Bandaging

Heading into the beautiful summer weather means that we are spending more of our time at the beaches and rivers around the country.  While this is a normally a lovely relaxing time, it can sometimes turn into a disaster for our pets.

While our dogs are running through the sand and over the rocks, the sharp edges of the shells frequently cause cuts to the paw pads. This will mean that your pet will have a few vet visits over the coming weeks for bandages to be placed.

A bandage for a cut paw pad consists of multiple layers and can be quite time consuming and costly to take care of.

1. We use a cream (usually honey based) and a TELFA pad to protect the wound.

2. Cotton between the toes helps stop rubbing  and “Stirrups” are added (These are strips of sticky tape up the leg which connect to the bandage to stop the bandage slipping)

3. We then wrap with a soft bandage up the leg.

4. This is compressed with a gauze bandage and the stirrups are attached to this layer.

5. And finally this is wrapped up with the colourful outer layer and tapes to protect the paw.

Bandage care at home is important. Your pets’ new bandage will not be able to get wet as this will cause more damage to the paw. Your vet will normally provide a bootie to use when toileting or walking. Bandage changes are required every 3 days to ensure that the wound is healing and that no infection is present.

You may even be lucky like Minka and get some amazing artwork from the wonderful Vet team.