10 Month Old Stumpy With Very Bad Pad Injury- Advice

[StormyroxTan]

Our poor stumpy cattle

came home late arvo on Sunday to find he has sliced open his paw, right under his large pad on his front paw.

Have no idea how he has done it but its major,we think he got caught on some tempory wire fencing we have up to try to save the grass

the vet was shocked to how bad it is.(wish i took a photo)

She sedated him and gave it a good wash out and bandaged it all up ($350 later), she recommends coming back and getting it changed on Friday.

i need some advice on how long between changes i'm inclined to do it myself as i really can't justify paying $30 every few days for them to do it when i know how to do it after working at vet and kennel's ect... plus friday would be four days later and to me that seems a long time to leave a bandage on??

i can see this being a long healing process, especially cause he is so active at 10 months and is a big boy.

ANY advice would be appreciated

Tanya

Edited September 3, 2012 by StormyroxTan

[Xyz]

I would be inclined to trust your vet on this, as you know a 'bandage change' will also involve them checking/ cleaning/ debriding as neccesary.

[aussielover]

Is it on the pad itself? Did it require stitches or staples? Were any tendons exposed? Is he on antibiotics?

I'd recommend at least going back for the recheck on Friday. Depending on how it's looking no further bandaging may be required, or if it is you could discuss with the vet about doing it yourself.

Pad injuries are a pain for both vets and owners as they can take a while to heal due to them expanding everytime the dog bears weight. If it's not on the pad, then healing might be a bit quicker.

[StormyroxTan]

It's right under the pad, the pad itself is not cut but the flesh that joins it to his foot, it is not stiched as the vet said that they would just rip open. I'm hoping it will heal quicker as its not the actual pad. Thanks

[Dame Aussie]

Argh, I've experienced this, our boy split a pad open on his front foot, it was huge and right open but the vet didn't staple as it would have just come undone. He had cream and bandages for a few weeks.

It finally healed but it was the most annoying bloody injury, everytime it looked ok he'd open it back up . Took about 3-4 weeks to fully heal. You have my sympathy

[Staff'n'Toller]

Four days is fine for an injury of that type.

Be aware that if you're doing it yourself, paw bandaging has quite an art to it, to get the bandage to stay on. Also you need someone to reliably hold him still while you do it or it will be a nightmare.

I would be inclined to say suck it up this time around and pay for the Vet's expertise. Get some pet insurance for the future because dogs are often doing stupid accidents and they could be a sight more costly than this one. I speak from experience. :laugh:

[Dame Aussie]

Four days is fine for an injury of that type.

Be aware that if you're doing it yourself, paw bandaging has quite an art to it, to get the bandage to stay on. Also you need someone to reliably hold him still while you do it or it will be a nightmare.

I would be inclined to say suck it up this time around and pay for the Vet's expertise. Get some pet insurance for the future because dogs are often doing stupid accidents and they could be a sight more costly than this one. I speak from experience. :laugh:

Yep Mosley's was a nightmare, every time we put it on he'd either lose it or rip it off. Not to mention actually getting it on was almost impossible :laugh: He ended up with an Elizabethan collar for a week just to stop him from tearing at it. He also became quite defensive whener anyone tried to look at the foot because it was obviosuly so sore and this didn;t help with gettingh the bandage on properly.