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My dog's paw pads are worn and open. What home care can I give?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | American Pit Bull Terrier | Male | unneutered | 11 years and 4 months old | 84 lbs

my 85 pound Pitbull ran scared for a couple hours now his foot pads are wore down- and open - he lost his skin on 2 pads on his front feet - please what can I give him for relief?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on November 2nd, 2020

Poor guy. If the areas are relatively superficial, then you can clean them with Betadine/Iodine diluted 50:50 with warm water OR Chlorhexidine solution (2-4% diluted until a robin's egg blue consistency). This will remove any bacteria on the surface. However, since this part of the pet is always touching the ground and getting debris in them, you should consider placing booties (purchased at the local Petco or on Amazon) on Lincoln for 4-7 days until the skin starts to heal back. You may not need to keep these on Lincoln while he is inside the house, but definitely when he goes outside to potty. Alternatively, you can try placing socks or some kind of stocking material on his paws and then wiping them down with the solution when he comes back in. I would not recommend placing anything else over the counter on these areas. The paw pads are normally very forgiving when they just have abrasions on them and not an actual laceration (cut) of the pad, and heal up well in many cases. If the paws are wore down to the point of bleeding or show any signs of infection, then it is best to take him to your veterinarian for additional medication and treatment. I hope that this helps. Best of luck with Lincoln and I hope that his paws heal up well soon! Take care.

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