harley cut edge of main pad on back foot a couple of weeks ago and each time it looks ok it opens up again just finished antibiotics yesterday and it opened up again today. He's always had a tendency of cutting his pad but never had problems with healing. Also has very swollen toe on other back foot. No lameness any ideas at vets tomorrow
I would go get an ace bandage that doesn't stick to skin but will stick to itself. Gently clean the wound with warm water and antibacterial soap and then dry it off. Maybe put an infants sock or gauze bandage on the cut. Lastly I would loosely wrap it his paw with the self sticky Ace bandage. Don't use tape as it will harm him when you pull it off. You don't want to wax your dogs paw but help protect it. This may be the course the vet takes tomorrow too but might add some medications if its infected. Then I would just watch Harley so there is no chewing at the bandage. Good luck and hope for a fast and speedy recovery!
Pads are tricky to bandage because they sweat and this keeps wounds too moist. But there is also the need to protect the cut pad.... Since you're seeing the vet tomorrow I'd bathe the cut in salty water or saline (1 teaspoon salt to 1 cup water), dry it, then bandage it. I'd use something breathable, like a cotton-based stretchy bandage. The vet may or may not recommend keeping it bandaged... Foot wounds are difficult - you really have my sympathies!
Not sure I would recommend salt as it could be very painful to the dog. I know it's good for cleaning wounds but we don't want to inflict more pain on a dog that could be in pain as it is. That's just my opinion though.
Saline solution is not painful as it replicates the mild level of saltiness that is inside the cells, in the cell fluid. Matching the saltiness level also prevents healthy cells from exploding via osmosis (taking in too much water to try to match the saltiness level of the bathing fluid, which is too low in the case of water only if used as a wound cleaning agent).
Oh dear, you do have my sympathies. Poppy cut her paw open over the summer and had to have the cut stapled shut. Personally, I didn't think she needed it, and even considered not taking her to the vet as the cut didn't look too bad - but it turned out the cut was deeper than we thought. The vet told me in their opinion it is better to stitch or staple cut pads back together, as otherwise what you are experiencing is likely to happen - the would heals, the dog runs or jumps, the wound opens again.. I found the Pawz booties really helpful for keeping the wound clean and dry on walks.
I got some rubber ballon type things that protected my dogs feet after a cut. They looked usless but worked well and kept the foot dry and protected.
Sorry about late reply, vet is happy with the way it's healing. Not sure what's the cause of lump on other foot so he is antibiotics for a week. I think my collie is jealous of his vet visits and has a small hard lump on her face, just waiting for vets to open so I can give them a call.
Pads take forever to heal (Brogan cut his once and the vet told me 6 weeks of bandaging!!). I used his dog shoes (just on the one foot) and that worked really well.
My Harley cut her paws earlier this year. It took about 2 weeks to heal. For the first 4 days it was bandaged, then we took it off, cleaned it every day and Kroc it open unless we went out for and we got dog boots for this which really helped.
