Lewis

[fourofem]

His paw pads are paying dearly for his overnight excursion..three of his four are looking pretty rough. I picked up an antibiotic for him today and am keeping them clean w/ warm water and Neosporin. He's already on Tramadol for his osteo so hopefully, that's helping some with the pain. I haven't stepped that up; he's still on 100MG twice a day. He's not moving around too much but when he does, he's hobbling like a little old man. I know they just have to heal but is there anything else I can do to help him comfort-wise? I'm wondering if he might not also be a little sore from all that running on the road...I don't want to OD him but would an aspirin help or is the Tramadol/Meloxicam/Ceph enough? I've never dealt with paw pad problems before but I know when my feet hurt, I'm pretty miserable. On the bright side, he's eating like a pro, wagging his tail a little big and for the first time in his life, gave me a kiss today.

[Guest Greensleeves]

I'm sorry, but I missed the original post describing his injuries. Are his feet covered at all (socks, bandages)? I would think that might help tremendously--sometimes it's the air hitting an open wound that hurts a lot, and keeping them covered can help.

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

You have some room to increase the Tramadol. Alex was a big boy; 85 lbs., but he was up to 100 mg x4 of Tramadol in addition to Neurotin and Rimadyl for his osteo pain. Since it's paw pads, is there a topical pain killer you could use?

[ahicks51]

If you've not already, try bandaging the paws and covering with baby socks. Secure the top with a bit of tape near top of the sock, and then fold the edge down over it so they can't remove it.

 

And bed rest. Hopefully he'll stay off his feet as much as he can!

[Guest FullMetalFrank]

I was going to suggest baby socks, too. IIRC there is a Neosporin that has a topical pain killer (probably lidocaine) somethng you obviously wouldn't want him licking off, but if it were covered with the socks, maybe it would be OK? Just a thought. Poor pup, I really hope his feetsies heal up quickly and his pain management keeps on working.

[RobinM]

Polli was 51 lbs after her amp and for her surgery recovery, she was on 100mg tramadol every 4 hours for the 1st 5 days or so. You definitely have more room for tramadol.

 

Hope Lewis feels better soon.

Edited January 3, 2009 by RobinM

[Batmom]

Padded baby socks.

[CaliforniaGreys]

If you decide to use socks, instead of using tape to keep them on, you can get small velcro strips that will work, that way you don't have to use tape against his skin. I got my strips at Home Depot, they work great

[Beautybabe]

My daughter's Yogi blew all his pads on a romp through Holyoke MA when he got loose while being dropped off at his foster home. As far as I know, the foster mom--Lisa-- kept him calm and restricted his activity. I do recall some talk abut having to carry all 80 pounds of him up and down the stairs. Anyway, by the time he came to live with my daughter, his feet were fine.

 

I have some indoor booties made by Thera-paws that are padded and have velcro fasteners. I ordered these for Martin when he broke his toe. Unfortunately, I ordered medium and we really needed large. You might want to take a look at these on their website. They look quite comfy.

 

Good luck!!!!!

Edited January 3, 2009 by Beautybabe

[crazygang]

Keeping Lewis in our thoughts hope his poor little feet feel better soon.....

[PatricksMom]

With all those meds, please check with your vet before giving him asprin. I know it's okay with that dose of tramadol, but I don't know about the others.

 

My vet has recommended the people antibiotic with painkiller in it (OTC) for Patrick. I don't know if it really works, but might be worth a shot.

[fourofem]

He's still struggling a bit...he really didn't want to got out at all today. We tried this morning but with the guys here working on his ramp, he wouldn't have any part of it. I didn't want to stress him so I let him go back inside. He didn't go out at all today until about 3:00 this afternoon after everyone had left and had a five minute tinkle. He wasn't interested in moving out for a poop so I took him back inside. He ate a good dinner and finally decided it was time to head back out. He did really well....I thought he would walk down the ramp and poop right there but he walked about halfway to the back of the yard to do it. I wasn't sure how he would do with the ramp but he went right down and came right up like a champ....I was right beside him the whole time in case he faltered a little bit but no problems. I've just finished doctoring his pads, he has his socks back on and he's knocked out. I think we're safe until tomorrow morning. I kept his meds the same (I didn't do the aspirin)....I'll watch him tomorrow and if it looks like he needs another dose of Tramadol, I'll step him up. Thanks for all the good advice!!!

[RhodyGreys]

My vet gave me advice to use Preparation H on Ringo's pads when he took the skin off all four feet on his 1 mile escape run back in 2002. It worked wonders, as it is numbing and apparently has properties that help with granulation. Won't hurt him to lick a little but I did keep Ringo's feet covered in baby socks with a non-stick gauze pad in the bottom of the foot so that the goo wouldn't soak into the sock and dry up right away. Instead of tape or velcro, I used a narrow piece of vet wrap at the top of the sock to hold it in place.