Corns On All Four Feet Have Crippled Mable

[Guest Frannie]

I'm so worried about her. She has six corns - SIX!!!

 

She has had four surgeries for removal over the years, but these are invasive and the healing time is painful and endless, not to mention the complications that come with it. My vet has advised me against further surgeries, and I agree with him. She has tried zithromax but it makes her violently (dangerously) sick.

 

Meanwhile, here is sweet Mable, spending most of her time lying in a corner staring at the wall. She has so much delicate, timid, charming personality. She's like a little sister to me. She is being completely muted by the pain she is in.

 

She wears Therapaws on all four feet; these allow her to go on walks, but with pain. Life is getting very hard for her. Last night she woke me up at 2:30 crying and hobbling around, unable to settle. I gave her a tramadol. I know that is not really a solution. She is having trouble on stairs - and I live on three floors - because she can't weight-bear on her right front pad at all. I have to leash her and help her up and down much of the time.

 

I am at my wit's end. I just canceled a cut-and-color for me tomorrow - my frazzled looking hair desperately needs some TLC, but my girl needs it worse. I have a call in to my vet, who makes house calls.

 

I'll order the Murray Ave. right now if people say it works well. I just want to DO SOMETHING!!!!!

[Guest momofevie]

I'm sorry, I don't have any advice, but my heart hurts for Mable. Hoping you're able to get her some relief.

[sweetdogs]

Oh I'm so sorry for poor Mable. The Murray Ave cream has worked for a lot of people so it's definitely worth trying.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Poor mable

[Batmom]

Has she had the corns hulled periodically, rather than surgically removed?

[Guest Frannie]

No; just surgical excision. Which has failed miserably over time, even when successful.

 

Has she had the corns hulled periodically, rather than surgically removed?

[rascalsmom]

We tried the Murray Ave. cream for Jack, who has three corns spread over three of his feet, and it didn't work at all for him.

 

What has worked the best for Jack is duct tape, which softens the corns somewhat and allows you to peel off layers of the corn every so often--and generic rimadyl twice daily. Jack's vet has suggested the surgery on the worst corn, but she also says 'about 50%' of them come back anyway, and those odds aren't good enough to put him through that.

 

He's also had them hulled by the vet several times, but they come back really quickly anyway (like, a week or so), so that's not a terribly viable option for Jack. Plus, he gets very stressed out at the vet. So I work at them myself as best I can.

 

Corns are horrible, and it sounds like your poor dog has an awful case of them.

[GeorgeofNE]

I know the Murray Ave. cream worked for DJsGreys--at least on one of her hounds.

 

I fell so horrible for your poor girl! I've never heard of such bad corns. Poor kid.

[Guest Frannie]

I know. It really is horrible. I haven't wanted to face how horrible it is, but after waking up to her crying last night, I really have to. I went home at lunch today and arranged the house as a sort of sickroom (or cornroom): water in the living room where there's carpeting, stairwells closed off so that she can't attempt to climb by herself, everything off the couch so that it's hers. I put Dermascent Biobalm on her feet (she cries when I touch her front right one) and gave her another 25 mg. tramadol. I hated leaving her. I'm taking her to the vet tomorrow. Going to the drugstore now to look at Kerasal, talked to the people at Murray Avenue, will order their stuff on Monday if needed.

[Batmom]

Here is the article about hulling corns: http://www.grassmere-animal-hospital.com/corn_hulling.htm . Quick, easy, painless. My vet did angel Zema's for me @ every 3-4 weeks until we got rid of them. Some people do it themselves.

[Guest Fasave]

My corn dog has corns on two feet but has had them on as many as three. This has been going on for 5+ years. I have been unable to cure them but I have been able to maintain them in a manner that has given him a good quality of life. I use duct tape. when I remove the tape, I hull the corn with my finger nail if I can. I then dremel the outside ring that is left behind so that it is even with the rest of the pad and then re-apply the duct tape. I've tried the Murray Ave cream but I found the process to be cumbersome and after three weeks, I stopped the soaks so I'm not sure if it works or not. My guy does wear Therapaws on walks and does fine.

 

I feel for you and your girl. It's so hard to watch them limp around. I hope you find some relief for her.

[Guest dancewkathylee]

I just came from the vet today for the same issue. Corn. She has a lot of experience with greyhounds and with their feet in particular. She told me that when a corn is really very painful it is often because it has an infection under it. She put my dog on an antibiotic for this reason. I also used a medicated corn pad made for people while waiting for her to be seen and that seemed to help with the pain as well.

Sounds like you are having a really rough time. I'm sorry for you and your little sister.

[Guest Frannie]

we are off to the vet today. A couple of my friends don't quite get why I'm taking her in--this is a problem that the doctor has seen her for over and over--but it just seems like it's gotten markedly worse in the last week or so. And yes, I do wonder if the larger corn on her right front foot has gotten infected. I haven't used any human corn medication because I'm worried that she might chew it off (she is a big chewer and has a licking disorder) and some of the stuff in those products is either very acidic (I'm afraid of it burning a hole where it shouldn't) or has a warning about calling poison control if ingested. If anyone has some wisdom about that, I would love it. I got the CVS exfoliating cream (the generic of Kerasal) and rubbed some in, but with corns this bad I'm not convinced that it's going to do much. (I kind of bought it just because I needed to be doing something for my dear girl.) I'll pretty much try anything short of surgery at this point (and I know that zithromax is a very dangerous drug for her). I do have duct tape, but it's always fallen off--like, instantly.

 

Thanks for all your support. It really helps. I'm a little hesitant to order the Murray Avenue stuff unless the reviews are unanimously rave...

[Batmom]

Try hulling. Seriously. 99% of the time, it'll buy the dog relief. Yes, you'll likely have to do it again in a few weeks, but meantime the dog feels better.

[rascalsmom]

The cream from Murray Ave. Apothecary is also quite expensive. I got the cream and the hyaluronic acid (which softens the pad prior to cream application) and it was $100. And it didn't work.

 

Really--get them hulled, and then use duct tape. Don't put anything on prior to the duct tape, or it won't stick. ANd buy name-brand duct tape, not generic stuff.

[Guest jettcricket]

This thread was posted a while ago....maybe this will help. My friend has used it on her greyhound and it has given him some relief.

 

http://forum.greytal..._1#entry4466513

Edited March 19, 2011 by jettcricket

[lovinggreysslp]

I also had success with our vet hulling the corns on our angels Trip and Clay.

[LBass]

My heart goes out to you and poor Mable. What a nightmare for both of you. Let us know what your vet says, OK?

 

I will mention one thing that I heard second hand. Apparently Dr. James Radcliff, who is a grey-experienced vet, mentioned at Sandy Paws using Emla Cream (a local anesthetic cream) to help with corn pain while you work your way through the various treatment and management option. I'm not sure whether it is OTC or prescription but it might be worth discussing with your vet.

 

Also, I know what you mean about not wanting to leave the Therapaw booties on 24/7. Therapaw also makes "Cushy Paws" that have the padded bottom of the booties but the top part is a soft fleece. They are meant for indoor wear and I don't worry about leaving them on for long periods of time and just putting the Therapaws on for outdoor walks. http://www.therapaw.com/cushy-pawslippers.aspx MoMo is currently wearing a Cushy Paw over her bandaged foot for added cushioning and protection.

 

--Lucy

[Guest d0ggiem0mma]

I really think you should read that article about hulling and give it a try. That's what OSU does and a lot of people on this board have had a lot of success doing that. You can do it at home and it doesn't hurt, especially if you use the duct tape for maintenance between hulling!

[rallyp]

I agree with the others who suggest hulling. You're essentially removing the corn, but the process is way less invasive than surgery and the healing period is much less of a big deal. The corn will probably come back, but as you've seen (and most people experience), it comes back after surgery too. At least with the hulling, the whole process is much less traumatic and will give the dog relief after hulling. Also, it's something you can learn to do yourself. Lima Bean has a corn and we've taken the approach that all we can do is manage it through periodic hulling as opposed to thinking we can cure it. This has worked pretty well for us.

[Rickiesmom]

My Rickie had corns on the two weight bearing toes of his left foot. One is very large. I've had the vet hull them and one stopped coming back but the other two come back pretty quickly.

 

I am going to start doing the hulling myself. My dentist has ordered the tools I need and I will do it first at the vets so they can supervise, then on my own. It's quick, painless, and it works.

 

One thing you can try is to put a drop of Abreve into the hole after the corn is out. I did this last time with Rickie as soon as we got home, but the area puffed up and I felt bad so didn't continue with it. Next week when we hull I am going to give it 12 - 24h and then put on the Abreve. I will say one of the corns seems shallower to me this time, so there may be something to this. Dr. Feeman is the one who recommends the Abreve, I think daily for a week or so after hulling. He also says you can have the vet run a surgical laser around the area after hulling, which we haven't tried because vet doesn't have one.

[Guest Frannie]

Where do you get hulling instruments? is that something that you do yourself, isn't there an awfully good chance that you will make a mess and really hurt your dog? So many questions about this. It sounds like a good option, but I'm confused about it. Isn't it a surgery? I will google Emla. I want to go in today armed with information that my vet may or may not have. This needs to be a very different discussion from the usual one--the one I've always had--"my dog is hurt, please fix her." It seems like we've exhausted that one.

[Batmom]

Link on what hulling is and how to do it:

http://www.grassmere...orn_hulling.htm

[Guest dancewkathylee]

simplicef is the antibiotic our vet uses It's supposed to be really easy on the intestinal tract. I've had both my dogs on it without any problems. The corn pad I tried can be used without the medication The medication is a separate little disc that you can use or not. It goes under the corn pad. I clean her foot off and let it dry then I put the little pad on it. It's flat so she doesn't bother it. When I walk her, I take lambs wool and wrap it around her pads hold it on with a self adhesive tape and then put a little bootie on to keep it all in place while we walk. She would definitely pull the tape off if I didn't add the bootie. Maybe you could try the lambs wool inside your bootie. Good luck at the vets. It's frustrating not to be able to get some relief for your little one.

 

PS EMLA is a great idea. We use it on kids and babies to numb local areas before a procedure like IV start or circumcision.

[o_rooly]

I highly recommend periodic hulling along with the addition of bee propolis. (I know, I know, it's another one that sounds off-the-wall )

 

I don't have special instruments to hull Aston's corn -- I just use my thumbnail, or if my nails are too short, I use a larger flat-headed micro screwdriver (carefully!!). In addition, I give him a capsule of bee propolis every morning with his breakfast -- since I added that, the corn has shrunk (even without hulling) and has become shallower. About a month after starting the propolis, it seemed like his body was starting to expel the corn, which made it even harder for him to walk on that foot, but lots easier to hull the corn... bee propolis is expensive-ish for a supplement (~$15-20/bottle of 60 capsules), but not too bad in the grand scheme of things. Worth a shot, definitely.

 

Beaming good thoughts to your poor girl, and poor you!!

 

Edit: In case it helps, I use Premier One bee propolis (white bottle with big maroon label).

 

Another edit: His corn wasn't discovered until I started reading up on them here on GT; we got him when he was almost 7, and he had been diagnosed with a "mystery limp" ever since he got off the track at two. It seems that this was the problem all along, and the corn didn't change size at all (for several months) prior to starting the propolis....

 

Another another edit: Got the propolis idea off of a thread here on GT

 

:blah

Edited March 19, 2011 by o_rooly