Sore paw pads on pug - antibiotics not helping! DESPERATE

[ZubinB]

hi,
My sisters pug (9yo) has got awfully sore front paw pads - he can barely walk and is getting very aggressive with it. He isn't licking or biting them, they are just red and painful. The vet has prescribed a variety of antibiotics and frequent bathing in hibiscrub(?) as they say it is an infection, but literally nothing has worked and he is starting to get super aggressive when you approach him.
Anyone have any ideas or had something similar?? The vets has cost £500+ to no effect, worse, the pug is getting more miserable and aggressive with it. It's been a few weeks now and I'm desperate to help X

My dog developed a swollen toe which was slightly painful to walk on. It started weeping so the vet prescribed about 3 weeks worth of antibiotics. They then said it could be a bone infection which was hard to treat or tumour so would amputate. The site of the amputation (2 weeks ago) healed ok but the next toe now has a raging infection. Still waiting for histology results on the amputation. The dog can now hardly put her foot down, has pain relief, two lots of antibiotics, hibiscrub washes and from today medical grade Manuka honey to smear on it! I have to cover the foot with plastic for her to go in the garden and she can't be taken out for a walk. I wish we had never agreed to it as she is much worse than when we started, vet bill is also about £950 now.

If there isn't a tumour, the next step for my dog is a swab of the infection to see what bacteria are present and then target with the correct antibiotic, maybe that could be an option if there is any weeping along with the honey for your sister's dog

Has the vet taken a scrape of the paw cells
to analyse?

Have they taken cultures or done any other tests? I would hope, having spent £500 some tests should have been done. There can be lots of potential causes, including infection, but also potentially allergy, hormone/endocrine, auto-immune, even genetic tendency. So without tests they shouldn’t just be assuming it’s infection.

If they aren’t getting anywhere with their usual vet, they could ask him to refer to a veterinary dermatologist for further advice. It’s pricey, but should be covered by insurance if they have it.

Canine Pododermatitis

Pododermatitis

Sorry, second link didn’t work. Pododermatitis

We went through a period of this with our greyhound - but she WOULD "improve" them with licking and biting everytime we got them partly healed up. Umpteen visits to the vets and various things tried... and then it just stopped almost overnight (after months of her being in socks taped onto her feet and all sorts). We think with her it was a stress reaction to losing our other dog - despite the fact she was an absolute cowbag to him (he had the assertiveness of a wet paper bag the poor lad and would have been bullied by his own fleas if he had them).

is it the pads themselves or inbetween?
can you post a photo?

thanks all. She has been referred to a dermatologist who thinks it may be lupus or an auto immune condition - basically not an infection. He is going to be sedated and swabs taken/paws treated. x

@ZubinB so glad you’ve managed to get some appropriate treatment, hope all goes well.

It's is likely that it could be allergies and shows it through sore paws. Could be worth speaking to a naturopath to work out allergies and start adding in missing supplements. We use www.leafretreat.com to help our pugs manage conditions. For c£100 it's worth a go as pugs are pretty allergic and it happens after years spend in dry kibble. Then you can keep going with vet but know you have removed likely toxins in diet too.