Cysts inbetween the dogs toes (ouch!!)

bagpuss_fan

Hi all, my beautiful 3 1/2 year old working cocker has an ongoing problem with cysts inbetween his toes.

He's on his fourth lot of antobiotics (this course was 3 weeks long), which he's just finished and will be back to the vets on wednesday coz he's still got the cyst. The vet said that working cockers aren't known for this problem but some breeds are, and that they are notoriously hard to get rid of. I walk him daily on the beach and he's in and out of the sea, but there's a lot of rubbish on the beach, and I though he was cutting himself. The vet said the infection actually comes from "inside" the dog apparently.

Just wondered how long he's expected to keep on with the antibiotics? this is surely not a good thing, can they operate? and does it work, or do they just keep coming back sometimes like human cysts?

He's obviously in pain and limps quite badly, my DH is worried that it'll cause him problems in his joints/muslces because of his limp. However, he doesn't limp on the beach, and that's at least an hour a day running at maximum velocity!! He only limps at home when he has nothing else to distract him!

Has anyone got the same problem?

pboae

My dog has a similar problem but for different reasons. He has callouses on his paws because of the way he walks (due to other health problems) and he gets cysts and abscesses caused by ingrowing hairs which can't break through the tough skin.

At the end of last year he was on anti biotics for nearly 3 months with them. That caused other problems and he had to have pro biotics and other meds to off set the side effects of it.

The vet said they could operate on him and remove the callouses, but it was likely that the resulting scar tissue would eventually cause the same problem. That might not apply to interdigital cysts though.

dreamingofthegoodlife

Hi Bagpuss Fan, my cocker spaniel had one of these cysts last year inbetween his front toes. I did loads of research on the internet and apparently they are called interdigital cysts. I bought some Garlic & Fenugreek tablets from Dorwest Herbs, which are used to treat minor infections. I was also bathing it in salt water and applying gentle pressure to drain the gunk (yuk)! Anyway, the cyst cleared up after a week or so and he has not had any problems with them since.

Hope this helps.

Good luck!