cut foot.. your thoughts how bad...

[Swagg]

Well it finally happened. riley got her first cut on her foot. There is very little blood and she does not appear to be limping or favoring her leg at all. as you can see in the picture the cut is right under her first toe on her back leg. since the picture i have throughly cleaned the cut. should i tape her foot up or put one of those boots on it? or is this a serious enough cut for a vet trip?

[Gertie]

My lab cut her pad several times and most of the cuts were small and looked similar to yours. I took her to the vet the first couple of times but then started treating them myself if they weren't too bad. I did what you did as far as the initial cleaning and then took a pad of non-stick gauze and placed it over the cut and wrapped it with vet wrap during the day. At night I cleaned the wound again and left it uncovered to let it scab/heal in the air (dog slept in the house on her bed all night). I re-wrapped it every morning and kept doing it until it was healed up. I'm sure other folks do different things but it seemed to work well for small cuts like your pup's. Also, curious what folks on the forum think about using the Neosporin with pain relief when the foot is wrapped? I never did it but know of people who do.

[phermes1]

Hard to tell from a pic, but I really doubt a vet visit is necessary. All they're going to do is tell you what you already know; keep it clean and put some ointment on it. Neosporin is fine. We'll generally use that or nitrofurozone.

With torn pads, best thing you can do is to put the dog up and not let her run until it's 100% healed. Otherwise you'll just end up prolonging the recovery.

[Swagg]

Yeah thats kind of what i figured. it is not cut on the pad more like the skin between her toe and the large part of her pad. she is going to be off of it until it heals up...

[Sharon]

I wouldn't go to the vet for that.
Soak it in epsom salts/warm water a couple times a day. Then dry it and put polysporin on it. Don't bandage it as the dog will rip it off and it is better if air gets to it. I use that awful Elizabethan collar to keep the dog from licking off the ointment.

I learned a lesson last week. If it's anything to do with the eye, see the vet.
I didn't think it was a big deal but my vet was ticked that I didn't bring her in earlier.

[displaced_texan]

Not to sound callous, but that's not bad at all. A little ointment and time and it'll be good as new. I wouldn't even really restrict activity for that. I wouldn't push it, but if the dog is fine let it run some. Better than a penned up bird dog in the house wanting to let off some steam!

[Sharon]

Including what I said earlier , I would put a cotton pad on that with tape and let the dog run if I wanted to, taking it off when i got home.

[Swagg]

Thanks everyone. Yeah i didnt figure a vet trip was needed, but thought i would ask anyways. It never hurts to get a second opinion and i would hate to be the guy that screwed up my pups feet forever being macho itll heal guy needless to say she wore a sock to keep her foot covered up this morning.

[displaced_texan]

Thanks everyone. Yeah i didnt figure a vet trip was needed, but thought i would ask anyways. It never hurts to get a second opinion and i would hate to be the guy that screwed up my pups feet forever being macho itll heal guy needless to say she wore a sock to keep her foot covered up this morning.

Like you said, it never hurts to get another opinion. When I got my first bird dog my "mentor" told me that I'll feel like I'm abusing or neglecting it at times, then a few dogs down the line I'll wonder why I worried so much about it. Little cuts and such are just part of life for them...

[jcbuttry8]

I had a paw issue on two of my dogs. A cut that looks similar to your dogs, and then a cut that bled all over the house. Took both to the vet. The first told as some of the posts above read. Keep it clean and neosporin. The cut that bled bad took 4 stitches. It was deep and between the toes. Would have never healed. Use your judgement. Watch it if it seems worse or the pup limps take them in. It is relatively cheap to get stiches and heals much faster. You be the judge. Hunting season is close.

Joe