Paw Pad Injury

[Guest bmccord]

We noticed a couple days ago our grey had a couple rough spots on his pads (running abrasions) and didn't really think much of it but last night when we got home and let him out for a good run in the yard we noticed that on both his front paws, the 'heal' pad had torn leaving about a 1/4" circle of tender skin below exposed below. I cleaned both spots out, put a dab of Neosporin on them and wrapped and taped them up. He has an appointment with the vet today to give it a once over but what are everyone’s experiences with this? He almost never get walked or run on hard surfaces, it's always in the yard granted from the heat here in Kansas the yard is a little coarse from being dried out a bit.

 

Any suggestions? Maybe put a little Vaseline on his pads nightly when they are looking a little rough?

 

Thanks!

[TheFullHouse]

All you can do is keep it clean and let it heal. My little girl runs so much and so fast in the yard she has done the same thing. On the good side, she is toughing up those pads that were so soft. You don't want them to be too soft or they will get cuts on them all the time.

[XTRAWLD]

Pads are one of the hardest and longest things to heal, because they are constantly using them. As said above, keep it clean as best as possible. When your pup is off their feet, I'd actually try spraying some CS (colloidal silver) on it to help speed some healing - because it's pretty much water it will "evaporate" quicker than Neosporin would and won't leave gooey stuff on your floors as they walk around.

[PrairieProf]

Beth got that earlier this summer on one pad -- a small chunk tore off the front part of her main pad. I think she stepped on a rock or something -- my vet said that a small piece shearing off like that was probably due to hitting something to sharp, not to general abrasion. It healed up just fine within a few days to a week -- I kept her on leash for about a week and had her wear a Pawz disposable bootie over it outside to keep it clean. I put a dab of Muciprocin (antibiotic goo) on it at night. She limped intermittently for a couple of days but then was OK.

 

You can use Bag Balm to keep the pads soft. But actually, walking on pavement might be better because it will help toughen them up. It was probably just one of those things; the pads being a bit rough almost certainly didn't cause it. The yard surface may be getting unsafe in the current drought.

Edited July 11, 2012 by PrairieProf

[Guest Sashasmom]

One of my grey peeps here uses coco butter Oil on the pads at night. she rubs it in and that seems to help. Ask the vet if they are corns.

[Guest FullMetalFrank]

They run on sand at the track, so the pads are usually pretty soft when they go into adoption. They will need some toughening up; mine have had problems when they do lure coursing, their pads almost never hold up through a whole day's event without abrasion. Hard, dry grass is the worst! Regular walks on (not too hot) pavement and sidewalks helps, followed by a moisturizer (Bag Balm, etc... we're using emu oil right now.)

[Guest iLoveLucie]

This just happened to my dog! All good advice from everyone. I also tried to keep my dog from licking the wound since that will extend healing time. Baby socks work great.

[Guest bmccord]

Thanks for the help! He is almost all healed up now. I took him to the vet just to be safe and he was put on an antiboitic just to be sure. I covered the tender part with 'new skin', which is a brush applied coating that dries like a thin rubber cement. I used to use it when I would tear callusses rock climbing and it worked just as good. We applied a coat a day and keep socks on him while it still stinks so he won't lick it off. He is healing up great.

 

We will have to make sure and get him out of more walks on sidewalks because he gets most/all his excersise sprinting around the yard.

 

Thanks again!