help!

[Lauren31287]

Winston started limping slightly yesterday with his left front paw. He doesnt seem to be in pain as he still wants to play and run around. He did not injure anything that we are aware of and is crated up all day so he cant get into anything until we get home from work. My husband took him for a slightly longer walk last night so we thought maybe he was just sore. Then we noticed that paw is cracked a little bit and very dry on the bottom. So we just had him lay down for the rest of the night no stairs we carried him up & down to go potty. He seemed to be a little bit better this morning but he is still limping a little bit. Does anyone have any suggestions of what I can put on his paws to help this and do you know if that would make him limp? I just dont want him to be in pain, poor baby . Any help is appreciated thanks!

 

[Jack Daniels]

Lauren I've never had an issue like this. I would clean his paw with warm water and apply a generous amount of neosporin. Wrap his paw so he wont lick the ointment.
Although he may try to chew on the wrapping. See if with the wrapping he is more comfortable putting weight on that paw...
Needless to say, if the limping persists for more than a couple of days,he'll need to see the vet. Did you look inside the cracked paw, there may be a sharp small object imbedded in there ....

let us know...

Good Luck

 

[bullmama]

You can apply Aquaphor or snout soother to the cracked paw, but I would get it checked for infection just in case.

 

[Lauren31287]

Thank you all so much! he wasnt limping as much this morning because we had him off of it all night, we did check the paw and did not see anything in it, its not deep it just looks like it was cracked a bit from being dry. i will try putting something on it and see how he does with it! I will keep an eye on him tonight and if he doesnt get any better I will be taking him to the vet. Thanks for your help! : )

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

I like to use hydrogen peroxide . You can pour it over the affected pad..look carefully for signs of bubbling. That usually indicates a crack or slice. If you see that..then a few times a day..I would continue using peroxide twice a day and if possible put a little neosporin on the cut. He might just have stepped on a stone or bruised it a bit. If it continues for a week and no improvement..I'd take him to the vet. Good luck!

 

[Vicaroo1000]

Maybe he's kinda stiff from being stuck in a crate all day?

Bea injured a nail one time and was limping because of it. It took some very close examination to even see the issue since her nails are black. I kept it very clean. Gave her 3X a day epsom salt baths on the entire foot and neosporin at the wound site - as she pulled a nail a bit - and it healed nicely. They're so wiggly, it's sometimes hard to SEE what's going on but there's a lot of surface area down there in Paw Land.... it could be a lot of things.

I hope your baby is feeling better soon.

 

[Lauren31287]

Thank you everyone! He started limping more last night and seems to be putting weight on his other side. I called the vet last night and she told me to give it a few days and see what happens but he has an appointment for tomorrow but as of this morning there was no improvement. I looked very closely at his paw again last night and did not see anything we did rinse it with hydrogen peroxide, I checked his nails too, I am starting to think it may not be his paw now but may be his leg. So I will take him to the vet just to safe! Thanks for the well wishes! : )

 

[Jack Daniels]

He may have just sprained his leg. If you can get him to lye down and gently grab his leg and slowly put it thru a wide range of motions.. See if that bothers him...

Hopefully he's just got a sprain and a little time off will remedy it...Good Luck Lauren... Keep us posted...

 

[Davidh]

Hope he gets better and let us know what the vet said.

 

[Lauren31287]

Thank you guys so much, I will let you know what happens! I am hoping all he needs is rest!

 

[2BullyMama]

Thank you guys so much, I will let you know what happens! I am hoping all he needs is rest!

How is Winston?

For dry paw/nose.... I use a product called Musher's Secret ... small amount goes a long way.

 

[Vicaroo1000]

How is Winston?

For dry paw/nose.... I use a product called Musher's Secret ... small amount goes a long way.

I've got a concoction here called "Bully Butter". It was a giveaway at Slobberfest 2011 from a well respected EB vet in the Seattle market. I've never seen a giant tin of it anywhere so I bought this stuff: http://www.amazon.com/Cain-Able-Moisturizing-Pets-Ounces/dp/B000FFBNQA/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1321799258&sr=1-1 and it works nicely!

 

[Lauren31287]

Thanks so much! I will look into those products. We did start putting aquaphor on them and they seem to be healing up well! Winston is not doing so good. He was still limping on saturday pretty badly so we brought him to the vet and she determined he had done something to his toe because it was swollen and he cried when she touched it. So she put him on an anti inflammatory called Metacam. Anyone have any experience with this? He was ok with his first dose but after his second one last night he got really sick to his stomach and now has really loose stool. I called the vets office this morning and they said to feed him boiled chicken and rice for the rest of the day and when the doctor got in they were going to talk to her about if we should stop the meds. It is helping his limping but I can tell his tummy is really upset . I feel so bad for him and I want to make him better! If anyone has had any experience with this medication I would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks so much!

 

[Lauren31287]

Update, the vet called back and said she would like me to continue the metacam to heal his foot. She is prescribing a medication to help his tummy though to take with it and hopefully that with a bland diet will get his tummy back to normal. Can I feed him boiled chicken and rice? or will the rice bother his tummy? Sorry for all the questions, I just don't know what to do here. My poor baby

 

[Lindathedogsmaid]

well --Do I ever sympathize,, I have periods of skin cracking,on all joints, during winter mostly ,and dogs can have the same type of thing ,
the pad are softer than we think. first try to always, use Burt's Bees hand salve( in the health food section-usually) and use this on the paws/nose it is exactly like the prescribed nose stuff we recommend --only missing rosemary~ so I do the nose daily . the don't mind it to bad. like some things! but try a pair baby socks with some Velcro around the leg when out walking. they stay on better than dog boots.(cheaper too,) try to get him to crate or bed rest-- trust me cracked feet/paws are PAINFUL---a good wash of feet on returning from a walk would be a good thing until the pads are much better. one of my females used to be cracked. and I used this on her until they were softer. hugs. and kiss his little spot on his nose - I call a divet!