My Labrador has painful foot growths and nails growing too fast.

Hello. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It would be much easier for us to give you advice if we could see what you are referring to. Can you please post again with some photos? All I can advise you to do without seeing photos is to soak the feet in dilute Betadine solution (1:10 dilution) for 10 minutes twice a day. Please post again with photos so we can better help you. Thank you!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Romeo! Labs are very allergic breeds. It is likely that Romeo has allergies to his food, the environment or has atopy. I would recommend testing for demodex or putting him on Nexgard, Bravecto or Simparica to cover for the possibility of demodex mites. I would them recommend a skin cytology to see if the infection is bacterial and or yeast in nature. Then put him on ORAL antibiotic or anti-fungals for a minimum of 3 weeks, likely longer. He also, if licking his feet, should be put on something to decrease the itch like apoquel or cytopoint. Most dogs with allergies need to be on multiple medications: antihistamines long term, apoquel long term, Omega 3 fatty acids, and a novel protein diet. I recommend changing his food to a non chicken based diet. Try Venison, Beef, lamb, pork, all fish or duck. You need to give the diet 2-3 months and he can not be given any other types of food or treats. I hope this helps and I wish Romeo the very best!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is difficult to know without being able to examine her. This could be a benign or malignant growth. There is no way of knowing what it is just based on its appearance. This is often differentiated by a test called a fine needle aspirate (FNA) which is a pain free, inexpensive and easy procedure which in most cases will help reach a diagnosis. Sometimes a biopsy is needed for a definitive diagnosis. I recommend that you have her evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. I am really hoping for something benign. Good luck and have a good day!

Hi there and thank you for using PetCoach to address your concern. If this piece of pad is hanging off from the foot, I would recommend having it trimmed back or removed using local anesthetic. Sometimes the overgrown paw pad can be cut back with no anesthetic as there are no nerves in the overgrown portion. Once this has either fallen off or has been removed, I would recommend using a product called BioBalm, which can be found online. Apply this to the feet and then I would recommend keeping Joy's paws in boots to help prevent this from developing again. 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. Here is a link to a website for dog boots that I highly recommend ( https://ruffwear.com/ ).

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This could be a benign or malignant growth. This is often differentiated by a test called a fine needle aspirate (FNA) which is a pain free, inexpensive and easy procedure which in most cases will help reach a diagnosis. Sometimes a biopsy is needed for a definitive diagnosis. I recommend that you have her evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. I am really hoping for something benign. Good luck and have a good day!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It looks like this could be a benign or malignant growth. This is possibly what is causing her pain. This is often differentiated by a test called a fine needle aspirate (FNA) which is a pain free, inexpensive and easy procedure which in most cases will help reach a diagnosis. Sometimes a biopsy is needed for a definitive diagnosis. I recommend that you have her evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. I am really hoping for something benign. They could start pain control medications if she appears to be painful. Good luck and have a good day!

Hello, and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. 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.