Pike Ridge Beagles wrote:I have a 7 month old pup with a pad that is noticable swollen and he will not walk on his his foot. It is the rear right foot. I just noticed this issue this morning. I gave him a shot of antibiotic immediately. I do no see any cuts or thorns and he doesn't seem to mind when I apply presure to the pad. His entire foot is noticably swollen.
If if doesn't go down soon, I plan to visit the vet but I was wondering if anyone else has witnessed this issue? And, what you ended up doing? How long before the swelling diminished? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
Many people misuse antibiotics in this way.
While it is natural to want to help any dog that we see is injured, it is best to first identify the cause of the injury before giving any treatment. For instance, the swelling may be due to a foreign body that penetrated the pad, where at best, giving "a shot of antibiotics" won't do anything positive. However, at worst, if there is an infection, giving only 1 application of antibiotic therapy will not only fail to kill any offending bacteria, but because the antibiotic was not given for a long enough duration of time to actually kill the bacteria, any existing infection can and will
develop resistance to that antibiotic.
Before giving any antibiotic, a determination should be made if there is an actual, existing infection that is the problem. Again, this animal might just have an abrasion or a foreign body in the pad, where no antibiotic treatment is even warranted. It could also be the result of a spider bite (brown recluse), for which much more aggressive measures ought to be take.
When using antibiotics, it is always best to determine what the problem is before administering the closest antibiotic sitting next to you. In other words, it is critical to use the right antibiotic, for the right purpose, at the right dosage, to keep giving it at the right time intervals, and to continue the therapy for the right duration of time (days). A swollen foot could be something as simple and harmless as an over-used foot on a good hunt ... or as complicated as a snake/spider bite that requires some very specific measures. At this point, it is impossible to say from here what the problem is and therefore it is impossible to prescribe a solution.
Going over a history of what the dog has been doing the last few days may help you pinpoint what the problem is, which should be done
first before treating the wound with drugs that might not be appropriate.
Good luck.
