is it a corn ?

[tracyh]

Hi all, just need a bit of advice. I noticed yesterday that Paddy kept licking and sniffing at his paw, when I had a look there was a red blister on the side of one of his pads and it was leaking a bit of blood and pus. He did'nt seem to be in pain with it so I left it alone. Checked it again this morning and it is now white and hard and sort of cone shaped. I thought maybe it was a splinter trying to work its way out at first but I was wondering if it is a corn but I don't really know what one looks like on a dog. I'll keep an eye on it and take him to the vet if it does'nt go in a couple of days.

[pat]

Hi Tracy
it is not a corn , corns come on the bottom of the foot and do not bleed unless they are taken out, it sounds as though he has something gone into the foot and has turned a bit septic, bathe in strong salt water and gentle squeezy to try to remove it if not take him to the vet

[tracyh]

Thanks for the advice Pat, I think you are right about him having something in his pad, have just checked it again, his pad looks pretty normal now, there is just a small round mark with a tiny hole in the centre. I reckon whatever was in there has worked its way out.

[pat]

Hi Tracy
what happens is if they tread on something the pad closes up over it making it hard to see, if it is a corn when you put the foot into warm water, the corn can be seen as a hard round circle on the pad, much harder than the rest of the pad, and when you press it the dog pulls away,what happens is the core presses into the pad and makes it very sore to walk on.
pat