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My dog has a chronic leg sore from licking. Is it lick dermatitis?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Male | unneutered | 2 years and 5 months old | 9.2 lbs

Hi my dog has a sore on its leg and it's been there a while it's not getting any better all he's doing is licking it all the time. Had him to the vets today and she was not sure what it was but she gave him some cream anyways so I decided to do some research and the only thing I can find that's close to what the sore looks like is acral lick dermatitis could this be it or is there anything else that it could be ?

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1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By David Darvishian

Veterinarian

Published on November 14th, 2017

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Charlie. Hard to say for sure what this is. An acral lick granuloma lesion is possible but I would also consider the following- bacterial infection, fungal infection, foreign body with resultant reaction, or even a tumor which could be benign or malignant. A cream without an Elizabethan collar to prevent licking, in my opinion, won't help this heal. I would wonder about using some good antibiotics, E collar, possibly steroids (prednisone), some topical treatment, among other things to get this to clear up. This will never heal if Charlie has access to it and continues to lick it. I would go back to your vet and get Charlie re-evaluated or go to another vet for a second opinion. Acral lick dermatitis/granulomas are very difficult to treat. Without aggressive therapy, these will not heal. Also, sometimes these have to be surgically removed to get them to heal completely. Good luck with Charlie. I hope he gets over this soon.

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