Injured Paw

[Guest krisandzoo]

I have a little 13yo yorkie mix who wasn't properly socialized as a pup. Due to this we are vey careful to keep her distanced from the others at feeding time, toy time etc simply because she could be right in their face, they'd be giving her "get lost" signs and she won't recognize them. (Not that we allow guarding but we don't allow snatches here either....)

So the other night she jumped into bed with my whippet mix when they all had chews and he nipped her ear. She bled soooo much but we got it stopped and cleaned out - thankfully its healing well. When this happened her paw was covered in blood but looking at it it seemed ok. Her ear bleed all over my lap so I thought it was from her standing in her own blood.

Last night she started gimping and not putting weight on her paw. Inspecting it again one of her little nails are crooked and it looks like there's a scab. Maybe it had clotted before I inspected it and just started hurting...? The best I can come up with is she caught it on the rug when our mix nipped her. Or maybe later? There's no blood anywhere in our house so I don't think it happened after the conflict.

I have a vet appointment for her for Monday - sadly with my work schedule and my vets hours that is the easliest I can get her in. If it gets worse we will see our E-vet, but I've certainly spent way more $ than needed there by being paranoid. I'm trying to find the balance.....

 

Any tips on what I should do to make her comfortable? She doesn't seem to be in pain while sitting around, but I do worry she is just hiding it. I could get her some doggy aspirin if that would help. The paw looks pretty clean but is tender - I worry washing it out more than needed would cause undue pain. Maybe I should use a neosporin like product with a light numbing agent to keep it clean? Also she has kidney disease. Does anyone know if doggy pain killers are unacceptable for her? I always fear doing anything without my vets ok simply because I don't want to cause more harm.

Thanks so much for any advice!

[Burpdog]

With kidney disease, no NSAIDs and that includes aspirin.

 

I'd just keep it clean--running plain tepid water over it would be fine.

 

Unless you see any change of course like the paw swelling, she should be ok until Monday morning.

 

I'm one of the few but with this kind of injury I let them be--that way she won't overdo it

[Guest krisandzoo]

With kidney disease, no NSAIDs and that includes aspirin.

 

I'd just keep it clean--running plain tepid water over it would be fine.

 

Unless you see any change of course like the paw swelling, she should be ok until Monday morning.

 

I'm one of the few but with this kind of injury I let them be--that way she won't overdo it

That had crossed my mind a teesny bit - she gets around great for an old girl and was trying to explore last night - pathetic gimp and all. I ended up carrying her around all night just to keep her from walking too much.

 

[Guest shelbygirl07]

dogs can't fake being in pain. I've had dogs rip toe nails out due to rugs and wooden slats on our old porch. The nail will fall out on it's own and grow back so don't worry about it. It will be uncomfortable for a few days and she will be back to normal. It will take months for the nail to regrow itself so don't be alarmed if the nail falls off and she is bare in the spot for up to 6 months.

 

Don't use neosporin on a dog in an area where they can reach and lick it off. If you have to, vet wrap or gauze the foot to keep her from nawing or licking it. It will also keep it clean. The only problem with that is it can put added pressure on the foot when the dog is standing or walking. So it's a catch 22. Just clean it off with some peroxide a couple times a day and let it be until monday..

 

Hope your pupper feels better!