Torn paw pads...pics kind of gross

[Hundilein]

I need some advice on Renee's feet. I was clipping her toenails today and found that two of her pads are ripped. And there are tiny burn spots on the edges of a couple of toe pads. This must have happened while she was at the kennel for a week. We just picked her up this morning. She is not limping, and didn't whine or seem uncomfortable when I was holding her foot. I did notice her licking one paw, and I think it's because there is a little flap of skin on the side that might be bothering her a bit. The thing is, the skin under the tears doesn't look raw or tender at all (see pictures below). It looks almost like my foot does when it gets really dry and I rip the top layer of dead skin off.

So, a couple of questions...does this look bad enough that I need to take her to the vet asap? It doesn't look bad to me, but I'm now freaking out.

She is supposed to run in a flyball tournament this weekend. Do I need to pull her and leave her home, or could I play it by ear and let her run as long as she doesn't start acting painful or limping and just keep a really close eye on her feet? She does not run fast, and has never had a problem with burning her pads while running.

If I do let her run, I want to do something to keep her from hurting her pads any more. Would wrapping them with vet wrap for each race be a reasonable, cheap solution?

On one of the places, there's a flap around the tear that seems to just be hanging there. Should I trim that off, or just leave it alone?

Thank you for any advice. As I said, I am freaking out. Today has been a very stressful day and this discovery has not helped any.

Here's the pictures




This is the one with the little flap of skin, it's on the right side of the torn part

[pitbullmamaliz]

I have no idea, just wanted to offer my sympathies to the poor girl. I always cringe and freak out when Inara tears her paw pads. It just looks so painful!

[amazincc]

I have no idea, just wanted to offer my sympathies to the poor girl. I always cringe and freak out when Inara tears her paw pads. It just looks so painful!

Ditto.

[Marinepits]

Her pads actually look pretty good. In that second pic, you could trim off the little hangy bits with either nail scissors or human nail clippers. Other than that, it looks fine.

In the last pic, how deep is that flap? As long as it isn't red, raw, oozy, gross, anything abnormal underneath, you can carefully trim that flap off so it doesn't catch on anything and rip off to make a deeper "cut". Just trim a tiny bit off at a time and see how Renee handles it. If she seems uncomfortable, don't trim any more off.

That flap will eventually wear off, but if she's running this weekend, I would trim off as much as I safely could so it doesn't catch and tear. And as long as there is no "yuck" under that flap, you could put some skin glue on it after you trim it.

Personally, I would keep a close eye on her if she runs and pull her if she starts limping or seems painful. Wouldn't hurt to wrap that one paw with the flap, either.

[Hundilein]

Her pads actually look pretty good. In that second pic, you could trim off the little hangy bits with either nail scissors or human nail clippers. Other than that, it looks fine.

In the last pic, how deep is that flap? As long as it isn't red, raw, oozy, gross, anything abnormal underneath, you can carefully trim that flap off so it doesn't catch on anything and rip off to make a deeper "cut". Just trim a tiny bit off at a time and see how Renee handles it. If she seems uncomfortable, don't trim any more off.

That flap will eventually wear off, but if she's running this weekend, I would trim off as much as I safely could so it doesn't catch and tear. And as long as there is no "yuck" under that flap, you could put some skin glue on it after you trim it.

Personally, I would keep a close eye on her if she runs and pull her if she starts limping or seems painful. Wouldn't hurt to wrap that one paw with the flap, either.

Thank you! I will trim the flap either tonight or tomorrow morning and see how it goes. Nothing looks red or oozy, and there's no "yuck" anywhere that I can see. I think we're going to try to have her run half time this weekend, and try switching in the middle of each race so she doesn't have to run more than 3 heats in a row. And if she gets flagged, I won't re-run her. If she starts limping or showing any signs of pain, I'll pull her. And I'm going to pick something up tomorrow to wrap her feet with.

[Malli]

yeah I 2nd Jenifer's thoughts.

To me, it looks like they (the pads) might have been injured weeks ago, at least some time ago...

What kind of surface is she running on? If its smoothe or soft grass or something I think you'd be pretty good, if its pavement or like gritty tennis court type surface then I'd watch her closely.

I agree, temporary wraps can't hurt.

[Hundilein]

She'll be running on rubber matting, so it shouldn't be too rough, hopefully. And they have lots of grass outside for potty walking, so it should really just be walking through the parking lot at the hotel where she'll be on anything rough, and I can limit that.

Thanks guys. You've really put my mind at ease. I'll still be watching her like a hawk, and worrying, but I think I'll be able to sleep tonight.

[maberi]

I 3rd Jen's thoughts

They look very similar to Kaydens and he injured his weeks ago. When he initially tore them they were red and raw for a good week so those look like an older injury.

I know a few people who actually wrap their dogs feet in vet wrap before running them. These dogs do NOT lose a step while running. If you are that concerned you could try doing that. Kayden walked a bit funny for a few minutes when I wrapped him up but after that he was running around like they weren't even there.

yeah I 2nd Jenifer's thoughts.

To me, it looks like they (the pads) might have been injured weeks ago, at least some time ago...

What kind of surface is she running on? If its smoothe or soft grass or something I think you'd be pretty good, if its pavement or like gritty tennis court type surface then I'd watch her closely.

I agree, temporary wraps can't hurt.

[Hundilein]

So, quick update. Renee ended up seeing the vet after all because her eye was all goopy and red Friday morning, so I had him take a look at her feet as well. He said they looked fine, just part of the callous had worn off. He thought she'd be fine running without wraps. He thinks she just got something in her eye that irritated it, so we're using some eye drops for a few days, and she's already looking better. She ran all weekend with no problems, and her feet look about the same, if not a little better. Thank you all for your advice and opinions!

[Malli]

excellent