When Sampson first presented with what we thought was a lick granuloma, I couldn’t contain myself.
I googled lick granuloma. Among all the other information provided by Wikipedia the line that jumped out at me was Lick granuloma is a form of self-trauma.
The hair on my body stood on end, my heart dropped into my stomach and my mind screamed, my dog’s a cutter.
Then I thought, oh my God, my neurosis has worn off on the dog. I’ve made my dog nuts.
A small, sane portion of my head said, wait a minute. There have been no major changes in your life, no changes to their schedules, why would he lose his milk bones now?
I took a deep breath and decided that Wikipedia is not my friend and I did more research. I found out there can be underlying causes to make a dog lick, one of which is pain.
I had to face the reality that Sampson is eight years old and it is not out of the realm of possibility that he could have the beginnings of arthritis in his joints.
As you know, I did try treating him at home but that did not stop the licking so off he went to the vet where he was diagnosed with a soft tissue injury.
He has been on medication for the injury and he is definitely feeling better, but I learned a valuable lesson about diagnosing my dog and trying to treat him at home.
Note to self, my dog is smart, when he calls attention to an area of his body, it is my responsibility to make sure he gets the help he needs.
A dog this cool, is NOT a cutter.
What choo lookin’ at?
What types of things does your dog tell you? And do you read the signs or are you like me and kind of slow on the uptake?
P.S. I’ve been trying to listen to the gentle signs provided to me by the universe. Last night God screamed at me, Get off the computer and clean your house.
My laptop is on the fritz. So please bear with me if I’m slow in responding to your comments or not as active on your blogs. I’ll be doing my best to keep up, but I have to share Hubby’s computer with him. 🙂
I didn’t think my pal Sampson was off, and us dogs pick up on those things a lot faster than you peoples. Good lesson for all peoples to share.
Hmmm that is interesting about what Wikipedia said about lick granuloma, I have never heard that before and I’m skeptical about that also just as I am skeptical about Wikipedia because it is technically not considered a credible source because anyone can post on there and the information is not researched. Don’t get me wrong I have used them also but I usually take most of it with a grain of salt unless I can back it up with credible sources. I honestly believe there is something else going on such as allergies, bug bites, or as you found out about Sampson a soft tissue injury. Just my 2 cents on the whole thing.
I honestly just watch my dogs first unless I can see it is a situation they need immediate attention for.
I found this article that says it is peer reviewed thought it might interest you,
https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.prod.vetlearn.com/4f/c7ac40e38b11e090940050568d3693/file/CareGuide_LickGranuloma.pdf
By the way Sampson you are to cool 😉
Lookin’ good in those shades buddy!! 🙂
I hope you’re feeling better soon – my Mum watches me like a Hawk and whenever there’s a few things out of the norm I’m usually whisked off to see the vet – think she’s a little over protective though 🙂
Wags to all,
Your pal Snoopy 🙂
Ahhh, he is one cool looking pup in those shades (and I just did a post on Carter and his eye wear!) I am glad you and your vet figured out what is going and were able to help him.
By the way the name,email,website fields were already filled in! Could it be that my last comment was my first since you started self hosting and now the info is saved?? I know I have been neglect in my blog reading but that is shameful.
Sometimes its good to stay off the Internet! This post reminded me about the other day when I had a fever. I started looking things up on the Internet, and I was sure I was going to go blind and that I needed to go to the Emergency Room right away! My husband thought I was going nuts! Turns out I just had a flu bug – no need for me to panic! Cute photo of Sampson!
Sometimes its good to stay off the Internet! This post reminded me about the other day when I had a fever. I started looking things up on the Internet, and I was sure I was going to go blind and that I needed to go to the Emergency Room right away! There was a lot of panic in our area about the West Nile Virus at the time and I had a fading bug bite rash. My husband thought I was going nuts and told me to relax. I went to the doctor the next morning, and it turned out that I just had a flu bug – no need for me to panic!
Cute photo of Sampson!
God is telling me to clean my house too! Not ready to listen yet…
Misty once got a foxtail in her ear. She got my attention and pointed to the ear with her rear paw. I took her to the vet right away and she got it out before it could even cause an irritation.
Cali used to lick her back leg, but we could never find anything wrong. Our vet said it was similar to why kids suck their thumbs, she did it because it soothed her. Crazy dog! Sampson looks too cool for school 🙂
Gracie had a licking problem when she was about 5-6 months old. She was constantly licking her paws. I thought she had something in them but could never find anything wrong. I took her to the vet and he said there was nothing wrong with her. Said it might be an allergy, maybe something she was walking in. Never thought about it but where we walk a part of the sidewalk is always wet from a pond that overflows just enough to wet the grass and a 6 foot swatch of sidewalk. We always walked through it but when the doctor said it could be something she is walking in I started to walk her in the street around the wet sidewalk. Haven’t had a problem since.
We care for our babies so much, sometimes we jump to conclusions. I am very happy to hear that Sampson isn’t a cutter!
Don’t feel bad–I’ve done the same thing more often than I’ll admit and even been known to give medication a time or two. It drives my vet crazy but it’s part of what I do, and I’m even at a point with Sheba’s ears that I’ll have to admit defeat and take her in for the ‘right’ medication…oh well! 🙂
Some dogs can have neuroses like that (I guess some Dobermans will, and it’s genetic, I think, not “catchable”)
I’m glad that the vet was able to diagnose something far more concrete for you! Sampson is one cool pooch!
Yep, take wikipedia with a grain of salt. My preferred form is on the rim of a margarita. 🙂
It takes time to figure things out. Luckily you have a good vet who is able to give Sampson the help he needs to feel better.
A very cool dog, I do hope he is soon all recovered!!
Sorry to hear about your computer. That is a bummer!
Of course you didn’t make your dog neurotic. I always use licking as a signal that something is wrong. Licking or biting an area. The weird thing is that with Thunder’s crazy leg issues this summer, there was no licking which I kept watching for (like a hawk) to signal that something was amiss.
I like the cool Sampson picture. 🙂
I often use Wikipedia as a source of basic info, but I know that many of the information in there is highly unreliable, a guy a know adds info to articles, all lies, he does it for fun, nobody verifies it.
I don’t know how you managed to take that pic of Sampson, I tried all Sunday to get a pic of Doggy wearing sunglasses and it was impossible.
I do the same thing, related to myself and the dogs. Google is not my friend – it just reinforces my cyber-chondria!