• Disclaimer: Hello Guest, Doberman Chat Forums presents the opinions and material on these pages as a service to its membership and to the general public but does not endorse those materials, nor does it guarantee the accuracy of any opinions or information contained therein. The opinions expressed in the materials are strictly the opinion of the writer and do not represent the opinion of, nor are they endorsed by, Doberman Chat Forums. Health and medical articles are intended as an aid to those seeking health information and are not intended to replace the informed opinion of a qualified Veterinarian.”

What cured AJ's licking granuloma after 18 months

obbanner

Hot Topics Subscriber
I know licking granulomas can be persistent problems and it seems each incident has it's own cure. I thought I'd share how I finally got rid of AJ's after a year and a half.

AJ was bunny hopping from an unknown cause in March, 2019. It went away after he was isolated from the other dogs and kept quiet. However, he developed licking granulomas out of boredom. I tried the usual things - bitter sprays, cones, bandages - to no avail. In fact, the cone made them worse because he'd rub the edge of the cone on the granulomas and they'd be bloody in the morning when I let him out of his cage.

The ones on his left leg responded to Vetalog injections and Tresaderm. The one on his right leg then got his full attention and he greatly enlarged it. In August, 2019, his custom made Bumas muzzle arrived and it stabilized, but it didn't heal. Whenever he got a chance, he'd rip off the bandages and start licking it. Even when training, if I didn't watch him for a few seconds, he'd start licking his leg.

I finally got results after July, 2020. He got another shot of Vetalog and a prescription for Gabapentin. A week or so later, I was at the sheep farm and was talking with the farmer about my frustrations with AJ. He gave me a package of dermal dressing he uses for sheep. Those dressings are also used for humans with bedsore ulcers. Every day I'd change the dressing by washing the granuloma with witch hazel, let it dry, put on a dressing and wrap it with 2" Vetwrap. AJ initially would pull the dressing off if it stuck out from under the bandage, but soon left it alone. He quickly got to the point he wouldn't chew off the bandage and I started trusting him without the muzzle when I couldn't always watch him.

Below are comparison photos. The top is sometime in July and below it is a few days ago. This is the difference in about two and a half months.

The downside is the Gabapentin affected AJ. I didn't notice any change in Obedience. But he stopped qualifying in Barn Hunt and in early September, walked over rats in a trial without noticing them. Driving home, I was thinking about what changed him from an aggressive ratter to being so passive. I realized it was the Gabapentin, so I took him off it immediately. It did it's job for two months, though, and gave him a chance to heal.

RS_20200614_152430 Licking Granuloma - raw.jpg

RS_20200919_121424 Licking Granuloma.jpg

RS_20200919_133710 Medical Supplies.jpg
 
Wow, what a difference! Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm sure this will be helpful for a lot of people! I'm glad AJ is doing better!:thumbsup:
 
That’s amazing! I can’t get over the difference, Wow!!! There must be something in the pads to speed up the recovery.

Thanks for sharing your experience, @obbanner! It could come in very handy in the future.
 
Good info.

That dermal dressing stayed attached to his hair?
I was wondering about that too but I bet the vet wrap helped.

That kind of dressing is really cool. When my husband was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma, there was another suspicious mole that they took off. It was a larger incision and I wondered how in the world it would heal because the skin was kind of folded over the missing part. Kind of like if you have a hole in a piece of material and you're trying to sew the edges together. It's not smooth. But they had that kind of dressing over it and it healed so nicely! Just recently I had a cut on my finger under the knuckle, right where the joint bends. It was actually looking red like it was getting infected. I put one of these kind of bandages on it.

16016399346764675772654002138604.jpg
Similar to the dermal dressing. Like two days it was healed! And it stayed on fairly well in all the hand washing and bending of the fingers. So this kind of dressing is a winner for me! I'll remember it for my dog too! ;)
 
Good info.

That dermal dressing stayed attached to his hair?

Yes. It's sticky. Hair didn't start growing immediately. First the raw was healed as black skin started growing, then hair started. The skin was initially very thin and it actually tore on it's own when I was training AJ without the bandage on. I know he didn't lick it open because my trainer and I were both watching him.

I was reading the reviews on Amazon and it's intended to be left on for days. It's applied to the raw sore. I didn't mention that the pads are in two parts - half are sticky and half aren't. I cut out AJ's patches using only the sticky half of the pad.

It was always covered with a lot of Vetwrap. I had an incident where I had to stop working after I cut off the Vetwrap and before I removed the pad because of a phone call. I watched him closely and he didn't try to remove the pad himself or lick it.
 
Awesome to know.
Thanks.

I am dealing with another paw pad abrasion. It’s so difficult to find a bandage to stay securely on that area.
 
Wow, what a great discovery for these pads. Sometimes it really pays off when we talk to enough people about a problem :thumbsup2: I always wondered if lick granulomas would just last forever, like a scar, and now we know that's not true! What a relief it must be, especially if AJ was so fixated by it. The fur regrowth looks pretty impressive - I didn't expect that after seeing the bloody pic. In another month or two, it may even disappear. Thanks for sharing the happy news!
 
Awesome to know.
Thanks.

I am dealing with another paw pad abrasion. It’s so difficult to find a bandage to stay securely on that area.

The sticky is like the yellow Postit notes, enough to stay on barely. I think part of the reason it worked because it stuck enough it didn't move the way a gauze pad would shift, therefore it wasn't an irritation. If you use the ones I used, it needs a bandage to secure it.

This is the Wikipedia definition of hydrocolloid dressings. "A hydrocolloid dressing is an opaque or transparent dressing for wounds. A hydrocolloid dressing is biodegradeable, breathable, and adheres to the skin, so no separate taping is needed." Since we're dealing with a dog, separate taping is definitely needed!
 
Ugh, so glad you finally got it sorted out. How frustrating that must've been! Glad to hear he's back to himself and off that injection. Does he leave the area alone now that it's gone?
 
Ugh, so glad you finally got it sorted out. How frustrating that must've been! Glad to hear he's back to himself and off that injection. Does he leave the area alone now that it's gone?

Yes, he doesn't go near it. After 18 months, I can hear a licking sound across the house. When he licks, it's never his granuloma. Fingers crossed that he continues to leave it alone!
 
That definitely looked like a nasty wound. I am also surprised to see the hair grown in. I would have assumed just a big scar would be there from all the licking and length of time it needed to heal.

I definitely would have been frustrated if Jasper had a licking issue. Even right now he has a tiny raw spot about the size of a pencil eraser after sliding on hard dirt. He can be pretty persistent about licking. Thankfully it is healing fine but not without me yelling at him lol.
 
Well!! I thought of this thread when I had blood throughout my floor! :shock: I saw it once before but not as much and could not find anything on Buddy. I knew it was from him and not Kali. But after careful examination I couldn't find where it was coming from. :scratch:

Yesterday I came in from outside and it was all over the carpet and kitchen floor! Time to get on my hands and knees with a flashlight! :ninja: It was just a little spot on the side of his foot. I know he's been licking because I'm constantly saying, no licking! But I didn't notice that it was the same spot.

Well, I got out all my tools which included those Band-Aids I mentioned earlier. I figured they're probably almost like the ones that you used @obbanner and then of course, a little vet wrap around that. :nurse: It wasn't long after I was done that we went outside. When I looked at his bandage, it was no longer White. LOL. So I had to wrap it again. I thought for sure when I took the vet wrap off, the bandage would be off too. But it was still on! I quickly wrapped it again and this morning it's still on. Surprisingly, I have not seen him fool with it at all. I'm hoping it heals quickly.

20201008_130233.jpg

20201008_130244.jpg
 
I thought for sure when I took the vet wrap off, the bandage would be off too. But it was still on! I quickly wrapped it again and this morning it's still on. Surprisingly, I have not seen him fool with it at all. I'm hoping it heals quickly.
Looks like a great wrap job! Always scary to see blood and somehow you just knew it had to be the Doberman. Hopefully it heals up quick!
 

Back
Top