# Cracked Paw



## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

Miles cracked his R front pad  We were at the beach all day Sunday and he was alternating between swimming, fetch, digging, and riding on my paddleboard. I think his pads got soft from all the water exposure that day and at the end of the day he was riding around with me on my paddle board and I noticed blood on the board. I cleaned up the cut and it is slowly healing over the past two days. Bandages and socks not working, he rips them off. He tolerates me cleaning it and putting anti bacterial on it. I am going to butterfly tape it at lunch today since he won't allow a bandage. 

My big question is his activity level. He is wanting to run, play, fetch etc. He limps a little bit if he's trotting but running it's un noticeable. I don't want to make the paw worse, but also don't want a crazy vizsla in the house. Does anyone have any experience with a cracked paw? 

Once Chase is born I am putting a big order of dog supplies in and plan to order Bag Balm for prevention.


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

I'm bumping this back up. 

There must be someone who's had a pup who cracked their paw? It looks better today about 25% closed up depth wise. It's still taped and bandaged but would love some feedback on other experiences with the healing process.


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## mlwindc (Feb 8, 2013)

No experience, just sympathy. Have you tried duct taping the top of the sock to keep him from pulling it off? Not sure what else there is to do. Good luck & hope it heals soon.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

You can use Tuf foot or bag balm, if its cracking from being dry. If you believe its caused from the water, mushers secret is a good barrier.


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

I just ordered Bag Balm and Mushers Secret. I sent him to daycare today, was hesitant to because of the other dogs and him playing, but I rationalized sending him because the staff can keep an eye on him and stop him from picking at his bandage. I have tried all kinds of ways to keep a bandage on, he's so good at getting them off! Hope it heals soon  Heard controversial reports on stitching vs. natural healing.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Pads heal quickly, so he should be back to normal in no time. You can put epsom salt and warm water in a tub to soak his foot. It helps the healing process and takes the soreness away.


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

If you go to the bottom of this thread (http://www.vizslaforums.com/index.php/topic,3557.msg24633.html#msg24633) you can see a picture of Jasper's duct-taped paw/leg and an explanation. I've had to do it a couple of times again, and am able to leave him with just that self-adhesive bandage wrap instead of duct tape without him bothering it, even when left alone, but your mileage may vary. He did mess with it at first, but he has grown used to it. I did leave it unwrapped when I was home with him and could keep him from licking it, aside from when we originally "test-drove" the bandaging procedure.

I didn't want to actually duct-tape his fur, since I imagine that would hurt getting pulled off. So at the time I did the Ace bandage snugly, and then sort of "protected" it with the duct tape. It worked for us, but it sounds like Miles is a lot more insistent on getting it off than Jasper was!


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

Wow that looks challenging to get off! Thanks! 

Planning an Epsom salt bath and heavier duty bandage tomorrow and Musher's secret on the way. How long was his healing time?


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

The couple of times where it involved an infected toenail, with antibiotic ointment, he was usually healed enough that he didn't need the bandage after 3 or 4 days. Otherwise he'd lick the toe raw.

A few months ago he cut one of his little paw pads (by the toenail) on a stubborn nail in our stairs that keeps coming up out of the wood (from the temperature change, I assume). It didn't look that bad, and probably isn't as bad as Miles', but I would say it was healed enough to go without a bandage in less than a week? 5 days, maybe? I honestly didn't even notice it because he wasn't limping--look down and there's blood on the floor! Scared me half to death. It was about a full week before he could fully get back to running the trails and wrestling with the other dogs without it opening back up. But going for long walks or runs on-leash was usually fine.

I did find that placing either a non-stick pad or a damp piece of gauze (I think I used bactine) against the wound and then putting the sock on helped. Otherwise when the wound would bleed, the sock would get totally stuck to it, and then taking it off would cause the wound to open again. The non-stick pad was less messy, but more prone to sticking than damp gauze. Now that I think about it, I suppose a nice layer of antibiotic/bag balm/etc. would also help prevent the sticking without need for wet gauze.


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## CrazyCash (Jul 12, 2012)

I feel your pain on having to wrap his foot! I don't know if you remember, but Penny had a bad leg injury and I had to wrap it every day for over a month. I don't have much advice on a cracked paw, but I can give a little advice on wrapping it. My vet had me do a wet to dry wrap - basically I'd soak some gauze in medicated liquid and wrap that around her foot and then wrap some dry gauze over that, then I'd use the self-adhesive flexible bandage over that with medical tape on the top and bottom of the bandage. She wore that all day and then when I got home from work I'd take it off and let her leg air out for awhile before I bandaged it back up. The key for me to keeping the bandage on was just to keep her busy - she would play with Cash all day long and the bandage was still on when I got home. . How did daycare go today - that might be a good idea until he doesn't need the bandage anymore.


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

Thanks for suggestions!! Miles did great at camp. I called mid day and they said he wasn't picking his bandage. Epsom salts tonight then a new bandage in the morning. Poor boy.


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## HudsonVizsla (Jul 9, 2012)

I've had lots of issues with Hudson's paws cracking/rubbing etc.

Get some EMT Gel (amazing stuff) and just put it on. It creates a barrier, promotes healing and toughens it up. I didn't bandage it at all - just kept it clean as possible and put ointment on it. 

They heal fast (and tougher) so he will be finee!


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

When Riley cut his paw pad, he wouldn't allow a bandage either and it was just deep and big enough that even not allowing him to exercise, it just kept busting open so we ran him in to the vet and they super glued it just like they do on some human wounds.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

I had an interesting conversation with a Husky owner today, we were talking about dog's health in general... he said cracked paws (not cut paws) could be due to zinc deficiency, at least in Huskies. Problem is that zinc is tricky to absorb, I read.


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## MCD (May 4, 2013)

vet wrap used on horses? to take care of abcesses and epsom salt soaks keeping it dry afterwards. antibiotic creams. I don't know about the dog issues but horse sense could probably apply on some level.


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