cut paw

[The Dawg]

As an ex handler, I have seen many cut pads....every single one was a trip to the vet- you never know what caused it- could be something still embedded, possibility of something toxic on the item that cut him, infection, etc....definately worth the trip for a couple of stitches and an antibiotic. Saves a possibility of a huge problem in the future.

He told me crazy glue was used in the milatary to seal wounds

Yep, its an old field trick that works well if you get the edges to line up right, also I believe that some hospitals are actually using a form of it instead of stitches.

[jackson13]

My dog (in the picture) has done this a few times in the past. I took him to the vet once (other times I was living where there was no vet) and he just cleaned it and told me to let in heal. The pads are hard to put stitches in. I tried the crazy glue thing, but it didn't work that well. The best thing I found was to put part of a sock on it and duct tape the top of it around his lower leg. If your lab is like mine, he will want to lick his foot, so the sock will prevent that until he is alone and he rips the sock off, eats it and begins licking the wound.

[pupper]

My dog (in the picture) has done this a few times in the past. I took him to the vet once (other times I was living where there was no vet) and he just cleaned it and told me to let in heal. The pads are hard to put stitches in. I tried the crazy glue thing, but it didn't work that well. The best thing I found was to put part of a sock on it and duct tape the top of it around his lower leg. If your lab is like mine, he will want to lick his foot, so the sock will prevent that until he is alone and he rips the sock off, eats it and begins licking the wound.

yah, hes got a bandage with a sock on it.

[dukester]

my lab came down the driveway with a bleeding paw, upon further inspection the front toe paw was almost cut all the way to the bone leaving him with a split/bleeding toe paw. I duct taped a rag around his paw. What should I do? take him to the vet or let it heal as it is?

probably alittle late .. my lab walked on broken glass cut to the bone . Doc had to burn the woundand staple it, then wrap it. used the 3m wrap that horsemen use . you can mold it and it fits tight. then i put used I.V bags from the hospital over her paw tape it all up tight. then she was able to walk around . for the 1st day watch your dog and tell her NO when she tries to bite it off.. couple times is all it took. . then about month latter she put the run on a yodie threw a fence. $10.00 a stitch x 8 plus $80.00 visit. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[janette]

this kind of thing i would opt to handle myself if it were my dog.. or if someone brought their dog to me to treat. as long as there is no internal involvement and no ligaments/tendons have been broken and no bones have been broken.. this sort of stuff is pretty easy to handle with a basic first aid set up. i use herbal medicine so that's what i'll reference below.

the way i would handle this would probably be as follows.

-check out the wound visually and palpate the area - look for other cuts, scrapes, etc. look for glass, dirt, rocks, etc in the wound - remove. flash light, tweezers, and a firm grip will help with this. open wound if necessary.

-soak the paw (or rinse if wound is somewhere else) in warm salt water. take paw out and inspect it some more. try to soak for 5-10 minutes depending on how cooperative they are. try to remove any dirt/grime from area while soaking it. change water as needed.

-pat the area dry with clean rag, apply a little pressure. you want it to be fairly dry. make sure the bleeding has mostly stopped (use pressure).

-once it's dried and any bleeding has subsided you need to apply an anti-microbial tincture (propolis is my personal favorite for this sort of situation). make sure it is covered sufficiently and then wrap paw with bandages, put a sock/other stuff on it and try to keep them out of the area. if the wound is somewhere else on the body you can leave it open to the air and check/reapply meds frequently, but keep them out of the area using one of those cone collars.

-after a few days of strong anti-microbial herbs you can switch to herbs that cause cell regeneration such as comfrey. be sure there is no infection
and mix anti-microbial herbs with comfrey just to be safe. comfrey works well as a fresh plant poultice. this step is not really necessary if the wound is closing on it's own fairly quickly. if it's on the paw, however, i would opt to use comfrey cause that things is just going to keep opening.

first signs of infection include: swelling, redness, pain, and heat in local area. internal herbs can be used to promote healing and stop infection as well.

*if they really need stitches you could take em to the vet (or try that yourself if you think you can do it.... or a traditional way of sealing wounds is to melt down pine pitch and apply it to the cut. it's highly anti-microbial, too.



ive had good success with dogs (mostly small puncture wounds) and i've treated a friends pet rat with large puncture wounds on the back and hypochondriac region.. it would have cost them ~300$ at the vet. all i asked for was breakfast.