Scraped paw pad...again

[stonkytonk11]

My poor pup has scraped one of her front paw pads for the third time in about 8 months. It's like the top layer has been scraped off and she is limping. We are keeping it clean and putting on some balm but does anyone know of anything better to use on it or how to toughen up her pad to stop it happening again? Thanks 😊

Check with your vet, but rubbing human skin with surgical spirit over a few weeks toughens it. Not sure if it would be recommended for a dog but worth asking. It must be painful for your poor puppy.

Otherwise, boots or changing where you walk. If it's caused by sharp turns from chasing a ball I would stop that too.

Pets at home antiseptic.. Purple bottle is a fiver. Amazing stuff.

This..

I do have that purple bottle antiseptic so been using that and paw balm. Also hear sudocrem can be used in small amounts so will put that on tonight

It's not really normal for dogs to cut their paws just from regular walking, so I'd be looking at where you're walking and what you're doing with her, rather than trying to toughen up her pads or using shoes.

So for example, only allow/encourage running on soft surfaces - grass or sand or dirt, rather than roads or stones or tarmac. No chasing of balls with twists and turns - keep balls low or get your dog to stop and wait before chasing it to encourage them to stay calm and to put less stress on their feet.

She only walks on lead on pavements/hard surfaces. Off lead running is woodland area/beach/grass. She plays football in the garden on the grass but not chasing a tennis ball or anything. Wondering if it happened once and now her paw isn't getting the chance to toughen up as she's always walking on it? She does have itchy paws from time to time and will lick at them so maybe that has softened them and made them more vulnerable 🙁

Of the 7 dogs I've owned over the years none have suffered from this problem. We do a mix of pavement, beach and grass walks. It sounds like it maybe hasn't healed from the first time but the scratching at paws may well be an alllergy. I'd see a vet as it's the third time. Hope she's on the mend soon.

Itchy paws are generally down to allergies.

Has she seen a vet?

When she cuts her paw, you need to wrap it up with something like vetwrap and give her a few days off.

Yes she's seen a vet and they recommended keeping it clean (after each walk) but otherwise leaving it uncovered to heal up. Will get her checked out again though and see what they say

Although we aren't actually walking her at the moment...just to a nearby grass area for toilet and mooching about in the garden

I use Mushers Secret. I just rub it on paws a couple of times a week. Not sure if it works but mine scrapped all his pads quite badly when someone through a ball on concrete and he went running over retrieve it so wanted to give it a whirl.

Sounds very painful for your poor pup.
Has it healed after the previous times? Is it the same front paw each time?
Maybe check with your vet but have you considered using vet wrap to cover the paw when walking until its full healed?

We've had the same this week. He came home from a group dog walk and was clearly uncomfortable and when I checked he'd managed to scrape a sizeable piece off the big pad of his paw.. Thankfully, I had put together a doggy first aid kit a while back for emergencies. I cleaned him up and felt gently all over to check nothing in his paw sprayed with Leucillin and very gently massaged in Exmarid ointment for abrasions then repeated for a few days then moved to using Bag Balm as his paw started to heal (remarkably quickly). During the day when I could keep an eye on him, I did put a non adhesive dressing on lightly bandaged on but took it off at night. He was so good letting me do all this and has been very tolerant (for an active dog) to having lots of crate rest.

He's bounced back really quickly and they are looking so much better less than a week on. We've ordered a pot of Mushers to use once fully healed as been recommended it by lots of people.

Hope your dog is recovered soon. It's so hard seeing them in pain!

@bingohandjob sorry to hear your doggo has had the same. Must be painful for them, the vet took a look and said that she just has soft pads so will be susceptible to this. I have put balm on too and it has healed really quickly, thankfully.