It came on gradually, my dog’s limp. At first I thought he might have pulled a muscle or twisted his foot during some extra-rambunctious play. Or perhaps the salt used to melt snow on the roads was bothering his paw? But he didn’t object to having his limbs manipulated, and the slight limp didn’t ease up with rest. I couldn’t see any injury on the pad and he didn’t flinch when I put pressure on the pads… until this week.
About a week ago I saw an odd round area of what appeared to be thickened skin on the dog’s pad, a little lighter in colour than the paw pad skin surrounding it. Since that first sighting, I’ve noticed that it’s a little bigger and he’s starting to try to take the paw away when I push on that pad with my fingers.
This dog is a greyhound, a breed with very little fat to cushion the bottom of the feet. I remembered reading somewhere that, because of this, greyhounds are more prone than other dogs to getting warts and corns on their feet just like the warts and corns that people can develop.
I had a pretty good idea that this might be the problem, but went to the Internet for pictures that could confirm my suspicions. I found pictures on the Therapaw site, along with an excellent document (you can download it as a PDF file) that explains all about warts and corns in dogs, and the various options for treatment.
Yep, it looks like my limping greyhound may have a wart on his paw. Or possibly a corn. In any case, we’ll be walking on soft surfaces for the next day or two, until we can get into our veterinarian for a consultation.
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