Foreign Body Lodged In Paw Pad

[Guest jlbfitz]

Hi, all,

 

Our girl managed to step on something sharp the Sunday of memorial day weekend (when all the vets were closed -- didn't seem e-vet worthy) and punctured her paw pad. We cleaned it, checked for foreign bodies, soaked it in Epsom salts and kept her off it, and by Tuesday, when the vet was open again, she was doing much better. We've been watching her closely and continually checking on the foot since, and it had gotten much better.

 

Yesterday, however, she came up really lame (wouldn't put weight on the foot) so we took her to the vet, and they did an x-ray to rule out anything serious with her bones and whatnot. The X-ray did show a tiny white dot that the vet said was probably mineral in nature lodged in her paw pad tissue. The vet sent us home with antiinflammitories and antibiotics (she said the puncture didn't look infected but she wanted to be cautious) and told us we should keep soaking her foot and see if the foreign body floats up to the surface -- otherwise they'll have to sedate her and do some mild surgery to fish it out.

 

I am continuing to soak the foot with warm Epsom salt water, and have increased it to several times a day, instead of once a day, and am hoping for the best. Has anyone else ever experienced this? Any tips on what worked for your pups would be helpful. We obviously want to avoid a surgical procedure if there's any way around it.

 

Side note-- what does the inside of a paw pad look like? When I peer into the puncture wound with a flashlight, it looks like there is a tiny red bubble. I don't want to go fishing around in her paw if I'm not sure what I'm looking at -- but we do have some red gravel and stones in our neighborhood, so I'm not 100% convinced it isn't the problem debris that I'm seeing. The paw pad tissue softens and the puncture is much more visible after epsom salt soaking, so the vet did not have the opportunity to check out the tiny red bubble.

Another side note -- if anyone knows some good every-day dog boots, I'd love suggestions. Our girl seems to have sensitive paws and I'd very much like to not have to do this again. We put a sock on her foot when she first injured it, and she tolerated that well, so I'm pretty hopeful that she'd tolerate protective boots. There seems to be a lot of glass and gravel in our neighborhood.

[Burpdog]

I wouldn't go fishing. Keep soaking it and apply a little pressure if you can behind the foreign body to see if it pops out.

[racindog]

Epsal Ointment put on 1/4"- 1/2" thick and bandaged may draw the foreign body out as will Pescalite (the original from WY) clay put on as a poltice and bandaged. It might take it a while but it stands a very good chance of drawing out the foreign body. I would leave it on ~12 hours or so then wash it off and reapply in time to get at least 12 hours of poltice each day. Therapaw boots always worked great for my houndies. I covered the poltice with saran wrap/a little gauze(flexible is best)/ and then vetrap or elastikon tape and they walked well with that and it protected the bad place. If you think it is glass though might be best to just get the vet to cut it out straightaway before it causes more damage.

[XTRAWLD]

Ryder had something on the paw pad of his BIG pad on his back foot. Soaked it twice a day for 5-10 mins and it seemed to be coming to the surface. After about a week I squeezed it like a pimple and got whatever it was out. It turned out to be small small crumbs of glass. I just kept soaking it once a day and applied some polysporin to make sure it wouldn't get infected and problem solved. This was relatively easy but I'd imagine a pad that is more weight bearing might prove difficult as the glass may get forced deeper and deeper.

 

I had the fortunate instance of stepping on a bee the day before my wedding. I wasn't bothered much by it in the immediate days, but days following I actually could barely walk. The doctor asked me to soak it, and put a sort of wart pad over it to take the pressure off the affected area. Ended up freezing it locally, and breaking up the stinger, which after some soaking came to the surface and I picked it out. These sorts of things are no joke, and are quite painful, but keeping weight off the area is key and soaking helps. Of course difficult to see on a black paw pad.

 

You are doing everything right so far but if she's not weight bearing already, might need to take care of it sooner rather than later.

[FiveRoooooers]

dogbooties dot com has wonderful day boots as well as waterproof ones. Super fast customer service and shipping, fab folks. Good luck!

[MaryJane]

My first greyhound got a twig lodged up between the pads- it actually created a tear. Wasn't get any better after a day so he went in for the minor surgery to take it out. Bear in mind that the longer you wait, the harder it is going to be to take care of it as some of the path might start to heal and the injury site might not be as evident as right when it happens. Good Luck ....

[Busderpuddle]

I have no idea if this will help or not, but I just read about getting a splinter out of a child who won't let you use a needle. You soak the area with warm water, then apply a paste of water and baking soda. Let it sit for a couple hours, and they say the splinter will have come to the surface. Might be worth a try.

[3greytjoys]

We briefly crossed a gravel area during a dirt path hike. Hounds showed no signs of discomfort during hike. After returning to a hard surface parking lot, we realized gravel debris had embedded into one hound's paw pad. Surgery #1 cleaned out most gravel debris. Weeks to months later, second surgery was required to remove last tiny pieces missed during first surgery. We didn't have any luck with repeated paw soaks. Post bed rest recovery, a Therapaw boot was worn during walks to prevent additional debris collections until paw pad grew back completely. Therapaws fit our uniquely shaped Greyhounds' paws really well (unless large bandages are included): http://www.therapaw.com/thera-pawboots.aspx

 

Thereafter, all hounds paws are checked/wiped off immediately after walking on gravel surfaces. No further incidents.

 

Taking photos of paw wound (both dry pad and wet pad photos) then zooming in on computer may help visually, and could be shared with your vet.

 

Good luck with your girl. Please let us know how it goes.

[Guest jlbfitz]

Thanks, everyone. We soaked the paw about four times yesterday, and not much progress. I still can't spot the foreign object, although I think I have figured out where it's located. She's been feeling better, the limping stopped, but she had a bad reaction to the Deramaxx the vet put her on this morning (puked up her breakfast immediately after eating). I have a call out to the vet about whether I should continue to give it to her, but assuming she says no, I'm worried the limp will come back as soon as the drugs get out of her system. I'm going to ask for an estimate on the surgical procedure when I speak with the vet this morning. I don't want to put her through unnecessary pain waiting for this to resolve, especially if there's a chance that waiting could wedge it further in.

[Victor]

Our angel Lana had something similar happen. X-rays showed that she had two foreign objects embedded in one of her pads. Under sedation (not anesthesia) the vet was able to extract the object closest to the surface (a small piece of asphalt), but the other one was too far in. Our vet consulted with a surgeon, and the surgeon advised against doing surgery right away to get the other object. She suggested we wait until after the wound healed to see whether Lana was still lame. She gave two reasons for this: (1) she wasn't confident she'd be able to locate the object in the pad tissue during surgery, and (2) sometimes the body is able to push the foreign object out. After wearing a Therapaw on that paw for a week or two, Lana was walking normally again. Then after a longer period of time (maybe a month or two?), Lana started favoring that paw again. When I inspected the pad, sure enough there was a tiny black stone just visible in her pad. I was able to use tweezers to dig it out, and then she was fine!

 

Since that experience, we always put booties on our greys' paws when we go out for a walk. We don't have sidewalks in our neighborhood, and there are just too many things on the road that could hurt their paws. In the summer we use the 330 weight Denier Cordua Booties from dogbooties.com, and in the fall/winter we use the 500-weight Denier Cordua Booties. People (especially kids) love seeing our dogs in their booties, and our dogs love all the attention they get!

 

Hope this helps!

[Guest jlbfitz]

Thanks! She had been better for a few weeks, and was almost back to normal. The limping was very sudden. So I'm hoping maybe it started shifting to the surface and that's why it started hurting her again. She's on as much rest as we can manage, and I'm going to continue to soak it four times a day.

 

(And thanks for saying sedation -- still waiting to talk to hear from the vet and starting to panic about the cost of possible surgery.)

 

And yes, I will be ordering every day boots for her as soon as we get this under control. Don't want to ever have to worry about this again.

 

Update: Just spoke with vet who said to keep her on the Deramaxx for now and feed her chicken and rice in small amounts. Didn't ask about the surgery yet, since we're both seeing that as a very last resort.

Edited June 22, 2016 by jlbfitz

[greysmom]

Add a Pepcid (or generic) to her meatimes - about 25 minutes before she eats - and a probiotic, to help her gut deal with the nsaid. Then give the pill after she eats. That should help with her stomach upset.

 

There are lots of alternatives for "drawing salves" that will help pull a FB out of tissue. They are usually located with the lotions and creams at your store, or do a search on Amazon.

 

Sometimes you can do a minor procedure with just a local, or *very* light sedation - just enough to keep them relaxed. Greyhounds are usually used to being worked on, and most will just lay there, especially if someone is petting them the whole time! It shouldn't take long to get out a FB in a pad.

 

For boots, it's important to accurately measure *your* dog's foot beforehand so you can get the best fit possible. Keep in mind how tall the boot is so it won't interfere/irritate the dew claw (if she has them).

[Burpdog]

I wouldn't keep her on the Deramaxx -- it can cause bleeding and if she is already vomitting...... NSAIDs simply mask the problem, not solve it.

[cleptogrey]

Itchmoal is a petroleum based ointment that's an excellent drawing salve. It needs to be covered since it's black and greasy. Massengil do u check also helps draw out debris, soak a couple of times a day. I buy Epsom salts in bulk at costco.

[BatterseaBrindl]

You can make a paste out of Epson salts and some furazone. Put it on after you are done soaking, then cover foot with a toddler sock and vet wrap.

I do this for horses who have an abcess.

 

FYI

When I was a kid I stepped on a thorn...we thought we got it all out. I was sore for a couple of days and then felt fine.

Well over a year later I got bump on my foot. It increased in size and became quite tender.

Keep in mind this was back in the 60's ... long before ultrasound

Ended up having surgery...and there was the thorn!

[XTRAWLD]

You can make a paste out of Epson salts and some furazone. Put it on after you are done soaking, then cover foot with a toddler sock and vet wrap.

I do this for horses who have an abcess.

 

FYI

When I was a kid I stepped on a thorn...we thought we got it all out. I was sore for a couple of days and then felt fine.

Well over a year later I got bump on my foot. It increased in size and became quite tender.

Keep in mind this was back in the 60's ... long before ultrasound

Ended up having surgery...and there was the thorn!

That's incredible

[Guest jlbfitz]

No luck with the baking soda paste, but we're continuing with epsom salt soaks and I picked up some Ichthommal this morning. I have feelers out to my adoption group to see if someone can loan us a Thera-paw boot for a few weeks. I know lots of folks use them for corns, so I'm hopeful. Trying to avoid as many expenses as possible in case we end up having to do surgery. Our vet agreed that if we can keep her sound, we can wait for it to work its way out. She was more concerned about our pup's pain than the foreign body moving further in at this point.

 

Thank you all again so much for your suggestions and support, it's much appreciated.

[XTRAWLD]

In the interim, I know it's not much, but can you put a baby sock on the foot, maybe with a bunch of gauze on the bottom on the inside for padding until you grab a therapaw boot? Secure it to the leg with some vet wrap type tape.

[Guest jlbfitz]

Well, just when I'm starting to think we'll get through this, she had an accident in the house this afternoon. It was right about when I normally take her out, but she's usually not desperate to go. In fact, she usually pees at one, and at 10, and only poops on her 5:30 walk. Well today she emptied her whole bladder on the carpet with no signal.

 

Is this probably a side effect of the drugs, or should I be worried that she's no longer housetrained? It's especially weird because she hasn't been drinking that much. But I have been feeding her rice, which I guess has a lot of water content in it. Thank goodness we are done with Deramaxx on Saturday.

[NeylasMom]

If it were me, I would stop the Deramaxx now. If she's in pain, Tramadol would be a reasonable option. Deramaxx can cause kidney issues so if you're suddenly seeing a change like this I wouldn't risk it, even though it's only 1 incident for which there could be other explanations. Not when she doesn't *need* the medication.

Edited June 23, 2016 by NeylasMom

[Guest jlbfitz]

I have a call out to the vet, but that's what I'm thinking too.

[Guest jlbfitz]

I guess I should add that she's also on an antibiotic, and I just read that antibiotics can also cause an increase in urination. I'd be less concerned if she were drinking a lot. Instead she is drinking less and peeing more.

 

I'm sure I seem obsessively worried, but she's our first dog, and this is all very new. We love her dearly and just want her to be okay.

[Guest jlbfitz]

I put the Ichthammol on gauze and vet-wrapped it to her paw for 8 hours, and when I took it off, the stone was close enough that I could grab it with tweezers. SO RELIEVED. That might have been one of the most satisfying moments of my life. She is feeling much better this evening, peeing less, and drinking without inducement. Thank you all so much for your excellent advice. You kept me saner than I would otherwise have been this week.

[NeylasMom]

[Guest Snazzy_Chloe]

Thera_paws makes a good dog boot that we have had good luck with. Not cheap but sure do help with a hurt paw.

Cliff