Dog Paw Health Problems

Video Transcript

"Hi this is Dr. Bob Pane from Miami, Florida at South Kendall Animal Clinic. Let's talk about some dog paw problems, health problems. Their could be a multitude like everything else. There could be a foreign piece of material in there or it could be an infection secondary to allergies. Sometimes they lick their paws, if they lick their paws turn the paws over and check and see if their is anything like a thorn or a piece of foreign material in there. Rinse it out if that's the case. Sometimes they have nail bed infections where the nail bed gets infected from maybe a trauma or chronic wetness. The biggest thing we see in our practice is allergies and they lick their paws all the time because it itches and they get foreign allergens on it. So by rinsing it off and washing it with disinfectant like a chlorhexiderm will help a lot to clear that up. If they are chewing or acting like it's really painful we recommend going to a veterinarian having x-rays or having an exam, we do what we call a siteology on it. We actually look at the bacteria or yeast that are present and then we treat it accordingly. But look at all the toes,palpate the wrist or the joint above the toes and see if there is any pain in there. Again if there is no paw inflammation it could be a fracture or dislocation or sprain. and that requires medical care. If we're licking the paws and painful, keep them restricted and just rinse it out as much as you can without hurting the dog or yourself. If there's a laceration or a deep cut then rinse it out with peroxide and if you have betadine chlorhexiderm rinse it out with that. And again bandage it lightly and keep them inside and call your veterinarian. Sometimes we'll get, the allergies will be itchy, sometimes we use Benadryl if it's an acute itch and sometimes that helps. And we use that about half a milligram per pound once and if it doesn't seem to respond well to that then you probably should call your vet again. Paw problems are again multitude of problems we see with them and it could be anything from cancer to fractures to infection."