Greyhound foot trouble

[dueApril2010]

Hi all,

I have to confess to generally being a bit of a lurker on MN but as I know you all give such good advice I thought I'd try a post.

We have an 8 year old greyhound (retired racer) who we have had for 5 years. He repeatedly gets what our vet calls corns in the pads of his toes i.e. a hard area of skin that is painful to walk on, thought to be caused by a small puncture wound at some point. Our vet used to be a racetrack vet so he knows everything there is to know about greyhounds and people bring their dogs from all over for the corn treatment that he has developed. This involves cutting down into the pad and adding his special potion. This does work for a short time but they always come back after 6 months or so or appear on another toe.

When our dog has a corn he becomes very miserable, not wanting to go for a walk and will try to run home if we let him off the lead. We've also had problems with him urinating in the house when his feet have been bad. Today he growled at my 2 year old DD which he has never done before so I knew something was wrong before I noticed the tiny pin prick puncture in one of his toes. We are off to the vet in a couple of hours but I seem to have to go several times a month these days and he must be constantly in pain.

Has anyone any experience of similar issues?

Thank you in anticipation.

Hi April, greyhounds and lurchers are the only dog breeds that get corns. There is a great deal of controversy over what causes them, with several theories including the idea that the low body fat means that the corn is formed as a protection on the foot pad, and also that they are caused by a papillomavirus. There is loads of information if you google it, and Greytalk is a wonderful specialist greyhound chat/website with lots and lots of info and ideas.

As you have found, corns cannot be cured, only managed. Personally, I would avoid your vet's treatment - that sounds very intrusive. Are you in the UK? One of our greyhounds had corns but they did not look like tiny punctures - they were a shiny, flattened, sort of raised looking wart on the sole of the pad. If it looks like a puncture, then it probably is a puncture, IYSWIM, and could be infected, hence the pain/growling. this picture/article shows how they look.

Your ideas for management. Firstly, I would accept this will be lifelong, and try to adapt/manage as much as possible. Change your dog walking areas - many dogs with corns find it much easier and less painful to walk on grass/soft surfaces. Hard surfaces like pavements are agony. You may well find the dog limps on hard surfaces but not on soft. Consider pain relief - it's a chronic problem - I would discuss this with a vet. Third, you might find success with a little boot such as the Therapaw. I know some grund owners swear by this -we tried it, but it was more trouble than it was worth since our hound hated wearing it. Fourth, it helps enormously to keep the foot softened and to effectively pop the corn out. We used to moisturise the foot twice daily with an emollient cream - cow udder cream or cream for horses hoofs are both excellent and v gentle.

Personally, I would change vets, especially as he is not recommending pain relief.

Good luck!

Hi Scuttlebutter,

My apologies for such an unforgivably late reply. We were heading away on holiday the day I wrote the post (hence the desperation) and things have been v hectic since coming back. But, your post was very reassuring, thank you. The fact that you pointed out that corns are a chronic condition and cannot be cured was reassuring as I find I get so fed up with them (as the poor dog must do so even more) and it always feels like as soon as one has gone away, another comes up and it's the same thing all over again.

My vet's theory is that they are caused by a small wound (e.g. stepping on something sharp) and the scar tissue that forms is hard and painful for them to walk on, as you say, due to the low fat content in their feet. I think that this makes sense, as the one that had come up that day did look like something had gone in, so my vet now recommends filing the pads gently to stop the build-up of hard skin. Your recommendation to use an emolient cream is a good suggestion in that way too. I'd really like to try the boots although my husband is too embarassed, think I will have to overrule him though!

Thanks again for your reply and so sorry it took me so long to reply.

No problem at all.

I'd just reiterate to have a look at Greytalk -it's a treasure trove of info on corns. Lots of photos, discussions, well worth a look.

Good luck.

Don't hesitate to PM if I can be of any further assistance.