How to treat a dog's paw pad injury

A paw pad injury may be a challenging injury to deal with. Because the area supports a dog's weight and because it is used in order to walk, it will undergo constant friction, pressure and also it will be difficult to keep clean. Another issue, is also the fact that the area is often a popular site dogs like to lick, therefore, further delaying healing.

My dog Kaiser suffered a paw injury and him and  I sure went through an ordeal. My veterinarian had warned me of how difficult the area was to heal and having worked at a vet's office, I have seen my fair share of dogs with paw pad injuries. I think my dog was one of the hardest cases to cure, so I will list some things I had to do to help him heal. Each dog is different so each dog will respond differently. Also, always have your dog seen by a veterinarian, as in some cases there may be infections.

1) Wash with soap

Use a nice antibacterial soap and wash the pad. This will clean the wound and prepare it for treatment.

2) Inspect the area

You can also dip the paws in water and Epsom salts for about 15 minutes, if you suspect something may be stuck in the skin. Should you spot a thorn or something embedded carefully remove it with tweezers. Check for glass, thorns, burrs anything that can be stuck within the pad.

3) Disinfect

Once the paw pad is clean and dry, disinfect with betadine. You can soak a cotton ball and carefully disinfect the area allowing it then to air dry for a few minutes.

4) Prevent infection

Neosporin works great as it prevents infection and it is safe should your dog lick it off. However, you want you dog not to lick it off because it needs to be absorbed through the skin properly. So keep an eye on your dog and wrap the paw up so he will not have access to it. For some reason dogs seem to like to lick it up.

5) Use gauze

Wrap the paw in gauze to keep the would clean and cushion as the dog walks. You can secure the gauze then with self adhering bandage so your dog can walk without the gauze coming off. Keep a watchful eye on dogs that tend to eat foreign matter. My dog used to eat the gauze off all the time. Also, every now and then, like when your dog is resting, take the gauze off so your the wound can dry and heal faster.

6) Put a sock on top

Many times a sock on top of the gauze will discourage your dog from licking the paw. But be very careful. Kaiser one morning surprised me, I opened up his crate and the sock was gone! After looking for it everywhere, I realized it had gone down his tummy. Luckily, I induced vomiting in time and he brought it back up. A sock can cause an intestinal obstruction, so avoid using it if your dog tends to eat foreign matter or use it only under your supervision.

7) Get bitter apple

Try to spray some bitter apple on top of the gauze or on the sock. This is a spray that has an awful taste that discourages most dogs from licking and chewing. You can find it in pet stores. Yet, a small percentage of dogs care less about the taste (my dog, for example). Never spray it directly on the wound.

8) Teach "leave it"

During the day, Kaiser was told often the "leave it" command when he was seen trying to pick at his foot. I used to catch him licking usually when he was bored. It helped to toss him a bone or a chew toy to keep him distracted. My biggest problem was though at night, when he was in his crate unsupervised.

9) E- collars

If your dog is persistent in licking his paw until it is raw, you may need to invest in an E- collar. This is a lamp shade collar used on dogs to prevent them from turning their head around to chew or lick wounds. While, your dog may be uncomfortable the first hours, most get a hang of it sooner than later.

10) Monitor 24/7

I tried everything with Kaiser, bandages, gauzes, socks, bitter apple. It just seemed like he would eat everything and then lick his paw. I was really at my wits end as all this chewing and licking took place when he was alone at night. He never did this during the day. I also got him an E- collar and I still cannot understand how he got to chew a piece off of it too. I must have a sort of Houdini dog.

So at the end, after one month of the injury getting always worse and not better, I decided to take him to my bedroom and keep a flash light handy and tell him to leave it if I heard him licking during the night.

Surprisingly, with mommy besides him, he never dared to touch his paw again. Every time I heard him lick I turned the flash light on and he returned to sleep. Within seven days of hearing him snoring next to my bed, his paw pad injury finally completely healed. Now, I am extra careful in keeping his paws nice and moist and preventing cracked paws by applying vaseline every now and then. No more paw pads injuries for my dog I hope, not a very nice thing to deal with indeed!