Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Badger's Paw

After putting the dogs into their crates for bedtime last night, I heard a little noise that I had hoped to never hear again.
*slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp*
Badger was licking his paw. He tried to feign innocence, but the evidence was clear - his left front paw was a dark red, inflamed color.

"Slurp slurp sl-- Oh hi! I was just getting ready to sleep"

 We had taken him to the vet in January because his paw was red, and he was licking it all the time. The vet tech held down a squirming Badger while the vet shaved the fur between his toes to reveal a small cut, scabbed over, but with the skin around it raw and red from his constant licking. She prescribed us some powder to sprinkle between his toes to stop the itching and, hopefully, the licking. We followed the vet's instructions, and by the time we brought Mushroom home in February, Badger was no longer licking his paw.

So what happened? I have a suspicion that the long walk we took on one of the unseasonably warm days last week either re-aggravated his old injury or caused a new one. Llamaentity tried to look for cuts between Badger's toes, but all that was visible was a sprouting of red, wet fur. We still had a little powder left from January, so we sprinkled some on his paw anyway and sent him to bed.

See the red fur? That's supposed to be white

 I'm not sure if the medicine will even help because his fur has grown back. We may need to take a trip to the vet again to get his paw shaved. And after that - what? Will Badger need to always wear dog boots to protect his delicate little paws? We bought some boots in the winter, but they wouldn't stay on his paws. My cousin suggested RuffWear boots but cautioned that dew claws may interfere with the strap. The local pet store sells disposable rubber boots that I've been wanting to try, but I'm not sure how well they'll hold up when hiking in the woods (or along the side of the road, because we don't have sidewalks once you leave the apartment complex).

Does anyone have suggestions for dog boots that are both durable and don't fall off easily?

3 comments:

  1. Trinity also had that but not as extreme. Give some benadryl 1-2 tabs a day to stop the itching. It doesn't make them drowsy & will stop the urge to itch. Whenever i see her starting ill give her one and it will help. You can give dogs human benadryl to. Good luck. I hope he feels better fast!

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    1. Thanks for the suggestion! We might have some Benadryl lying around from when we were watching our friend's Chihuahua mix, and it got stung by a bee.

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  2. Schultz has anxiety issues and his coping mechanism is to lick the bottom of his feet. We haven't found anything that can stop him except distracting him. Good luck!

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