Corn Removal

[Guest MnMDogs]

Mork has been a long time corn sufferer. He's had one on his left front paw since I got him (about 3 and a half years ago). He's also missing a toe on that paw, and has arthritis/tendonitis in that shoulder, so it took me a while to find it. Within 6 months or so, I found a new one on his right front paw. He wore TheraPaws on the front for many months which helped on our walks.

 

I decided that I would try surgical removal for them. It was stressful on all of us, and didn't work. They were back in less than a year. So I managed them with TheraPaws, tried duct tape, filing, etc to no avail. Our vet in MA was hesitant to hull, but when I took him in for a dental the end of june, there was a new associate there who hulled them cleanly while he was under. He had immediate relief with no pain.

 

Fast forward to this month. We just moved to CA, and the poor big guy developed a NEW corn on his right back paw. This renders him almost completely lame on hard surfaces since his left back paw has torn tendons that cause him some pain. Again, we've tried dremeling, freezing, duct tape, soaking in epsom salt and picking out. Even tried Lysine as suggested by another GTer. Nothing is working, and he now walks with 4 TheraPaws. But this doesn't help him in the house since he will not wear them inside.

 

We found a vet who would try to hull them, and took him in yesterday. We brought the Grassmere document, and stressed NO anesthesia, and only mild sedatives if needed. Mork is a big big big baby, and he's a screamer. She had never done this before, btw, and we are thankful that she would try.

 

Well, the vet called Ryan and let him know she finished, and the corns were gone. One was very deep and there was some bleeding and he would be given antibiotics. She also said he screamed and howled so they did sedate him, and also had to give him some lidocaine in his feet ??!! I've had lidocaine injections, and I remember they hurt like he!!. He now has bandages and TheraPaws on his 3 sore feet, and he seems very tender. If he is corn free for several months, I think it will be worth it. But I hate having put him through this.

 

I know this is a novel, but I wanted to give background on where we've been with his poor feet, and ask what would you do in the future.

 

I do not think he should be in this much pain, and bandaged. I know some of you have written that there is some tenderness after removal. So is that normal? Does it just seem worse because he has 3 done at the same time? What would those of you with corn dogs do in the future in this situation. I'm going to continue with the lysine, and try to keep abreva on the holes once I take off his bandages. Anything else????

[Guest MomofSweetPotatoes]

Gus had one hulled and it was really really deep. The vet said, that she knew it would be painful as it went through several layers of his pad. At the time he was not in pain. However, that afternoon he could barely hobble. We ended up with a fentanyl patch for 72hours. It was the only thing that would relieve his pain, because he too has corns (4) on 2 feet. Just having to use the other foot more was too painful for him and rimadyl wasn't enough and it wasn't an option to increase it.

Some may think the patch was too much, but it was just what he needed to ease his pain and give him comfort for the next 72 hours.

Edited October 19, 2007 by MomofSweetPotatoes

[Guest MnMDogs]

Gus had one hulled and it was really really deep. The vet said, that she knew it would be painful as it went through several layers of his pad. At the time he was not in pain. However, that afternoon he could barely hobble. We ended up with a fentanyl patch for 72hours. It was the only thing that would relieve his pain, because he too has corns (4) on 2 feet. Just having to use the other foot more was too painful for him and rimadyl wasn't enough and it wasn't an option to increase it.

Some may think the patch was too much, but it was just what he needed to ease his pain and give him comfort for the next 72 hours.

 

Thank you She didn't mention giving him anything for pain. But I have Rimadyl, so I'm going to try that. There are days I just want to cry when I see how these corns can hobble these dogs.

 

[Guest Tenderhearts]

I have no personal experience with corns in any of my dogs, but wanted to send healing thoughts and kisses to Mr. Mork! :hope

[Batmom]

Hope your boy is feeling better soon.

 

Our experience:

 

Zema has corns. After having them hulled every 3 weeks for several months, last January she was in for a dental. Vet hulled them and then ran the laser over the hulled surface while she was under. NO CORNS for 9.5 MONTHS!!!! They JUST came back a couple weeks ago, weren't bothering her yet but hulled them last week.

 

She had some tenderness once after hulling but could be because she had a huge callus built up around the corn and the vet trimmed that back. Otherwise, seems to be instant relief for her.

 

For normal hulling, we don't put her under (did the first time 'cause vet wanted the option of exploring further and 'cause Zema is difficult). I hold her against the wall, vet grabs her little foot and goes to work, usually takes 3 minutes tops. He tried a little topical anaesthetic (not injected) a time or two but it seemed not necessary or useful; now he just cleans the pad first, in case of any bleeding.

 

Zema does very well with general anaesthesia so if/when the corns start bothering her again, I may go ahead and have the vet repeat the laser procedure and do a dental, even if she doesn't need one yet. Dental here is only @ $225 (with required bloodwork) and those 9 months of relief were well worth it. Don't know what I'd do if she didn't handle anaesthesia well.

[ZoomDoggy]

The one time Marla had her corns hulled, they were very deep also. Two on one toe pad, poor girlie. It did bleed, and oozed blood for three days afterward, if she walked on concrete without her Therapaw boot. I hadn't expected the hulling to hurt her so much. And she limped worse than before the hulling for over a week. I can't say how long the hulling lasted, since it only happened three or four weeks ago, and she passed away on Monday.

[grey14me]

I was under the impression (from Dr. Feeman's article, I think) that there should be no bleeding for hulling, and the dog should not have to be put under and should pretty much have some instant relief...I wonder, since this is the first time your vet did it, that she maybe went a little too far?

 

this article

[turbotaina]

I was under the impression (from Dr. Feeman's article, I think) that there should be no bleeding for hulling, and the dog should not have to be put under and should pretty much have some instant relief...I wonder, since this is the first time your vet did it, that she maybe went a little too far?

 

this article

 

 

Yes, that's correct. If there is bleeding, the vet doing the hulling has gone too deep. FWIW, Turbo doesn't get much relief from hulling, the improvement is only very slight. His corn actually fell out by itself a few weeks ago, and he had 2 weeks of no boot/no tramadol. It was just this past week that he had to go back to the boot again, but he's otherwise OK. If he starts limping in the boot, I add tramadol and it usually does the trick. If he's limping with boot AND tramadol, it's time to go to the vet. And he has a ridiculously small corn.

 

As far as aftercare, I think the consensus is too keep the pad as soft as possible with applications of abreva, aldara, etc. I have some sort of "native rub" I picked up at a powwow made of bee's wax, sage, some other herbs and olive oil. It softens very nicely. The tradeoff there, though, is that it becomes fairly easy to rip the pad (Turbo did a lure cousing demo at our picnic, on grass, and tore off a small bit of his pad).

Edited October 19, 2007 by turbotaina

[Guest MnMDogs]

Thanks everyone, and I'm so sorry about Marla She reminds me a little of our little black sweetie, Mara.

 

I hope I didn't just cause him more pain and discomfort, and that there is some relief for him. If only on the new corn on the back. It's amazing how much that new one has effected his ability to get around without the booties.

 

So, Turbotaina, you actually use tramadol to manage the pain from the corns?

[turbotaina]

So, Turbotaina, you actually use tramadol to manage the pain from the corns?

 

Yup. NSAIDs won't work because there's no inflamation. Tramadol is an atypical opioid that blocks pain receptors, and, in addition, is generally well tolerated by most dogs and can be used long term with no complications (it's not hard on the liver like NSAIDs are). It is a weak drug, however, and doesn't work for all dogs. We use a low dose (50mg) usually once a day (his main walk is in the morning) and that seems to suffice. His corn toe does, occasionally, get so tender that the tramadol can't even touch it, but those times are rare (and usually ill-timed - he got super lame at Expo this year ), but usually with a hulling we get back on track.

[Burpdog]

There should be no blood when hulled properly.

 

Laser is the best way to go! Wish I had someone here....