Our new rescue and a corn?

[Longlegs]

Hi, 

We adopted our first greyhound a few weeks ago and he is the best. He is seven and has the most lovely nature. This website has been an invaluable resource as we figure out his wonderful quirks. He is pretty reluctant to walk and we have assumed some sort of anxiety but yesterday he completely refused to move and held his paw aloft. After a good look at his paws (after a complete panic that it was something sinister and we were going to lose our wonderful boy!) I think I have found a corn. We plan to have the vet take a look early next week but want to give him some relief this weekend. It’s completely hard and he hates having it touched or squeezed. I have filed it and he let me and it seems to have revealed the “corn” even more. 
 

What do you think? Does this look like a greyhound corn? I plan to try and get some Dr Scholls liquid later and I might try a padded sock until we can get him to the vet/get him a boot. 
 

Thanks in advance! This is a wonderful community!

[greysmom]

Get some cream-style toothpaste and rub a tiny bit across the clean dry pad.  It will reveal the suspected corn by sticking differently to the pad vs the corn.  

If you're on Facebook, join the group "Greyhounds with Corns."  If you're not on Facebook, it's totally worth it to join just for this group.  Read through the posts to see what works for people regarding corn maintenance.  In general, a couple times a day - soak the paw in epsom salts and warm water, dry and apply an ultra moisturizing cream.  This means a cream meant to treat human ultra dry skin or calloused heels or cracked hands.  Preferably non-petroleum based.  Cover with a thick toddler sock to keep them from licking it off.    This will eventually bring the corn up so it can be hulled at home.

There is also a surgery being tried by vets in the US and UK (you will see this mentioned on the FB page) called a tendon flexotomy.  I basically cuts the tendon to the affected toe, releasing the tension and relieving the reason for the corn.  It does work, but there are questions that accompany this surgery.  What happens if a corn comes up on a nearby toe?  How much does this alter the gait of the dog, possibly creating corns in other feet?  And others.

Be aware that many vets are not up to date in treatments for corns.  Some don't even know about them and their prevelance in greyhounds.  You may be more informed than your vet on this subject if you do your research beforehand.  Home treatment of corns is usually much better maintenance than surgical removal (which isn't curative anyway).

Corns totally suck and I've been there and done all that.  Good luck!

[Hubcitypam]

Duct tape.

 

[HeyRunDog]

If your hound only limps on hard surfaces but walks OK on grass then is most likely a corn.

Surgically removing the corn doesn't work. It'll come back a few months later unless you're really lucky and I wouldn't go for the tendon flexotomy either for the reason greysmom said.

I've tried duct tape cut to just cover the corns with partial success and now I'm using Bazuka gel in the evening which dries to a hard covering and then Burt's Bees Hand Salve covered with a baby sock and lightweight dog boot for the morning walk.

Whatever you try it will take time.