# Cut between toes / footbed



## Frida010 (Apr 24, 2020)

A week ago my V was limping and I discovered a cut between her toe and footbed. It didn’t seem too deep and I am not sure if it was fresh, it looked older. I cleaned it and soaked it in salt water twice a day while she was eating. The cut does not seem infected but she limps after each exercise. During walks she runs perfectly normal but after she is rested she limps. After a few movements she uses her leg again. She is is eating well, seems her happy bouncy self. Her leg nor her toes seem to hurt (I can move them and put pressure on all of them).
I’m thinking of waiting it out another week to see if the limping decreases before seeing a vet. It wouldn’t be the first visit for absolutely nothing…
Am I being too harsh?


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Does the cut look fully healed on the outside?


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## Frida010 (Apr 24, 2020)

It looks dry (it’s darkened, not red), but the cut is still open. It’s small but quite deep so I am not sure it’ll close easily by itself.
I find it impossible to take a good picture sinc the cut is so small (but deep) and covered by the hairs between her paws.


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## BellaVT (12 mo ago)

I'm not qualified to give you medical advice on how you should treat your dog, but our Vizsla had a very similar wound a couple months ago: a small deep puncture between two toes with very little bleeding. I'm guessing she got it by hitting a thin sharp stick while running. We were alerted because she licked it a lot, and because she'd occasionally stand with that leg raised when resting. It didn't seem to bother her when actually running. 

We decided not to take her to the vet, and to let it heal naturally. 

Our main worry was infection. If it had shown any obvious signs of infection, we would have taken her in, but it remained clean. We applied a (human) topical antibiotic ointment about once a day to the surface area around the puncture, trying not to force it in deep. It's debated whether such ointments are a good idea, but we decided it would be beneficial. 

The other possible danger is that whatever caused the puncture might still be broken off inside. In our case, we felt we could occasionally see deep enough into the hole to feel sure that nothing large was left there. It remained an open hole for about a week, then sealed over lightly with a scab. We reduced her outdoor running a bit at the beginning but didn't try to keep her off it completely. I think it was fully healed after about two and half weeks. It hasn't bothered her since.


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## Frida010 (Apr 24, 2020)

BellaVT said:


> I'm not qualified to give you medical advice on how you should treat your dog, but our Vizsla had a very similar wound a couple months ago: a small deep puncture between two toes with very little bleeding. I'm guessing she got it by hitting a thin sharp stick while running. We were alerted because she licked it a lot, and because she'd occasionally stand with that leg raised when resting. It didn't seem to bother her when actually running.
> 
> We decided not to take her to the vet, and to let it heal naturally.
> 
> ...


Thanks for taking the time for such an elaborate response! I feel our situation is exactly the same. The cut seems so be healing well with daily cleaning and similar ointment. Fred doesn’t lick her paw at all, it doesn’t seem infected and her limp seems to decrease as well. I’ve decided to wait it out for a couple more days to see if the cut will fully heal itself, like in your situation.


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