Paw Pad Cut

[Guest RMarie]

Last week, James mysteriously cut a paw pad on his back right foot. We have NO idea how it happened. We came home to him limping. Our dog-walker had left a note telling us that he was limping when she arrived and that she noticed his pad was cut. So, somehow between my morning walk with him and our dog-walker's arrival, he hurt himself. I'm thinking he slipped between couch cushions and possibly found a staple, but I can't find it if that's what he did. Anyway, we'd been putting his Therapaw on him for walks. He limped for a couple of days then seemed fine by the weekend. He even did zoomies in the house on Monday, I do believe. Fast forward to this Wednesday and he's limping again. The cut doesn't look any worse. We have an appointment with the vet next week to check his skin, so I'll have her look at it then. But, other than the Therapaw, is there anything else we can do for him? Also, is this likely to result in a corn? Can injuries lead to corns? Poor guy will be limping on his birthday tomorrow.

 

[Guest DeniseL]

Poor guy!! I don't think that the cut will develop into a corn, but its my opinion that corns are caused by pressure and friction. Many hounds have them that also have prior injuries/arthritis/gait issues. Like my boy, miami, has a bad back right leg, he developed corns on all his other feet, worst on the back left from compinsating. So if he is limping for while maybe you might want to check his other feet....

Hope the pad heals quickly, but I doubt a corn would be an issue. Maybe something is in the cut? Some debris? Or a little infection?

[Guest RMarie]

Thankfully (sort of), he's currently on an antibiotic for a staph infection that pre-dated the cut on the food, so hopefully we don't have to worry about an infection. We've shined a flashlight on it several times and can't see anything in it. It's almost looks like super dry skin that has cracked. I don't even know if that's a thing dogs can develop. Regardless, I wonder if keeping it moist will help it feel better.

[Guest DeniseL]

Keeping it soft might help. I try to keep Miami's pad soft, even though he doesn't have any corns now. You can try bag balm if you have it, or just vasaline. Might just be tough skin or a little scar tissue that's uncomfortable to walk on?

 

Oh, and they can definitely get cracked, dry, pads that can be bothersome. I try to condition all my greys pads occasionally, I am just extra vigilant with Miami...

[Guest RMarie]

Update:

 

James is still limping despite the "cut" appearing to be healed. It's definitely that toe that is bothering him. If we squeeze or poke or manipulate that toe, he pulls it back. I read online somewhere that corns can come in 2 types: 1) being a scar tissue type of lesion and 2) being the typical "wart" style. We have to go back to the vet on June 8th for some yearly vaccines so we'll re-address this there. In the meantime, does anyone have any experience with an injured pad like this? Assuming it's scar tissue, should we consider hulling it to remove the hard lesion?

 

[Guest DeniseL]

That looks like a corn to me...someone recently told me they think corns can be caused by an injury and debris getting inside....which is totally possible cause who knows what the heck they are...

[PrairieProf]

The obvious thing I would think of is that he got a small foreign body embedded and it's still in there despite the surface healing. Looks like it could have been a puncture to me. I really don't see why everyone is thinking a corn is in any way likely.

 

If my dog were limping and I wasn't sure why (even from a toe) I would not be waiting over a week to go to the vet, personally.

Edited May 27, 2013 by PrairieProf

[Batmom]

It looks to me more like possible foreign body than corn too. Not saying it couldn't be a corn, but that isn't quite what it looks like. I would try to get to the vet a bit sooner if you can. Meantime, could try soaking in warm Epsom salts solution (or even just warm water) -- 5 minutes 3-4 times a day.

 

If you decide to soak, he doesn't have to stand up. I get a bowl of warm solution, washcloth, couple plastic bags. Dog is lying down. Put one plastic bag under the foot you're going to soak. Dip washcloth in warm solution, wrap around sore foot, put another plastic bag or two over all that to keep it from soaking your furniture. Rub dog's ears or tummy for 5 minutes, remove wet things.

[tbhounds]

My guess is there's a foreign body in there aka splinter. Try religiously soaking the foot in Epsom salt and warm water. To do so use a baggie-much easier than a pail or a bucket.

Oops-I see that was already suggested :-)---must be a greyt idea!

[Guest RMarie]

Thanks for the feedback. I took Batmom's advice and wrapped a warm cloth around it and held it on the paw. The warmth revealed a dark, jagged center, which makes me think it's a foreign body or debris. Because it's pretty much healed over, I had to soften the pad with several reiterations of the warm cloth to scrape away enough pad to open up the cut. I eventually got it open enough that grey pus started oozing out (do greyhounds produce grey pus instead of yellow..ha!). After the pus came out, I couldn't see the dark stuff as easily, so DH and I poured peroxide on it. We're going to pick up some Epsom salt later and see what soaking it does. If the salt doesn't help, then I'll call the vet.

[tbhounds]

Soak soak and more soaking!

Edited to add-no more peroxide. Peroxide kills the nasty germs but, it also kills healthy cells too:-(

Edited May 27, 2013 by tbhounds

[PrairieProf]

You should call your vet about an antibiotic. The one for the staph infection might not be the right kind for the toe -- different antibiotics target different kinds of bacteria. I know that with a deep toe infection osteomyelitis can be a concern, too, and there is a particular antibiotic that prevents that.

Edited May 27, 2013 by PrairieProf