Amelia's Injured Paw Pads

A few things happened all around the same time, so I can't quite pinpoint the cause, but Amelia somehow injured her paw pads! Within a series of days, I bathed her in new shampoo, and we went to the grand opening of our apartment complex's dog park. We have also changed her food over the past couple weeks. I do not really remember when I first noticed her licking her paws, but it was excessive. When I noticed, I looked at them right away and found that they looked really raw. It was not just one of them, it was both front paws, and one back paw. From her licking? I do not know. One paw was worse than the other, part of her front toe pad was hanging off!

So, it could be a variety of things, I figure. A reaction to the new soap? Did she cut herself on the new mulch at the park? She is a completely indoor dog, so her pads are a little dainty. Allergies to the new adult food, even though we did not change brands or formulas? Naturally, I went into panic mode. I researched online, and went into an even worse panic. Dr. Google is horrifying sometimes!

I decided to do a couple home remedies, before I made a vet appointment. If she wasn't getting better by the third day (which was payday), she was going to be taken to the vet. I went to the Dollar Tree, picked up a couple packages of Epsom Salt, and little toddler socks. I also heard a lot about this stuff called "Bag Balm," which is some kind of ointment/moisturizer used mainly for cow utters. Though, it is good for human moisturizing, and can be used on dogs, as well. I hunted that product down, finally found it at our local Walgreens!

My method was simple: After dinner, I filled up the bathtub with about 1-2 inches of water, and poured some Epsom salt in it. Amelia stood in the bath, for a good ten minutes, while I fed her treats to stay in there. After ten minutes, she got taken out, and her feet were dried as best I could get them, then I rubbed Bag Balm on her paw pads, and covered with the toddler socks. She ripped off the socks right away the first time, so we lightly wrapped a layer of tape around the socks. It helped. When we were ready to go to bed, I took off the socks, and made sure she was not licking her paws, until she calmed down and went to sleep. I took them off before bed because I was worried about the wound turning into a hot spot, and also her taking off the sock while I was sleeping and swallowing it. Which would turn into a worse situation. When I woke up, she got more Bag Balm and socks on for a couple more hours. Then the process repeats at night.

I immediately saw improvement with her paws! The part that was hanging off healed, and now it has turned black again, it's definitely less raw, and I think it is healed enough that we do not need to do our morning/evening ritual anymore. We have not taken her back to the park, or even for a walk since it looked bad, but I think now, it looks okay to start walking her again. The photo is recent, showing her healing. This was the worse paw, you can barely notice where the hanging off part was.

I am, however, extremely nervous about taking her back to the park again, because I really think the rough mulch stuff tore up her pads. But still, I am keeping a close eye on her, making sure there is no more licking, and assuring that it remains healing.