WildatHeart Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 (edited) My dog has about a three centimeter spilt on her paw. I first noticed it when she was slightly limping last week monday and see the split so thought it might be that. There's no blood or pus or anything, in a way it doesn't even look like a cut because inside the split looks the same as the outside. I put some padding (cotton gauze folded over) and bandaged her foot for two days and she was not lame anymore. Then today she is limping (worse then the first time) and the split is still there. Is there anything i can do to help heal the split or should i do the same as i did the first time? Or will she need something from the vets? ETA: she seems lots better this morning, maybe it was tender from running around all day but i still want to get the split healed ETA from vet trip: Biggest waste of money. She said i was doing everything great and to just keep doing the paw paw onitment. She gave her some tetnus shot. She said she's very fit (from the slow heart rate) and looked great. She then told me i should give her big bones when she asked me and i told her i dont. I dont really want to after hearing some bad thngs about them - cracking teeth etc. I feed raw so she gets enough bones there. Then the vet tried pressuring me, i mean really pressuring me, into getting her parvo, kennel cough and that. I didn't want to because she's not going into any kennels anytime soon and she donest go to dog parks or any other dogs other than my sisters and grandparents and they all live on a farm. Very cranky, no means no. Edited July 30, 2009 by WildatHeart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puggy_puggy Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 Paw paw ointment might help. Put some on and bandage like you have been doing already. I would probably keep her from running around to much for a few days as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildatHeart Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 is paw paw ointment available from chemist or somewhere else? thanks puggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 could there be glass or some other foreign body stuck in there to cause the pain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildatHeart Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 i'll take a photo. there doesn't appear to be anything in there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daisy79 Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Hello there, my little pom Daisy had a similar paw pad injury a few months ago. She stepped on a huge piece of glass while we were out walking and totally split her large pad in half. She had surgery and they had to take part of the pad off and glue some mole skin to the area....this however fell off within days. Being a nurse, I was paranoid about infection so she was on antibiotics for a few weeks and I redressed and bandaged the foot everyday. Unfortunately the bandage made matters worse as she got a fungal infection between her toes from moisture build up from having the foot bandaged!! I was soooo worried as she is a very active little dog and in the end saw another vet at the practice who pretty much said bandaging it was making it worse and just to leave it open to heal. Well, from then on it really healed up within a few weeks!! So, in my opinion, as long as it doesn't have anything in the wound and it is not weeping etc then it will heal up pretty much on its own. I know how worrying it is though. Hope your furbaby gets better soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Ewww that's a huge split! Are you sure it's still an actual wound, it hasn't healed like that has it, because if it has I could imagine it would cause problems, possibly corns which can be painful. It looks like an old wound to me because the edges appear calloused. Even if it's fresh, then I think a cut that big would be painful. I think I'd be getting veterinary advice on what to do with that. Glad you posted pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildatHeart Posted July 28, 2009 Author Share Posted July 28, 2009 (edited) i dont know if it was an actual wound. i was away for a week for my horse riding do in sydney and came home and saw her slightly lame. She was fine yesterday and fine again today. ETA: OH looked after her while i was away but he wouldn't be able to tell if she was sore unless she was missing the leg. Edited July 28, 2009 by WildatHeart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puggy_puggy Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 Yes you can get paw paw ointment either in a red tub or red tube from health food shops or even the supermarket in with the aspro's etc. All of her pads look very rough. I think there was a topic on here recently about rough pads and the dog lacking something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildatHeart Posted July 28, 2009 Author Share Posted July 28, 2009 Yes you can get paw paw ointment either in a red tub or red tube from health food shops or even the supermarket in with the aspro's etc.All of her pads look very rough. I think there was a topic on here recently about rough pads and the dog lacking something. thanks, i will search that topic also. but i think her pads are rough because she is mainly walking on granite which surrounds the shed. She used to walk carefully for teh first couple of months when the graninte got layed out now it seems her feet have toughened up (the rough pads). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laffi Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 (edited) It looks like an old wound. More than 3-4 weeks old I would say. Unfortunately it doesn't look like it healed properly as the paw didn't seal. My guess is that there was something inside the wound making it impossible to seal, and that's why you now have a cracked/split paw My golden retriever cut her paw at the beach (the size of the cut was very similar to the one you showed). ETA, some people say that rough pads is a sign of zinc deficiency. Edited July 28, 2009 by laffi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildatHeart Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 thanks laffi, i counldn't find that topic. Will it heal by itself now or do i need to do something to get it to join back together (other than bandaging and using paw paw ointment)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 (edited) thanks laffi, i counldn't find that topic. Will it heal by itself now or do i need to do something to get it to join back together (other than bandaging and using paw paw ointment)? If it's an old wound and already healed split like that I think it will cause problems for her. If it's still healing, I would be bandaging it and keeping her off it, not letting her run at all but really, I think you need to take her to the vet, the only thing I might be reluctant to do is get it stitched, only based on past experience though. Edited July 29, 2009 by Kirislin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laffi Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 thanks laffi, i counldn't find that topic. Will it heal by itself now or do i need to do something to get it to join back together (other than bandaging and using paw paw ointment)? It it's an old wound and already healed split like that I think it will cause problems for her. If it's still healing, I would be bandaging it and keeping her off it, not letting her run at all but really, I think you need to take her to the vet, the only thing I might be reluctant to do is get it stitched, only based on past experience though. I would definitely take her to the vet. To be honest I don't know what to do now as it's an old wound and it's too late for the stitches as it's not an open wound anymore :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildatHeart Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 i will organsise a vet trip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Did the vet think it will close up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildatHeart Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 Did the vet think it will close up? she reckons not fully. i asked is there a way to make it close up fully and she said no. It cut actually extended right down to the bottom of the pad (i missed that) but she said it was healing great. She also said they could cut it back open but i failed to see how that was going to help the 'flap'. Do you think i should see another vet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Did the vet think it will close up? she reckons not fully. i asked is there a way to make it close up fully and she said no. It cut actually extended right down to the bottom of the pad (i missed that) but she said it was healing great. She also said they could cut it back open but i failed to see how that was going to help the 'flap'. Do you think i should see another vet? I wondered about re cutting it because from the photos it looks like the edges have healed and calloused up and I wondered if they cut it back to raw flesh would it seal, but I am not a vet so I dont know. I would definitely be keeping it clean, and covered from now on though and absolutely no running on it, better still not even much walking for a good while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Just wondering how the paw is going now. Is it closing up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildatHeart Posted August 28, 2009 Author Share Posted August 28, 2009 Just wondering how the paw is going now. Is it closing up? Its healed up nicely, somehow... She has been at my grandparents house for the last week and a half while i was over in NZ and she was only on soft green grass the whole time there so it probably helped in healing it without it being subject to granite and gravel. She's completely sound now. Her paw is still rough but so are all the other ones and because she has been on soft grass I'm starting to think that maybe its a zinc definancy so i have been increasing that since i have been back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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