Petco Text Logo
Petco Pet Logo

My dog has swollen, painful front paws and limping for months.

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Pekingese | Female | unspayed | 1 year and 1 month old | 10 lbs

My female has swollen front paws for months and sterted to limp. It started on the right and that one is worst. Tried selecting food but no better. Put on acidi borici and it helps for swollen but doesn t do much. Tried treat with Mitex didn t help. Tried to wash with Plivasept didn t help. Any idea..?

This question includes photos that may contain sensitive content. Click to view.

View more to consider that the photos may include sensitive content.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Image profile

Answered By Daniel Fonza, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on January 2nd, 2018

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. Based on the pictures you have provided, the problem could be associated with an allergy, infection or a immune-mediated disease. I would recommend trying a product called malacetic conditioning spray and apply to the area until resolved. You may have to see your veterinarian to discuss alternative treatment options such as steroid therapy or immunomodulatory therapy to treat and immune-mediated disease. Feline plasma cell pododermatitis can appear like this and treatment is suppressing the immune system and antibiotic therapy. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further

Vote icon

2Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

  • Image profile

    Answered By Daniel Fonza, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on December 27th, 2017

    Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. What you are describing sounds like feline plasma cell pododermatitis, which is an immune mediated disease. It could also be an infection or some other inflammatory process. Unfortunately, this likely needs veterinary care. A veterinarian should examine this so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. If you are having financial difficulties, I would recommend signing up for care credit online. You can use this to pay for veterinary care. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

    Vote icon

    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

See More Answers

Related Questions

Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
I cant afford to take my cat to the vet (As I don't get paid for another week) but hes limping on both of his back paws, and hisses every time I go near him, One paw is swollen to the point it is almost purple, and the other is scabbed and looks as t
Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. What you are describing sounds like feline plasma cell pododermatitis, which is an immune mediated disease. It could also be an infection or some other inflammatory process. Unfortunately, this likely needs veterinary care. A veterinarian should examine this so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. If you are having financial difficulties, I would recommend signing up for care credit online. You can use this to pay for veterinary care. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
I noticed today my dog had a swollen paw. We do have thorny weeds but it’s in a difficult spot for a thorn to get stuck. After a day of peroxide and wrapping it popped and starting oozing a little watery blood. He’s no longer limping so I’m assuming
Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. Based on the pictures that you sent, what you are seeing appears to be what we call pododermatitis. Oftentimes we will see these swollen areas in between the toes on Bulldogs especially. Many times a topical ointment, anti-inflammatory and oral antibiotics are needed to treat this. I would suggest having a veterinarian examine this to see if it needs any antibiotics or not. If you are unable to get to your vet right away, I would suggest using zymox topical ointment and malacetic conditioning spray, both of which can be found online. I hope this helps! Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions or concerns. I am also available by phone or text based consultation if needed.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
My dog has bumps on two of her paws in the webbing
Hi there and thank you for using Pet Coach to address your concern. Based on your photo, the bumps could be due to something that injured the skin such as a thorn or that she has allergies and this could be what we call pododermatitis starting. I would recommend examining the area for any evidence of thorns and if you do not feel anything sticking out of the area, I would recommend applying a spray to the foot such as malacetic conditioning spray twice daily until resolved. If there is no improvement or the area worsens, I would recommend having this examined by a veterinarian as an oral antibiotic and anti-inflammatory may be needed. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be happy to help you further!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Hi there, my white lab shepard hilo loves to run as you can imagine. she is crazy over her ball. for quite a few months she's been licking her paws but nothing seems to be wrong with them, yesterday she was limping a bit while on a walk, so when i to
Hello, and thank you for using Boop by Petco. This could just be an allergic condition, but looking at the spotty nature of the pads, I would also be concerned that this might be an auto-immune condition called pemphigus, where the lesions are often first noticed on the footpads. Since this has been ongoing for several months, & now she is showing signs of pain, it is time to have your veterinarian evaluate the pads for what is going on. Hope all is well. Take care.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
My Pit Bull, Stella, isn't in a good condition. She is my Grandfathers dog actually but for some issues she is staying at my home in the backyard. She seems happy, but she has infections on her front paws I think, because one side of each paw is pink
Thanks for using Boop by Petco! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing her allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for envir
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
My dogs paws are swollen and he has raised pustules on his pads. They are also in his ears. We changed dog food to Kal Kan. His nose seems to be stuffy and is running. He is also sneezing. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks
This is probably due to a severe allergy, although it could also be fleas or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment (advocate or advantage), then get him to the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try discovering the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollins, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair the skin lesions (steroids and antibiotics). There is also a nice topical spray available, it's called Cortavance and you can get it at the vets. Hopefully you will see some results after all this, if not you and your vet should consider starting on a long term allergy treatment.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
What could this be? Raw between toes 8month old came inside limping
Are you in an area with a lot of snow or very cold? It could be irritation from snow being packed in between the toes. Otherwise a common cause is environmental allergies. They luck enough to cause secondary infections sometimes. I would soak in warm water and Epsom salt baths this weekend. If they look worse or are not improving then he should be evaluated by a veterinarian Monday. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Thigs is a stray that showed up 3 weeks ago in bad shape. Took to animal shelter to be neutered and shots and treatment for ear mites. Also I put Revolution on him. Also I give him milk thistle. He was given an antibiotic injection at the time o
Hi and thank you for reaching out to Pet Coach about Thigs. Based on the picture you provided and your description the dewclaw area looks inflamed and infected. The swelling is most likely from both of these reasons. The limping initially could have been from a different cause three weeks ago or the infection may not have been apparent at that time. I would recommend to have him examined by a veterinarian within the next 12-24 hours if possible and that way he can get some pain medication and relief. I do not know if he goes outdoors or is indoors only, but if he does go outside, I would recommend to keep him indoors only until he is examined. Best of luck with Thigs.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Simba is having red bumbs on his 4 paws, he licks them a lot and they are increasing day by day, his vet gave some pills but still they are occurring. How can i help him, is it painful for him. His 50kg as of now.
This is likely to be due to an infective pododermatitis. It is possible that the generalized infection is actually due to an underlying predisposing allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). The following products can be found online and can be tried as a first line approach: Douxo PS Calm shampoo, Essential 6 spot on by dermoscent, Krillex Krill oil chews. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
My dog keeps licking his paw, and it is swollen, it started on one paw now that is better and it’s gone to another paw, any idea what it could be? He wasn’t limping but has now started to limp.
Thank you for using Boop by Petco! Sunny may be licking his paw due to trauma or a wound that is painful - dogs can sometimes have pieces of grass or small twigs stuck between the toes. Infections or allergic reactions can also occur on the feet, either to a cleaning agent or certain foods. I recommend having Sunny seen by a vet as soon as possible to determine exactly what is going on, especially because he seems uncomfortable. His vet may recommend topical or oral antibiotics, foot soaks, or a diet change. I hope all is well!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
image
Have A Vet Question?

Book an appointment with the pros – our expert vets are here to help.

Book Now

Sponsored