LGD: licking skin raw

Hello Vets We have a LGD (great Pyrenees/Anatolian Shepherd) on our farm. She began licking her left side hip 6 weeks ago and it was pink raw. We treated at home with blu-kote an antiseptic protective wound dressing and Manna Pro Corona Multi-Purpose Wound Care Ointment. We coned her for these last 6 weeks until it was healed and her fur was growing back. Then last week again she’s licking again and now it’s both sides. She’s on flea treatment and doesn’t have any fleas, mites, ticks that we can tell. No idea why she’s licking. We have to go get a new cone because she destroyed the last one while working. Any help is appreciated!

Hello - it sounds as though you have tried hard to help that wound to heal.  However, without identifying the underlying reason for the self-mutilation, it is hard to put steps into place to stop it from recurring.  If it happens to be fleas or other parasites (and the antiparasite treatment you've used is comprehensive enough to treat them - your vet would advise) then that might be sufficient.  However, other possibilities could include allergies to something in the environment, or abdominal, back or pelvic pain.  Sometimes dogs lick this site if they can't reach to lick their anal area or hindlimbs, also.  Therefore a veterinary examination sounds to be a good idea.  Your vet should have a list of possible diagnoses (the 'differentials list') in their head, and seek to discriminate between the possibities with tests or trial treatments.  This can take a few visits.  Wishing you luck with this case.

Ps it is very common for owners to say 'I don't think my pet is in pain.'  Signs of pain in animals are not always as common as we think they are; pain, especially when compounded by skin damage, can be a complex thing to rule out.  Furthermore, a lack of sensation to the skin can also lead to excessive biting; I hope that your vet can put into place a plan to find the appropriate cause in this case.

I think you should take your dog to the vet for a more thorough examination. There may be a skin problem that you haven’t noticed, like a fungus or infection. The vet will help you figure out the exact cause and come up with a treatment plan.