cut foot and claw

[John-B 4]

My flat coated retriever has picked up a little injury somewhere while we have been out, he has quite a deep cut on one of his pads and also his claw has detached from the skin exposing what is underneath (a biut like if we were to tear off a fingernail) he doesn't appear to be in any pain but is constantly sat licking it and he doesn't limp, but with his constant licking it doesn't appear to be healing so i have give it a good wash (which he thought was great) then dried it and applied a wound dressing so he would leave it alone, now he has decided he wants to eat the dressing so i had to put his muzzle on and he has settled down, I'm not sure it's worth a trip to the vets as i only think they would do what i have done, Have i done the right thing or should i just of left it for him to clean himself, only downside is he's not coming out with us tomorrow so he will have to stay in and recover as he also has a sickness bug, was wondering if the sickness could be related to the foot injury also???

[sandymere 8,263]

Cut pads often heal fine if kept clean but without seeing it would be hard to comment on individual cases. The sickness bug again without symptoms ie loose stool?, vomiting bile/ after eating etc is hard to comment on. A wound infection would need to be pretty bad to cause stomach symptoms. As in all cases if your not sure see a vet.

Sorry not much help s

[martin 332]

Keep bathing it in warm salt water,and,as far as him being ill(stomach)as long as he is drinking it should be ok,but,I woulod starve him for 24hrs.If he has a muzzle on while you are out,will he be able to drink ok,because if he can't it would be a very bad idea to leave him alone.............martin.