My sister's Border collie (about 12) has started doing a kind of compulsive licking of a certain part of her body - it doesn't seem to originate from any kind of wound at all, although it's possible that it starts from a bug bite or something small enough that we can't see it. But then she takes it to a whole new level and licks the area until it is completely without fur - a small area. She had done it to a spot on her leg last summer, but let that alone, finally. Now over the past few weeks she's started doing it to her opposite paw, as you can see in the picture with the green circle.
It doesn't appear to have any broken skin and the reddish color you see on her fur is probably just her saliva or something. It looks ugly, but it is only what is beneath the fur.
Do you think this is a health thing or a behavioural thing? We haven't changed much other than moving - but that happened between the two incidents. She takes arthritis meds but that has been at least a year.
Has anyone dealt with anything similar? Any help and/or advice is appreciated, TIA!
