Another Bag Balm question!

[inkling]

My little buddy still has persistently dry-looking back feet. Long story short, I think this extreme northeast winter did both of us in skin-wise, and his back feet just haven't really recovered (and neither have my cheeks, if you ask me). They look chapped and sometimes if he's torn up a toy recently, walks around on the chips, etc., they'll look a little worse. Sometimes they look red, sometimes they don't look so bad.

In any case, I'm ordering some Bag Balm!

My concern, however, is how to apply the stuff on his little feet?

He loves to hop around on me, let's me nuzzle his fur, but he is really rather against being held (especially after I had to give him eye drops in the winter, he just assumes any time I go to grab for him, he's going to have to get eye drops again).

What's the usual way people go about applying this and is there any way to do this without having to hold him too much? He doesn't mind having his tail held near the base -- I do that nowadays to keep him from getting into trouble when I have to. Any sort of grabbing and holding, though, gets him all anxious and huffy.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

You can burrito wrap him in a towel, leaving his feet exposed so you can apply the bag balm.
or even have someone else help, if you can, so it goes a bit fast and he doesn't get as anxious and huffy.

 

[Shenanigans]

I would also add that it'd be a good idea to start holding him for no reason at all (maybe wait until this bout of skin stuff is done to avoid stress) so he doesn't avoid it as much in the future. Reward with an apple twig or something so he gets a positive reinforcement

 

[seachin]

Do they have a Target store near you? They sell Bag Balm there.

 

[Airyn]

I have two that loathe being held, one of whom has really bad feet in the winter. I just grab him, put his back to my chest, apply the Bag Balm with my other hand, and let him go. Give him a treat afterwards so that he knows something good is coming at the end. It's stressful at first. He'll probably squeak and squirm, which will definitely break your heart, but it's only a 30 second process. He'll adjust. Also, if you have him on bedding, you may want to consider switching to fleece, as it doesn't dry their feet out as quickly. Good luck!

 

[inkling]

I ordered my Bag Balm from Amazon and have been applying it to his feet about every other day. After the first two times, he picked up on when I'd be going to grab him and apply it. He makes little yips and clicks at me when I try to, twitches, gets very agitated.

When I get him, I try to wrap him and hold his back to me, but he'll then kick at me with his back legs. This often causes the wrap to come off, get his bag balmed feet in his fur -- spreading the bag balm and getting fur attached to his feet -- and it's just a giant mess. He kicks and kicks and if he doesn't get me, he gets himself.

He goes right back to running on his saucer after, although he's hesitant to accept a treat of any kind from me right away.

I'm really rather distraught over it because I can't seem to get him to calm down while I do it, and he just makes it worse by getting it in his fur. His feet started to look better from it, too, but his heels are still a bit red again and the toes look a little flaky sometimes. He just won't cooperate.

 

[becky12883]

Have you tried just using Blu-Kote?