# Thorn in paw, pretty deep!



## minnere (Jul 8, 2010)

Hello! Pacer is 8 mths old now. Today, I went to visit my parents and my mom and I took him for a walk in a grassy area surrounded by empty corn fields, wooded areas and a creek. We are having a heat wave so all of the snow was melted and he was having a good time seeing how muddy he could get! We walked him, off leash, for about an hour and went home. This was around 2 pm and when I went to leave my parents at about 8:30 pm we noticed he was limping. I didn't get a chance to really look until I got home but I noticed he had something stuck in the large pad on his paw. After a lot of fighting, wrestling, biting (you name it he did it) I was able to pull what turned out to be about a half in. long thorn straight out of his pad. It bled instantly so I cleaned it out and put neosporin on it. Then, I wrapped with for the night. It was wedged in there pretty deep, took a lot of pulling to get it out (could barely see the end of it to know there was anything in there). I don't want it to get infected, is putting neosporin on it ok? Can I wash it out with peroxide? Is there something that is better? I am trying to save myself a vet visit!

I think Pacer is upset with me right now for causing him the pain of removing it! I felt soooooo bad because I knew I was hurting him but it had to be done! He wouldn't even chew on the raw hide that I gave him as a treat after!


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## scooby (Mar 23, 2009)

our vet recommended bathing in salt water after scooby cut his pad ( boiled water that had cooled) to stop any infection, hope Pacer is ok and i'm sure he'll forgive you soon !


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## virgilsmom (Aug 13, 2008)

Our vet has us soak wounds in Epsom's salts in really warm water for 10 minutes several times a day , but if he was in a lot of mud i would watch very carefully for infection. especially if you were around a creek where there could be other animal feces. Neosporin is fine, but he will lick it off quickly. we had a very bad infection from an injury in a farm pond, it finally took a culture to see what the germ was. Any time you have a deep puncture wound it needs to be watched carefully. Hopefully it heals quickly.


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