pboae Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Sorry this is a bit of an epic! Sully has not been himself for a couple of weeks. Nothing I could quite put my finger on, a bit more whingey, and bit more grumpy, fidgety, things like that. He was also getting choosy about walks, normally he loves going for walks, but lately if it is somewhere like the park, he's not interested and just wants to come home. If it's somewhere new or there is a chance of scavenging (e.g. past KFC), he's enthusiastic and keen to walk. But his routine was up in the air (we all went to France, then I was away for a few days, etc), so although we were keeping an eye on him it didn't seem too odd. Yesterday morning he seemed to be favouring his back paw a little, and OH thought it looked a bit red. He often bites himself, although it is usually his legs, so we cleaned it up and put some Fuciderm on it. He didn't mind us touching it. About 3pm we were going to take him out for a walk, and thought we'd better check his paw. It was a horrible mess, an open wound with pus and blood, the full works. I rang the vet and they said to leave him overnight if he was OK. I took him in this morning and the vet said it had been started by an ingrowing hair inside a callous. Sorry for the poor pics, but I don't want to pull him about too much. This is his 'good' paw, if you can see at the back/bottom there is a white patch. I thought this was part of his pad, but the vet said it is a callous where he has turned his feet out because of his bed legs. This is it in close up. Hopefully you can make out little 'blackheads' around each hair. The vet said they are caused by the hair struggling to get through the thick skin. She thinks one hair didn't make it through and turned into an abscess but because the skin is so tough it didn't show on the outside, and has probably been making him feel poorly for a while. Eventually it got too big and burst taking most of the callous with it. She cleaned it all up (and he was good and gold, though it was obviously hurting him, but he just whimpered, didn't snap or grumble), and said to leave it open and keep it clean. He has antibiotics to try to clear the infection. OK, if you are still with my after all that... I am really worried about this now he has one of these callouses on his other paw, and once this one heals the skin will thicken again. Surely this is going to happen again and again? If there is no outward sign of an abscess how can I tell if it happens again? Is there something I can do to prevent it? I was thinking I could moisturise the skin to stop it being so tough, but then if he is rubbing that patch when he is walking it might get sore if it isn't thick. But if that abscess had burst and the skin hadn't given way, he could have ended up with Septicemia or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantan Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Ouch, that looks sore. Poor Sully Fraid I have no advice but please give the lovely boy a gentle squidge from me. Marion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
border collie Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 (edited) Aww no Sully hope you feel better now it has burst. The only thing I would do is just check for any heat in the callous every day to see if anything is starting. An expert might know more though Big hugs to Poo Edited October 2, 2006 by border collie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
our little godsend Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 awwwww poor Sully Lots of and healing thoughts being sent Sorry, no advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redditchlady Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 It looks like ingrowing hairs to me. Poor Sully. Fuciderm is all I can recommend. Kazz xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muriel Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 I'll send some Reiki if he wants it. If there's any possibility of anything still being inside it, Homeopathic Silicea 30c, one tablet three times daily for a few days would get it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Just a thought, but might boots be an option, to stop that bit of skin getting so rubbed? I know Sully in boots would be quite a sight...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staffymonkey Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Poor Sully That looks ever so sore... No new suggestions, but as Cycas says, boots - though daft looking - might be an idea ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kittycat Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 No advice sorry just wanted to give some as that looks really sore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supafrisk Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 I think this might be what my Ben dog used to get. (Collie X) We never did get to the bottom of it. Every now and then he would start limping, and Mum would poultice up his foot with magnesium sulphate (drawing ointment), and the next day when she removed the bandage, there would be stuff sticking out of his skin which looked like fine blonde hairs. We thought that it was grass seeds, but Mum didn't have any grass in the garden at that time!! Mum would pull them out with tweezers and Ben would wag his tail and thank her. It got to the stage that if anyone got a bandage or cream out, he would sit wagging his tail and beg for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pboae Posted October 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Thanks for all the suggestions, Muriel, I am sure he would appreciate some reiki I am pretty sure there is nothing left inside it. The vet was very thorough, (i.e. poked around inside with tweezers) and removed several hair follicles as well, just to be extra sure. The hole is about 1cm deep from where she pulled the gunk out. It still looks very nasty today though, but I suppose I have to give the anti-biotics a chance. I would definitley give boots a try if they make them big enough, at the moment I am struggling to get one of OH's socks on him to keep it clean. Does anyone know where I can get Sully-size dog boots from? Supafrisk, that's v interesting, thanks very much. Is magnesium sulphate something I can buy easily? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerrio Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Pet planet do Mikki boots - apparently for a St Bernard you need size 5. Must be enormous Petplanet boots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staffymonkey Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 Thanks for all the suggestions, Muriel, I am sure he would appreciate some reiki I am pretty sure there is nothing left inside it. The vet was very thorough, (i.e. poked around inside with tweezers) and removed several hair follicles as well, just to be extra sure. The hole is about 1cm deep from where she pulled the gunk out. It still looks very nasty today though, but I suppose I have to give the anti-biotics a chance. I would definitley give boots a try if they make them big enough, at the moment I am struggling to get one of OH's socks on him to keep it clean. Does anyone know where I can get Sully-size dog boots from? Supafrisk, that's v interesting, thanks very much. Is magnesium sulphate something I can buy easily? Small, soft horse boots? Shetland opony size'd probably do it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaos Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 Is magnesium sulphate something I can buy easily? At any chemist....excellent stuff! Hope he's soon feeling much better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexis Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 Just a quick note- since the abscess is in the skin it can't burst without you knowing about it so that is one less thing to worry about at least! My OH recently had an abscess on his bum from an ingrown hair and sitting on it so it is a similar thing! The one thing that we recommend to humans is to regularly shave the affected area so I don't know it that is a possibility or not? I know it can reduce the risk of it recurring in people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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