2960. An adopted 6-month-old poodle licks his front paws obsessively till they are wet

Tue Jun 21, 2016

"Is it normal for my poodle to lick his front paws till they are wet?" the young lady in her late 20s asked me over the phone yesterday and now she was present at Toa Payoh Vets. "He also licks the floor too!" This poodle was adopted 2 weeks ago.

"Was he licking his front paws when you adopted him?" I asked.
"Yes," she said. "But not as frequently as the past few days. Till the front paws are wet with saliva!"

This poodle was extremely hyperactive and would not stay still. What was the cause of this abnormal behaviour and how to resolve it?  Is there a cure?

Was the poodle suffering from some itchiness in his front paws directly or indirectly? He had the following conditions:

1. Left and right upper canine teeth had not dropped off and stuck behind the fully erupted permanent ones.
2. Thick tufts of ear hairs with ear wax clogging the ear canals. Would he get painful and irritated and try to relieve his pain?

3. Swollen anal sacs which shot out dark yellowish brown anal sac oil with some smell.
4. Thick hairy paws with no signs of bleeding or inflammation after clipping away the hairs.

Under Zoletil 100 IV sedation at 0.2 ml, the puppy canines were extracted, the thick ear hairs plucked and ear canal irrigated and 4 paws clipped.

What other possible causes of his behaviour such as licking the floor?
I had no clue.
"Is the dog toilet-trained?" I asked, since he was 6 months old.
"No," the lady said. "Sometimes he did pee on the newspapers. At other times, he forgot."
"Did you confine him to a cage or small area?"
"No, no," the lady said. "My family members would not permit it."

So, this dog peed and pooped everywhere in the whole apartment. Could it be possible that he was trying to clean his paws after stepping on urine present all over the apartment? I suggested confinement for the next 4 weeks.

This is a strange case. If only poodles can talk.

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