_{Why does my dog have swollen paws?}

At the time of writing, we are in February and everything is going well. Clover’s leg is still fine, she is happy and she is back at day care full time. (Hooray!). She’s allowed off the lead, she’s exploring and climbing trees (see above photo), and normal life has resumed. Or has it?

At this point, I’m honestly not sure if someone’s just having a bit of a laugh with me here. Like someone is actually paying Clover to just create a new problem for me to tackle every few weeks. Or as if she’s gone “writing a blog are you mother? Well write about this!”

First, Clover had the anal glands issue (you can read about that on my post ‘nobody told me about dog anal glands’. It’s a real treat to read I can promise you!). Then she had a poorly belly (read about it at ‘the poorly pup predicament’ post ). Then it was ‘injured leg week’ and ‘injured leg week-take two’ and then she got stung by a bee. THEN she tore her cruciate ligament. In between that we’ve had bouts of sickness and diarrhoea (not me, Clover!), days of not eating, and days of sicking up just bile… this is just in the last six months. So, precious Clover, let’s tell the readers all about our NEW problem. Operation stress mummy out again. Ladies and gentleman, I present to you, my most googled phrase of January…

Why does my dog have swollen paws?

Did you guess it? Swollen paws! But of course! I mean, obviously you guessed it given the name of the post is ‘why does my dog have swollen paws?’

Good plan Clover, a totally new problem meaning that I will naturally panic as I know nothing about how to fix it.

The first I noticed that Clover had a problem with her paws was when she began licking them. I’m not talking about just a little lick here and there… the girl was leaving full on wet patches on the carpet/my bedding/the sofa because she was consistently licking her paws so much. Not usual. She was also licking them so vigorously that I could hear her licking them from three roads down. (Ok, exaggeration but she really was licking them very loudly indeed). So, I investigated what the problem was which I was really thrilled about because obviously we haven’t had enough problems recently have we?!

A quick glance of the paws showed that they were irritated. They were swollen and bright pink in colour. But it wasn’t just one swollen paw, indicating perhaps a bite or a sting- both her front paws were swollen and looked very sore. See photo below.

But, why were her paws swollen? Was it a case of she’d made them sore herself by licking them in the first place, or was there another reason?

Obviously, like any good dog owner who doesn’t want to re-mortgage the house to cover the cost of yet more vet bills, I instantly started googling the problem. “Why does my dog have swollen paws?”. So many results came up offering different solutions to different problems- which may or may not work. Perhaps it’s a sting from a nettle on both paws? Perhaps she was bitten by the same insect on both paws? Perhaps Clover is allergic to something she has stepped on? Had she developed a grass allergy? Her paws might be too cold, her paws might be too warm, her paws might be infected. The list went on and on. The more I read, the more frustrated and confused I became. How could I even be sure what had caused the swollen paws… let alone find out what the fix would be?! Clover was sat licking her paw constantly the whole time I was scrolling, which frankly was really annoying because I was trying to concentrate and find answers for her and the slurping noises just didn’t help.

Then I had another idea. Before calling the vets (again!), I’d ask the fountain of all dog knowledge- my mum! I sent her a video of Clover’s paws and some photos and explained Clover was clearly very bothered by them. Instantly, my mum replied with “it’s probably the grit/salt that has been put on roads and paths the last few weeks- have you tried washing them?” Of course. Temperatures had been freezing for the last week or so. The grit machines had been out spreading salt over the roads and footpaths to make them less slippy. I felt stupid that I hadn’t thought of it. A simple bath should fix the issue.

Clover stopped licking her swollen paws and ran away at the sound of the bath taps turning on. I chased her round the house for a good few minutes which was exactly what I needed and wanted to be doing in what was already a very stressful situation. Finally, I got her in the bath and rubbed her paws gently with warm water and then cleaned them with her dog shampoo. Then I washed them again and lifted her out the bath and onto the towel I had placed on the floor. I dried her paws carefully and properly, making sure I dried in between each toe. She shook violently, spraying water and dog hair over the floor and walls… and then instantly started licking her paws again. Great. What a waste of everyone’s time… and now I had to clean the bathroom.

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How do you heal swollen dog paws? ?

I began my google search again, this time armed with a strong suspicion of what the cause could be. “How do you heal swollen dog paws?”. Every answer seemed to mention Epsom salt. Which seemed bizarre, given that the issue was most likely caused by salt in the first place. BUT, dog ownership is bizarre… so, out to the shops I went. I searched three shops for Epsom salt and ended up paying about £7.00 for a very small bag which I probably could have got for half the price online. But I didn’t have time to wait for deliveries. I needed Clover’s paws to get better, and I needed it to happen fast. Then I bought some antiseptic cream from a pet shop which just felt like the right thing to buy in the moment and it made me feel like I knew what I was doing. Finally, I searched the shops for some Piriton tablets. A wild Saturday afternoon indeed. Now I am absolutely not condoning anyone giving their dogs anything at all. You should not take any of my advice at all, I am not qualified and you should absolutely always speak to your vet about your dog. You should also your own research about what is safe to give your dog. Every dog is different and will react differently and I am accepting absolutely no responsibility for anyone giving their dogs anything at all. I cannot stress enough that Piriton is a human tablet, made for humans- not for dogs. Do not give your dog anything unless you have spoken to your vet!

Do you think I’ve made the above clear enough? Now we’ve done that bit… on with the story!

I have spoken to many people who have given their dogs Piriton and I figured I could try and give Clover half of one to see if it worked. My mum has always given it to her dogs and her vet actually told her that it can help dogs with irritation and stings, if given in small doses and if the vet condones it. So, I thought “what harm can it do?” (So, that’s like £7 on the bath salts, £5 on antiseptic and £7 on Piriton to add to the calculation of ‘how much do dogs cost’... all because Clover’s paws are sore. Good times).

I got home and coaxed Clover into the bathroom before turning the taps on (lesson learnt there). Then I read the description on the bath salts and further information online about Epsom salts soothing stinging. Turns out I was going to need to keep Clover in the bath for twenty minutes to allow the salts to work properly and soothe. Fab. Clover hates bath time at the best of times. Five minutes is usually a battle… so twenty minutes was going to be fun! I grabbed some of her water resistant toys and some treats and we played together in the bath. (To clarify, I wasn’t actually IN the bath with Clover… that would be weird.) I was just sort of leant over the tub, trying to keep her entertained whilst she splashed water all over me and all over the floor. By the time the twenty minutes was up my back was in bits and I was soaked, but Clover was happy. Turns out maybe bath time isn’t that bad after all ay pooch?! (For her, at least…)

Once bath time was over, I put the antiseptic cream on her paws and gave her half a piriton. She was far less interested in her paws than she had been for the last 48 hours. Was it the bath salts? Was it the antiseptic cream… or did the piriton just do it’s thing? I guess we won’t ever know. But Clover slept soundly on the sofa, without licking her paws, and by morning they had noticeably improved. They had not healed totally and they were still definitely swollen, but they were improved… and then she began licking them again. Not as obsessively as before, but definitely still licking. So, I took her for a short walk round the block to try and tire her out (I figured the more tired she was, the less energy she would have to lick), bathed her again and put more antiseptic on. Then I gave her another half a piriton. I waited with baited breath to see if my efforts had worked. She lay down in her usual spot on the landing and I went downstairs to continue my day. Five minutes later all I could hear were loud slurping noises. I sighed. She was still licking. So, I resorted to drastic measures… the socks!

Obviously, the socks didn’t go as planned (cos, you know, dog ownership and all that.) I chose pink socks to make Clover feel better about the fact that she looked totally ridiculous. Truth be told, pink socks were probably more ridiculous than any other colour that I could have picked. Ah well, hindsight and all that.

Clover walked awkwardly towards me and the socks fell down immediately. She then started to investigate them, sniffing and biting them and trying to pull them off- which she achieved. Clearly, I was going to need to hold them up with something, but not something which would be too tight. Alas, another dog ownership problem to overcome. I thought about an elastic band or a hair band, but they were too tight and I didn’t want to cut off her circulation. So then I tried string and tied a knot in it. Obviously this took multiple attempts the get the length of string right and make sure there were no dangly bits for her to chew on. After about ten minutes the socks were back on and held in place with string. This worked well (thankfully, because I was so fed up with faffing) and the socks stayed on. Success! Clover kept trying to bite them and take them off but I was too clever for her this time with my string trick and so they remained in place. Eventually, she gave up trying and fell asleep. Once she was properly sleeping (like deep, snoring sleeping) I gently took the sock off her. Obviously she noticed, but she was too tired to do anything about it.

Morning rolled round again and the paws were improved even further. They looked a lot less painful, not quite as red but still swollen. We did the routine again, Epsom bath salts and antiseptic and piriton for the next few days. Eventually, we cured the poorly tootsies and Clover was free of itching, free of swollen paws and free of irritation. (Ironic, as she herself is an irritation to me most days… but I love her.)

It’s worth mentioning again that if your dog has any issues you should always go to a vet, and you should always speak to a vet before you give your dog any medication of any kind. So, that’s the swollen paw story. Hope you enjoyed. We certainly did.

Stay tuned for whatever comes next in the wonderful adventure that is dog ownership. ?

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