Hi folks,

My computer is shot and so I find I must temporarily use Google Groups
on my husband's machine. I should be back in the running in a more
normal fashion soon.

Except for some chaos with our truly psychotic landlady, who is trying
to throw us out illegally and has resorted to vandalism, threats, and
having her husband try to attack me and two-year-old Walter, we're all
in general doing fine.

In specific, though, Saskia (2 1/2-year-old Dane) has mysteriously
sustained a nasty looking but shallow cut the entire length of that
funny upper pad at the top of the foot--you know, the sticking-out one
way above the dewclaw. I had it bandaged with Betadine for two days and
then ran out of vetwrap. I just went over to the vet and got some more.


The assistant there warned me that even though this cut is about a foot
above the bottom surface of her foot, I need to wrap the entire leg
from the cut down over the whole foot. Can this really be required? I
was doing it with just a couple of passes of vetwrap (not too tight at
all) to hold the gauze in place, but they said this will inevitably cut
off the circulation to her foot.

Now, for 48 hours I've been doing the couple-passes-at-the-site thing,
and she's never evinced a limp, nor seemed to be bothered at all by the
bandage, nor had any trouble wiggling her toes, her foot has remained
nice and warm and the right size and shape, etc., etc. I am very
tempted to just go on like I've been doing and ignore the assistant's
insistence, but thought I'd check with you folks first, as there is
such a large collection of experience and knowledge to be accessed
here.

Thanks,
Katrina

Oops, typo--the wound is not a foot above the foot, obviously. It's
about 5" above the foot. When I was doing the lihgt bandage, the bottom
edge came to just above where the foot starts to widen out from the
wrist toward the toes. Do I really need to wrap the whole foot?
--Katrina

"ReturnOfSaskia" wrote in message
ups.com...

In specific, though, Saskia (2 1/2-year-old Dane) has mysteriously
sustained a nasty looking but shallow cut the entire length of that
funny upper pad at the top of the foot--you know, the sticking-out one
way above the dewclaw. I had it bandaged with Betadine for two days and
then ran out of vetwrap. I just went over to the vet and got some more.


The assistant there warned me that even though this cut is about a foot
above the bottom surface of her foot, I need to wrap the entire leg
from the cut down over the whole foot. Can this really be required? I
was doing it with just a couple of passes of vetwrap (not too tight at
all) to hold the gauze in place, but they said this will inevitably cut
off the circulation to her foot.



It's called the "stopper pad" g

I've seen many cut pads and see no reason for extensive bandaging. I would
tend not to do too much bandaging at all unless the dog was really going at
it licking and so on- just enough to keep dirt out. A couple of passes with
vetwrap is plenty.

If the cut is really bad and remaining open I would think glue would be your
best bet- Super Glue is fine. If the edges are holding together no glue is
necessary, though- just keep it clean and it will be fine.


--
Toni
http://www.irish-wolfhounds.com

Thanks! It is remaining open but it's only a few mm deep (just barely
all the way through the pad skin, just enough to bleed but not
copiously) and only about 3mm wide, so I figure it's OK to just let it
scar a bit considering where it is. She has been licking it when we're
not looking, thus the bandage. Anyway, thank you again, and I'll carry
on as I have been!
--Katrina

Thanks! If I bandage it really thoroughly can she go for a run? She's
getting a tad stir crazy. She's still in her "gotta run gotta run"
phase. Meanwhile, OK, I'll whip all bandaging off when I can watch her,
and put it back on when we're asleep/out. She's not such a major, major
licker, but every now and then she gets interested in it and suddenly
it's bleeding again. Or she'll start playing with the cat, which
involves a lot of leaping about and pawing at the air and waving her
open mouth around while the cat looks gradually more offended and
eventually leaves; she inevitably whacks the waving foot on
something--little Walter's rocking chair, a coffee table, a cabinet,
the sofa, a toddler gate. Often that would give quite a jolt to this
cut, which she seems most of the time not to notice she's got.
Thanks again,
Katrina

"ReturnOfSaskia" wrote in message:

She has been licking it when we're
not looking, thus the bandage. Anyway, thank you again, and I'll carry
on as I have been!

Khan's had way too many paw pad cuts (although not in a while, knock on
wood), so we've kind of become experts at this sort of thing. Generally, we
don't bandage it when he is supervised directly by us. Basically, when
we're home, we would make him stay with us, so we can keep an eye on him and
keep him from messing with it. When we would sleep, we'd apply a light
bandage on it and since I'm a really light sleeper, I'd wake up if he
started licking (more persistant lickers/heavy sleepers would probably need
something like bitter apple). We would only bandage his foot heavily when
we would go on walks, but that shouldn't be a concern for you.

Just keep an eye on it, make sure it doesn't get/stay wet. Air it out as
much as possible. It may seem like it is taking forever to heal, but then
it gets all better in a hurry.

Suja