Update on Maddie’s Itchy Paws & the Peanut Butter Coconut Oil Dog Treats

Several weeks ago, I started giving Maddie a homemade, grain-free, peanut butter coconut oil dog treat every day.  Coconut oil has tons of health benefits, including soothing skin irritations, and I had hoped that the treats would help her itchy paws.  Unfortunately, she was still biting at them, and her paws even seemed to be getting worse.

A Trip to the Vet

This morning, I took Maddie for her yearly check-up, so I told the doctor about her itchy paws.  I explained that I had tried coconut oil as a natural remedy.  I also told him that we know Maddie has allergies, but we try not to give medicine unnecessarily.  At this point, I realized that meds might be our only option, though.

The doctor took a sample from each of Maddie’s paws and ran a quick test that showed she has a bacterial infection.  Because of this, our poor baby had to get two shots—one vaccine and one antibiotic.  She was not very happy about that!  If she keeps gnawing at her paws once the infection clears up, we’ll have to do allergy shots as well.

How I’m feeling about Maddie’s itchy paws

Although this is nothing major or life-threatening, I feel badly that I allowed Maddie’s paws to bother her for so many weeks.  So, why didn’t I just take her to the vet in the first place?  Well, after my hubby and I went through infertility treatments, we decided to try to use natural remedies as much as possible.  I had been pumped full of hormones, including Lupron after my endometriosis surgery.  In effect, I went into menopause for six months.  I’ll tell you what, no one should have to preview menopause!  So, we try to use herbal, organic, non-western techniques when possible.

But we still believe there is a place for medication, so long as it is absolutely necessary.  And a bacterial infection means antibiotics are most definitely necessary.  So, I’m glad that I needed to take Maddie for a yearly vaccine because it made me look a little deeper at what was going on with her itchy paws.

The Peanut Butter Coconut Oil Dog Treats

I’ll keep giving her the peanut butter coconut oil dog treats.  Like I said, coconut oil has a ton of health benefits for dogs and Maddie loves peanut butter (xylitol-free, of course)!  But this dog mom wants to remind you (and herself) that sometimes, we need to seek the help of experts.  I certainly don’t want to search home remedies on the internet so much that I don’t get my fur baby the real help she needs!

I’ll keep you posted on Maddie’s itchy paws….  Hopefully, they’ll be fully healed soon!

Update on the Update…

It took me two years to figure out how to truly alleviate Maddie’s itchiness.  Click here to find out how we did it!

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Photo Credit:  Elizabeth Studios