. If there is a place around the wrist and exposed you are better using cortisone cream for those areas

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