[adigital]

Hey All,

My 5 month old lab/shepherd puppy hurt his leg so we put him in a splint for awhile. During that 2 week time-frame in a splint, he developed a skin infection on his paw. He is on antibiotics, but his paw pad on one of his toes is falling off. I'm worried because underneath his pad there is just soft tissue. Is this something anyone can give me some expertise on? Have you ever had to deal with something like this? And if his paw pad falls off, will a new one come back as a callus? In between his toes his paw is red and very gross. It's getting better but definitely not good.

Thank you in advance for any advice or input from experience.

Adigital

 

[kelly528]

Take him to the vet ASAP and get a buster collar / elizabethan collar for him as well. I can almost guarantee you that he is licking/chewing his paw-pad raw because his leg hurts and this is a reflexive thing that dogs do when they are injured. Naturally when there is only a small part of the leg sticking out of the cast, it becomes very, very raw because of the obsessive attention the dog is giving it.

This happened when Toby broke his leg as a puppy and it did get bad enough that he required separate attention for the paw (gauze bandages, an e-collar and antibiotic course) to prevent the infection from turning really nasty.

In the meantime, supervise him 24/7 so that he cannot get at his paw and lick/chew the toe off. You may also be able to purchase an e-collar at a local pet store. Kong has a few styles in every size you could ever need.

 

[Grabby]

Vet! ASAP!

 

[Tess]

Did you put the splint on yourself, or did the vet do it?
Has he been seen by the vet since you discovered the infection?

Basically the answer to your question is that the pad should grow back if the damage is not too severe and if you keep his tongue off the foot.

Problems like you are having are caused by the splint being too tight or tje padding getting wet, which then creates an environment where bacteria grow.

This is why care of the foot/splint is extremely important and it continues to be critical as you try to promote healing at this point. You definitely need to be working with a veterinarian on this one, and "up your game" quite a bit from what ever you were doing before.

 

[adigital]

Thank you all. Yes, he's basically been in the vet so much Our Dr. knows us by name and makes calls my cell phone to check up on him. Everything you have said is basically what happened. Possibly too tight of a splint (we had been changing out every week) got a little wet. Then put him in an e-collar and such. We have been wrapping his foot up in gauze and he is on antibiotics so it's been getting better. I was just wondering if the paw pad would grow back. He's our best buddy, and we are doing our best. Thank you all again

 

[Tess]

Sounds like you and your vet are on top if things so I would be optimistic for a good recovery in time.

What does the vet say about the pad? Total return of the pad will depend on the extent/depth of tissue damage, but if it was only skin deep infection it should be OK. It is amazing how dogs can heal!
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