Corn Surgery

[Guest Steph]

Hi,

I live in Western Australia, and no vets here seem to know about greyhound corns and how badly they affect our hounds. I read somewhere on the internet about the duct tape solution, can anyone tell me what exactly I need to do??? My lovely Paddy (Race Name "Latchico", = corner boy) had develped these on 3 feet and it doesn't seem that any local vets know what to do!

Steph

[sweetdogs]

Welcome!

 

Sorry about your boy's corns. They are evil little buggers. The idea behind the duct tape is to smother the corn. So you want to get a piece of tape that covers just the corn & not the rest of the pad. If it works, the corn will pop out with the tape. You can keep reapplying until that happens.

 

Here's a great linky on corns. You can share that with your vet so they can learn all about them.

[rascalsmom]

I've tried everything for Jack's corns...or it seems like it. He has one on each front foot and one on a back foot.

 

I've had them hulled by the vet four times (since this past June); I used the Murray Ave. cream--didn't work. I am currently using duct tape. I cut a circle just a hair bigger than the corn, and keep it on all the time. You have to keep checking it, at least daily, because sometimes they do come off. I've found Jack loses the one on the back foot a lot more frequently than those on the front.

 

I change them every other day or so, and can occasionally "peel" off a layer when I change the tape. It required some digging-I use my fingernail-and sometimes a little pair of scissors. The scissors aid in cutting the corn off, once you get the edges loosened.

 

I also recently got some bee propolis, and am starting to use that.

 

Corns are SOOOOO frustrating. My poor guy is only 5 and it's painful to watch him walk across the tile floor--even though I've got rugs throughout for him.

[Guest BlueCrab]

I'm going to back up the duct tape users again. I had tried everything else short of surgery, and one step away from surgery tried duct tape as a last chance.

 

Please, please, please, everyone try duct tape just one time before turning to surgery. It can't cost you anywhere near the money you'd pay for surgery or even hulling. It's cheap, it's something you probably have around your house or, worst case, can run to a hardware store or grocery store to pick up.

 

Every time I've tried duct tape on Trixie's corns it's taken care of them within one to three weeks. It really does work and it's so much less invasive - and cheaper - than surgery.

 

Really, it can't hurt to try it. Worst case you can say you've tried it and if it didn't work THEN you spend the money on surgery.

[Guest jettcricket]

Hope your experience goes more smoothly than mine. Rex had them surgically taken off of 3 paws and it was not a good experience. He was in pain despite the fenatal (sp?) patch. I had to lift his 90# off the stoop for quite a while for every potty break as he could jump and the spray to toughen his pads back up stung like hell. Then they came back and I just used duct tape.

 

I know that is not what you want to hear, but I would never do that again.

Ditto...I'm petsitting a friend's greyhound and he had surgery last year...she spent almost a grand. And they came back...she's using duct tape as well.

[rascalsmom]

I'm going to back up the duct tape users again. I had tried everything else short of surgery, and one step away from surgery tried duct tape as a last chance.

 

Please, please, please, everyone try duct tape just one time before turning to surgery. It can't cost you anywhere near the money you'd pay for surgery or even hulling. It's cheap, it's something you probably have around your house or, worst case, can run to a hardware store or grocery store to pick up.

 

Every time I've tried duct tape on Trixie's corns it's taken care of them within one to three weeks. It really does work and it's so much less invasive - and cheaper - than surgery.

 

Really, it can't hurt to try it. Worst case you can say you've tried it and if it didn't work THEN you spend the money on surgery.

DId the tape cause your dog's corns to NOT come back? Or is it more of a mangement tool? It is helping me get Jack's out, but they always come back.

[Guest BlueCrab]

DId the tape cause your dog's corns to NOT come back? Or is it more of a mangement tool? It is helping me get Jack's out, but they always come back.

 

Definitely a management tool - not claiming to be a cure by any means. But I'm not sure there really is a cure?

 

When Trixie starts to show a slight limp, I inspect the pads, find what so far has turned out to be a corn starting, and start with duct tape application. We've been lucky - with her horrible, painful right front corn, it took about 3 weeks from start of application to very, very noticable improvement. Corn was completely out in about 5 weeks total and the right front has not come back. Treatment was in September. I started treating a left front corn oh, maybe 4 weeks ago? It was a huge lumpy one, although she didn't seem gimpy on it until it was quite far along (bad me for not catching it earlier). I started treatment at first sign of a slight limp, and that one came out within days, with complete disappearance in about 2 weeks.

 

We went thru about 4 - 6 months of bad limping leading up to the September breakthrough. I tried hulling, dremmeling, nightly soaks in epson salts followed by kerasolv and x-rays. Vet decided there had to be a foreign body so she wanted to operate. I got grossed out at the thought, read - once again - about duct tape and said "what the hell - it's cheap and I've got nothing to lose". Voila it worked.

 

I've just read so many horror stories about surgery on pads that seems to be extremely painful, costly and ends up with such a long recovery. And then the corns return. I just thought I couldn't stand the thought of slicing her pad open and had to find something less painful. We may be extremely, extremely lucky, but I've read enough other success stories to think there has to be something to the duct tape cure that's worth trying.

[diglesias0625]

My grey had a corn remove more than 6 months ago and just lately I am noticing he starting to limp on that leg again as though his corn is coming back. What is your opinion on the new surgery that everyone is doing with the toe and if anyone knows of a vet that has done that surgery in south florida on their grey. I am thinking I may have to go that way next if their are success stories. 

[HeyRunDog]

1 hour ago, diglesias0625 said:

My grey had a corn remove more than 6 months ago and just lately I am noticing he starting to limp on that leg again as though his corn is coming back. What is your opinion on the new surgery that everyone is doing with the toe and if anyone knows of a vet that has done that surgery in south florida on their grey. I am thinking I may have to go that way next if their are success stories. 

Is that the surgery where the tendon to the toe is cut so it relieves the pressure on that toe? My worry is that it then puts added pressure on the remaining toes and what happens when they get corns?

Grace is suffering with corns at the moment so I'm using Bazuka which is a verruca and wart treatment for humans which seems to be working. 

[greysmom]

Yes, the tendonotomy surgery doesn't have a long history as of yet - only 6-8 months - so no long term results.  Short term results are incredible, but we just don't know yet if there will be any unintended consequences to other toes or the rest of the foot.

I will say however, my boy has a sprung toe, which is basically a dislocation of the ligament, which had the same effect on the corn on that toe - it shrank and eventually went away.  So far - and it's been several years - there have been no new corns spring up on that foot.  So, IMO, the surgery is worth a try anyway.

[dixidoll]

Also had corns removed from my greys foot.  Swore we would never do that again.  Painful, also long time recovery.  Then the corns came back.