my 6 month old westie male is scheduled to have blood work in 2 - 3 weeks for allergy testing. we have changed his food, put him on a bland diet, given him benadryl and tried a prescription with a combo antihistamine and prednisone. (that gave him very loose bowels). i have noticed that he will be playing and suddenly drops onto his back and does everything in his power to get his back paws into his mouth, to bite them near his nails. when i give him benadryl, this subsides for a few hours. what has me wondering is that this evening, i noticed that his back paws were actually warm to the touch. at that point, he really hadn't been gnawing at them, i was near him and as soon as i saw him biting, i picked him up, gave him 1/2 tsp of benadryl and then held him for awhile. any thoughts on why his paws are getting so warm? i wash his bedding 1 x per week - hot water, dye free detergent, no fabric softener. i steam my floors clean, no detergents. he has been on rice, hamburger and yogurt for a couple of weeks. so it absoluteluy isn't his food. he comes from a champion line and there are no other siblings with allergies. i have to wait the few weeks for the blood work, so that he prednisone is completely out of his system. i feel sorry for the little guy! thanks for any input.