Lump between toes, any ideas?

misty073 · 10-07-2009, 10:45 AM

We noticed yesterday morn that our Maggie was licking her paw and limping. We had a look and at first thought she had a burr stuck between her toes. She hates having her feet touched and has huge anxiety when we just try to look at her paws (cutting her nails is almost impossible). Anyways I finally got a look and noticed a small black bump between her pads (its about the size of a large burr with some redness around it) I thought it was a tick so I packed her up and took her to the vet. They said its not a tick but some weird growth. They had to muzzle and cone her just to look

but they didnt know what it was and because we didnt have an appointment they wanted us to come back. So we have an appointment for later today.

I am just wondering if anyone else has experienced something like this? We just moved here and I dont know this vet or know anyone to get any recomendations from. I have been reading online (I know googling is soo bad but I always like to have an idea of what things might be, plus I just had one of my dogs die on sat so I am very paranoid now) about what it could be and the only thing I can really come up with Interdigital furuncles. Has anyone else had this sort of thing with their dog?

I am also afraid they may have to sedate her just to look

Any ideas on what this might be?

cuddlebug910 · 10-07-2009, 11:21 AM

Hi misty! What kind of dog is Maggie?

I've been doing research on interdigital furuncles as well. I have an American Bulldog mix that has some swollen spots between her toes as well. Interdigital cysts are supposedly very common in dogs with short hair, like bulldogs. Here's a good illustration:

She seems to have some other skin issues and my veterinarian initially suggested that the bumps may be due to seasonal allergies. She gave us a medicated shampoo for her skin and it has seemed to be helping her feet as well. I bathe her once a week. I'm not sure that the bumps are actually caused by allergies, but more frequent bathing definitely seems to be helping. A few websites I've seen have suggested epsom salt soaks for the feet but we haven't tried this yet.

Others have suggested surgery! Either to remove the furuncles or to fuse two toes together essentially removing the area where the furuncle would form. This seems like a VERY drastic measure to me! But you can read more about it here: http://blogs.dogtime.com/dolittler-b...aken-therapies

For now, I am going to stick with the once a week medicated baths, good for her skin anyway.

May move to epsom salts if we have a flare-up.

Do let me know what your vet says when you see them. Good luck!

misty073 · 10-07-2009, 11:38 AM

Maggie is a rough coat Jack Russell. Are your dogs swollen spots colored? At first we just though she had something stuck between the pads on her paw but it seems to be a growth of some sort or a blister type, she wont let anyone near her paws so its really hard to have a good look.

I have been washing it with some diluted GSE in hopes that that will help if it in an infection.

cuddlebug910 · 10-07-2009, 12:23 PM

The spots are mostly red, but occasionally have looked brown or black thanks to recent licking sessions that cause some bleeding. There's definitely nothing stuck in there. I've noticed too that the webbing between her toes typically looks moist. As I've said, the baths are definitely helping. The swelling has certainly decreased and they don't look nearly as red.

If she won't let you near them, best to let your vet take a look I'd say.

What's GSE?

It's hard to say for sure what will help if these are in fact interdigital furuncles. A lot of the info on the web has said antibiotics for long courses, but I'm not interested in that if it's unnecessary. I suppose that depends on the severity of the case. The vet will probably examine her paws for any foreign bodies. And may do a skin scraping to check for other baddies.

misty073 · 10-07-2009, 12:54 PM

GSE is grapefruit seed extract http://www.nutriteam.com/index2.html

cuddlebug910 · 10-07-2009, 01:08 PM

Huh. Interesting! Looks like this is more of an anti-bacterial agent? Are you doing this to prevent infection? or is it supposed to actually help the inflammation itself?

Let me know if it helps! And what the vet says. It's nice to know what there are other doggies with freaky feet out there.

misty073 · 10-07-2009, 08:19 PM

Well some good news

after all that it was just a burr. It was stuck in her fur and caused an infection on her foot. Weird it was a small black lump and we tried to pull it off (before they thought it was a growth) and had no luck, she was in too much pain.

But I must say...I see why people are always reluctant to go to the vet

the office visit was $60.00 (not bad and we totally expected this) but then we paid another $30.00 for them to clip the hair and remove the burr another $30.00 for the bandage and another $20 for the antibiotics (this we expected as well)

After after all is said and done (including the cone) we just paid $153 for the vet to remove a burr

cuddlebug910 · 10-08-2009, 08:23 AM

Awww, poor girl!

Yes, vet visits sure do add up quickly. Hope Misty heals up fast.