Help!! Buds got sore paws :(

[Blue-bear]

Any suggestions welcome. Buddy has been going mental in the snow today, had some friends round playing footbal with him etc. He just scared the life out of me, because suddenyl there was red snow!

Its actually coming from his claws...like his worn them down too much

Anything i can do for this?

Ta x

 

[Lucy_Nottingham]

bathe the paw(s) in warm salt water to clean the wound. then thoroughly dry with a clean towel.

Has he cut the paw or got something stuck in it?

Snow doesnt wear claws down so just have a feel of all his claws and see if any are loose, saw or bleed if you fiddle with them. If any of these happen take him to the vet!

If the bleeding has stopped just monitor I think....... but others may disagree.

but defo bathe!

 

[Blue-bear]

have bathed, all stopped bleeding.
Its definatly the ends of his claws its coming from. Rather than his pads. Just seems odd?

 

[CorvusCorax]

The salt used for gritting can irritate, was he near a road or pavement?

 

[Blue-bear]

No

Just been round the yard, its just normal concrete underneath. All looks much better now its dried up, but cant help but feel it must sting for him, like when you cut your own nails too short

 

[Lucy_Nottingham]

thats odd. So its actually comming from the end of a claw?! like if you trim the nail too short and catch the quik?

That would really only happen in that situation, or if he caught them on something (and snow wouldnt cause it......) how strange.....

Id say see if it happens again tomorrow and if it does then id take him to the vets for an investigation. sorry not much more help than that!

 

[FestiveSpirit]

Personally I wouldnt bother going to the vets just for a sore claw; just monitor over the next few days and if it re-occurs try and find out how/where the blood is coming from

 

[Lucy_Nottingham]

sorry yes i did say monitor first (sort of didnt say it quiute so clearly, but thats what i meant!)

 

[FestiveSpirit]

Sorry L_N I wasnt meaning to correct you or anything, I was just dashing off my reply without thinking

Apologies

 

[Lucy_Nottingham]

its ok!

Wasnt taking offense, was just meaning that that was what I had meant i just hadnt explained myself properly!

(which often happens!)

 

[Bosworth]

I think it will be the hard frozen ground that has done this. I took a dog walking with me in the scottish hills who was used to walking miles but on the way home I realised all four feet were bleeding and when I checked closely it was her claws. She had worn them down dramatically in just one day. She was very sore for 24 hours - then was fine. She was just not used to frozen ground and was using her feet slightly differently than normal which altered the angle at which her claws touched the ground.

 

[Lucy_Nottingham]

huh! wow this is interesting that it seems to be the snow etc that is causing this problem!

**takes mental note for future practice**

Hope your dog is doing better today!

 

[Blue-bear]

Ive kept him a bit quieter today (havent let him go nuts with the football!) and he seems fine. thank you

It is odd though as hes the only 1 out of my 3 that this seems to happen too. It also jogged my memory that last time it snowed a few weeks back i spotted blood in the snow and couldnt find anything on them as i stupidly looked straight in their mouths!

But perhaps this was the problem then too. The only thing i can put it down to is that he must walk differently when theres snow on the ground...

Have been pondering today what i can do to help him grow a bit of nail/strengthen them....and yep have even thought about applying hand and nail cream to him

*shakes head* what ever next!

 

[suzysparkle]

Don't panic! We run huskies in harness and sometimes (mainly on trails that are a wee bit abrasive and with the ones that work particularly hard) this happens. Basically the claw wears down a bit too much! Some dogs do seem more prone that others. We will boot them if we think it might happen which does help. If it does happen they never seem to notice but we avoid running for at least a day then boot for a few days. Not much you can do really. I have heard of some bizarre attemps though : superglue&small bits of suede and clear nail polish amongst them. Mine would never stay still enough to allow either to be applied!