e collar?

[MPbandmom]

We have taken Sirius to the vet. We have been given an antiobiotic/steroid spray to put on the foot /leg with the open sore 2 times a day. We have been told to give her benedryl 2 to 3 times a day which so far we have given to her twice a day. The vet couldn't find anything wrong with the one leg/paw and said the coloration on the fur was just saliava staining. Yet I know the last time I gave her a bath and water hit that part of her leg it was obviously painful, so there must be something going on under the fur even though nothing can be seen.

We still have her licking her paws/legs and them looking wet and bloody at least once a day and her getting very attitudinal when anybody tries to handle or do anything with either leg. She just gave my son a very unfriendly toothy grin when he was trying to look at them. She snapped at my husband when he put the spray on her feet. So far I have gotten away with things by putting my arm across her head and neck and then spraying.

I think I am going to increase the benedryl to 3 times a day, but she just licks the spray off as quickly as we put it on. I am starting to think the only way to get her to stop licking the feet is to get an e collar and put on her. I'm really not crazy about the "lampshade" style collars. I know they now have collars out that just go around the neck and stick out there in a manner that is supposed to prevent licking. Does anybody have any experience with those and do they work? Would they be sufficient to stop a dog from licking their front paws?

If the benadryl doesn't seem to help, can we assume the licking isn't caused by allergies? How do we figure out what is causing the licking to be able to remove the trigger?

[Erica]

I don't know if the intertube-like collars could stop a dog licking their front paws, but I have no experience with them. Have you tried putting an old sock on her foot, or another covering like that? I know most dogs don't like stuff on their paws, but it might be preferable to the e-collar.

[Sarah83]

No, they're not sufficient to stop a dog licking their front paws. Or at least the inflatable one I have for Rupert isn't. Works fine to stop him getting at hotspots on his back legs but when he had a nail removed on his front paw he could easily lick at it while wearing the collar.
http://www.comfycollars.co.uk/ is the one I have.

The problem I've found with keeping injuries from licking covered is that they don't seem to dry up and heal. I usually end up compromising and covering it when I go out and leaving it uncovered at other times. There's also the problem of the dog keeping the bandage on instead of just removing it.

[MPbandmom]

Thank you for the replies. I have debated covering it with something and ruled that out as not allowing air to get to the wound and as simply transferring the licking to another location. Every animal I have ever had that ended up with some sort of bandage on their legs spent a great deal of time licking at it until they got it off.

I went online looking for e collars, with the inflatable one ruled out as being able to stop her from licking her front paws, and came across a soft e-collar in the more traditional lampshade style. As an added bonus it was on sale for less than the traditional plastic ones. We will see if she figures out how to fold it back and how well she tolerates wearing it.