Foot abscess AGAIN

I have slumped again.

For two days Jimmi has been so happy and full of beans - racing around and being thoroughly cheeky. Even first thing this morning he was hurtling in and out of our bedroom trying to persuade husband to get up. Then suddenly he went lame and started chewing at his foot.

One look at his swollen angry pads led us straight to the Vet and this time he decided that he would have to lance it. We now have him back home and heavily bandaged Jimmi is currently sleeping off the sedative.

The truly depressing thing is this..........the Vet said that the amount of gunge and pus was very impressive BUT there was not even the tiniest thing in there to have caused the abscess. He had a really good look. This is Jimmi's fourth abscess in that paw in the eight months that we have had him, although up to now they have been treated successfully just with ABs. All this afternoon whilst waiting to go and pick him up I was hoping that the Vet would find something in there which would explain these constant abscesses in that one paw, and it would therefore be the end of the matter.

Do I now have to conclude that this is just a never ending problem...........a few days of feeling great leads to abscess?

The vet is stumped and I am very down.........when we picked Jimmi up the Vet had an emergency call and had to rush out to see a horse, so I did not like to detain him any longer than necessary, but when we go back on Thursday to have the dressing removed I will ask him for his thoughts. It just seems monumentally unfair after all that this little dog has been through, if the mere action of running around like a normal dog causes this problem.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this please?

Oh Christ, not good is it Sally I have no experience of anything like this, only the red and raw bits I get with Georgie's feet, so I can be of no help, but I know just how fed up with it you must be, let alone poor little Jimmi.

I know the vet didn't find anything, but what I will tell you is, many years ago, I got a glass splinter in one of my fingers (I won't explain how!), and when they x-rayed it, the surgeon said it showed up a treat coz it was cut glass (the posh variety!) but how on earth was he expected to get it out, with all that blood in my finger when he wouldn't be able to see it if he went in! So there I was, day in day out, week in week out, going up to the hospital, where they would poultice my finger, bandage it, put it in a sling, and it bladdy hurt coz it was always infected on and off. They told me normally people could live with a bit of shrapnel in their body, but not I, so they would just have to carry on treating it everytime it flared up until it got happy staying there. It wasn't until one whole year later, that it started appearing out through my skin, so I got it out with a pair of tweezers and it was a bit shaped like a wedge of cheese, having gone IN with the sharp end.

I've told you this little story, in case it might be worth your vet x-raying that little foot of Jimmi's, or at the very least, asking him if it could indeed be a bit of glass, a splinter of glass, which of course, he wouldn't have been able to see, coz you cannot see glass in blood or even tissue that's full of blood can you? Worth a thought, hope it helps.

Poor little mite, he's really in the wars of late isn't he, what with his upset tum the other day and now this foot again Gentle hugs are in order for the poor boy, and you of course.xxxx

Thank you Helena (and don't forget his wasp sting on his ear two days ago!!).

Poor you and that bit of glass, it sounds horrendous and thank goodness it eventually surfaced. The Vet was adamant that there was nothing in there, he flushed it all out thoroughly and had a very good look - he is baffled. But on Thursday I will mention your experiences just in case.

Jimmi is almost out of his sedative mode, but is not a happy chappie - he seems to be almost traumatised, just sitting in front of the fire staring into space and not acknowledging me at all.

Drat drat and treble drat, he just does not deserve this.

This is so true. A friend of mine went through a car windscreen years ago and had little slivers of glass popping out of her face for nearly a decade afterwards.

My old dog was plagued with absesses due to grass seeds and the only thing which actually helped was magnesium sulphate paste.Its readily available from any chemist for around £2.

What you'll have to do is let the absess fester up again,sterilise a needle (heat it with a lighter) and then prick the abcess to burst it or give it a squeeze if the dog dont mind.Then smother it with the magnesium sulphate and apply a dressing for atleast 8 hours.The paste should draw out any foreign object inside the paw provided its not too deep.Do check the puss and blood on the dressing afterwards for anything which shouldnt be there.

Despite what your vet has said-there is obviously something still inside there otherwise it wouldnt be festering.I'd put my money on it being a grass seed because they're tiny and easily missed.

Hmmm. What was Jimmi's reaction initially when he was poking about with the foot before sedation, did he squeal at all? If he did, I suppose that could have been the pain of the abcess, and going on what you said about all the puss, that should have brought anything out that was in there, but then look at mine, it didn't get my glass out?! Think of it this way, it's his foot, the foot is weight bearing, and if he DID get a bit of glass in there, be it a tiny little bit, then with the pressure of placing that foot constantly on the ground, it would be pushing it further and further in wouldn't it? I don't know, the vet knows best, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if that's what it is.

Poor little Jimmi, I forgot about his ear flap the other day as well, has that healed up now?

He's still a bit comotosed from that sedation probably, that's why he's just staring about, a bit out of it, he'll be fine after a good night's sleep. Poor little guy, I feel so very sorry for him let alone how you must feel for him. Go and give him a hug, he knows it's not all your fault I'm sure, and let's hope you get to the bottom of this one way or the other, but as you say, it's really worth mentioning to the vet. Think about where you took him when this all started with that foot, could there have been any smashed glass or metal filings about anywhere?

I wanted to do this with Zena's grass seed in her foot the other week, but the vet said I couldn't for some strange reason I said we always poulticed horse's wounds or feet, but she said we don't poultice dogs, but I thought that very strange.

Now that you've said this Steve, I will definitely do my own thing and get the magnesium sulphate or the kaolin which I wanted to get at the chemists, coz if it worked for yours it's going to work for mine!

Dont get me wrong Helen-the muck which gets drawn out will wanna make you puke and it sometimes dont work if the offending object is too deep,but its definetly worth a shot.Im a bit sceptical about vets anyway,but my tuppence worth is yours would have preferred to have operated on your dog for the obvious financial reward.

Always mix the paste first though as it seperates in the jar.God i almost sound like a doctor!

Couple years back,Vegas started limping so out came the paste and a few hours later i managed to coax out an entire piece of chaff from his paw!!!

Bitkin..didnt you see Tupacs lump thread

poor dawwwg did your vet put a chule(sp) a piece of antibiotic infused dressing through the abcess area?..it can help draw the offending article out and 'grabbing' it when it is pulled out at dressing change.

Maxine, you are reinforcing Helena's theory, so I will definitely mention it to the Vet on Thursday.

You may well be right, and I will make a note of your poultice because as Helena said, it works on other animals so why not dogs? It certainly seems to have worked for yours.

Jimmi is a little complex in that when we first brought him home eight months ago his skin was dreadful - massive allergies all over the place. A diet of salmon and potato has mostly sorted this out, but his feet were constantly erupting in cysts and abscesses. Hard surfaces always caused a problem. We have reduced it now to just the one foot.......and it is entirely possibly that this is not allergy related, but due to a sliverr of glass or a very deep grass seed. I just wish that something had been found today.


Yes, his foot was very sore, and even the slightest touch made him whimper. On another tack, I have always been concerned about the length of his claws, but nothing could be done because the quick was right to the end. On this one foot in particular, the claws are very long indeed indicating to me that he has not walked properly on this foot for some considerable time. Could it be a vicious circle? Long claws mean poor placement of foot and pads, resulting in too much pressure etc.? Who knows.

Tupac, yes I read your thread about your poor dear dog and his abscess and I was hoping for a similar result today to be honest. I do trust my vet, as I have been with him now for a very long time - but I will have a long chat on Thursday and see what he says. I do hope that Tupac is fully recovered now.