Though your dog's paw pads are much tougher than the bottoms of your own feet, they can still suffer from cuts and other injuries. Our Gainesville vets and team discuss what you should do if your dog has a cut paw pad.
The Purpose of Your Dog's Paws
The pads on your dog's feet protect the internal structure of their foot. If your dog breaks one of its footpads, you'll need to get your pup immediate medical attention. Here are some things you can do to help your dog's foot heal.
What can I do if my dog has a cut on his paw pad?
While your dog's footpads are thick and rubbery, they can be torn, cut, burnt, or punctured. This can cause injury, pain, and discomfort. Here are your next steps:
Contact Your Vet
Your dog's feet are essential to their everyday existence and need to be in good health to keep them active and content. Report any cuts or tears to your dog's paw pad to your veterinarian right away. If you need to take your pet to the emergency animal hospital or if an examination is sufficient, your veterinarian can advise you regarding both. Additionally, your veterinarian's staff might be able to provide you with crucial guidance on how to treat your dog's foot until you can visit the office.
Take a Close Look At the Injured Pad
Take a close look at your dog's foot pad to look for any indications of objects stuck in the wound, like a thorn or a piece of glass, as well as any debris, grass, or gravel. Debris that is loosely embedded can be carefully removed with clean tweezers.
If your dog has a large piece of glass or other foreign object lodged in their foot, contact your nearest emergency vet immediately for advice on what to do to keep your dog as comfortable as possible while transporting them to the emergency vet.
Clean The Cut
Add a good amount of soapy warm water to a bowl or bucket and swish your pup's foot around to clean the wound and help dislodge any remaining debris. Rinse with clear water.
Alternatively, you could vacuum and clean your dog's paw by lightly misting it with clean water from a hose. Squirt a tiny bit of dish soap or liquid hand soap onto your dog's paw as you rinse to aid in the destruction of bacteria.
Another good way to clean a cut on your dog's pad is to rinse the wound with an antiseptic such as diluted chlorhexidine solution.
Control The Bleeding
Using a fresh cloth or towel, apply pressure to the paw pad after removing any foreign objects that might aggravate the cut. In certain situations, a cold compress can help to slow the bleeding by narrowing the blood vessels. Deep cuts might take some time to heal, but superficial grazes might not even bleed.
Assess The Severity of the Injury
Minor cuts and scrapes on your dog's paw pad cut can often be managed at home but for deeper cuts, you will need to seek veterinary care for your pooch.
Take your dog to your veterinarian or the closest emergency veterinary hospital if the cut is deep, ragged, or has debris lodged in it. In certain situations, your veterinarian may prescribe antibiotics to help fight infection in addition to cleaning and dressing serious cuts.
Bandage
Use non-stick sterile gauze pads to cushion the bottom of your dog's cut paw pad and to absorb any blood. This should also help to decrease your dog's pain when walking on the foot.
Wrap your pup's entire foot in a self-sticking bandage, such as Vetwrap or Well & Good, to help keep the gauze in place. These wraps are available at most well-stocked pet supply stores, and some brands are even coated in bitter flavoring to deter your dog from chewing on the bandage.
You can prevent the bandage from falling off and toe swelling in your dog by wrapping their feet from toe to ankle. Keeping this in mind, the bandage shouldn't be wrapped too tightly—it should just be tight enough to stay in place. Between the bandage and your dog's skin, you should be able to fit two fingers.
If bleeding does not slow and stops once the gauze and bandage have been applied it's time to head to the vet for care.
Prevent Licking
Many customers inquire with us about allowing their dog to lick a cut paw. Excessive licking can cause infection and wound reopening, even though some licking can help kill bacteria at the site of the injury. It is not appropriate to allow your dog to lick his injured paw. Although bandaging the wound can help keep your dog from licking it, some dogs get so obsessed with licking it that you may need to get them an Elizabethan collar or another device while their cut paw pad heals.
Ongoing Care
It will be critical to keep the bandages clean and dry as your dog's wound heals. This can be difficult, but wearing a waterproof bootie or wrapping a plastic bag around your dog's foot and ankle whenever they go outside can help keep the cut clean and dry.
You should change your dog's bandage daily to avoid infection and to allow you to examine the wound to ensure that it is healing properly. If you notice any signs of swelling, excessive redness, discharge, odor, or increasing pain, take your pet to the veterinarian right away.
After removing the old bandage, gently clean the foot with warm soapy water and thoroughly dry it before applying the new bandage.
By visiting the veterinarian as soon as your pet shows symptoms of infection, you can prevent the wound from getting worse and more painful. Along with giving your dog antibiotics to fight infection and painkillers to help him deal with the discomfort of a cut paw, your veterinarian will be able to thoroughly clean the dog's paw pad.
Final Word From Browns Bridge Animal Hospital
First aid measures listed above are not a replacement for quality veterinary care. It's good to err on the side of caution when it comes to your pet's health. Take your dog to the veterinarian if the wound is severe or if you are not sure if it is. In addition to treating your dog, your veterinarian can provide you with wound care instructions.
Note: The advice provided in this post is intended for informational purposes and does not constitute medical advice regarding pets. For an accurate diagnosis of your pet's condition, please make an appointment with your vet.