There are many common causes of bleeding paws in dogs, including lacerations and punctures, dry skin, infections, and even allergies. No matter what the cause of your dog's paws bleeding, you must clean the wound and stop the bleeding as soon as possible to prevent infection.
Contain the wound by applying a bandage. Use gauze pads to cushion the bottom of the foot and absorb blood. The gauze padding will also decrease the pain of walking on the foot. To keep gauze in place, wrap the entire foot in a self-sticking product such as Vet Wrap.
Minor paw injuries can be managed at home, but more severe ones require veterinary attention. Uncontrolled bleeding is an emergency – if your dog's foot continues to bleed after several minutes of pressure, call your veterinarian and head for the clinic. Deep or jagged cuts may require sutures for optimal healing.
While it is not unusual for dogs to have a bloody paw, it is important to understand where the blood is coming from as you try and determine whether the injury is minor or more serious. Bleeding will often happen in the pads of your dog's paws.
Causes of Bleeding Paws
There are a lot of ways a dog can injure his foot, but some of the most common causes are due to puncture wounds, lacerations, or abrasions. A laceration is when the pad of your dog's paw or the skin of their foot has received a cut or tear from something sharp.
In some cases, when your dog's paws are bleeding, you'll need to go to the vet immediately. Here's when you should take your dog to the vet for bleeding paws: Your dog won't let you look at or touch their paw. There are objects lodged deeply into their paw that you can't remove.
Prevent Your Dog From Licking The Injured Paw
Although some licking can help to kill bacteria, excessive licking can cause the wound to reopen and potentially become infected. You should not let your dog lick his cut paw.
Once injured, paw pads heal slower than other areas of the body. Even a small cut can take weeks or months to fully heal because dogs continually bear weight on their paws, which causes healing skin to tear, reopening wounds.
Some dogs get red paw pads because of an injury, and some dogs get red paws because of health conditions like canine food allergies, fleas, contact dermatitis, parasites, secondary infections, and yeast infections. Dogs can even get red paws as a result of boredom and canine anxiety.
Infectious. The feet and paws are often red (inflamed) and swollen. There may be nodules (bumps) or fungal lesions (kerions), ulcers, or discharge (pus) from the lesions. There is often hair loss and the dog may lick the feet constantly.
Licking might offer some protection against certain bacteria, but there are serious drawbacks to letting your dog lick wounds. Excessive licking can lead to irritation, paving the way for hot spots, infections, and potential self-mutilation. Licking and chewing can also slow healing by reopening wounds.
If your dog's paws have a minor cut or wound, clean it with an antibacterial solution, apply an antibacterial cream, and then wrap with a light bandage. Deeper cuts should be looked at by a veterinarian. These could indicate a bigger issue like a cut to the tendon.
While your dog's paw is wet, use a mild dog shampoo or cleaner to wash the entire paw, especially the cut area. After you have washed your pup's paw, rinse it with a saline solution. If your little guy's paw is bleeding, you will need to stop the blood by applying pressure to the cut.
To apply betadine on your dog, gently wipe the wound with a washcloth saturated with the betadine solution. You can do this up to twice a day for minor sores or skin infections. One great thing about Betadine is that it is completely harmless if it's ingested.
Protecting Your Dog's Paw Pads
Since your dog can feel their paw pads (and use their paws to feel), you must take proper care of their paws to ensure they won't become injured. There are many simple ways you can protect your dog's paw pads during all months of the year.
However, a variety of factors, including hot pavement, wintery conditions, chemicals, dry air, exposure to rough surfaces, and excessive licking can cause dry, cracked paw pads. Dry and cracked paws can be painful and put your pet at a risk for infection.
Bandage. Use non-stick sterile gauze pads to cushion the bottom of your dog's cut paw pad and to absorb any blood. This should also help to decrease your dog's pain when walking on the foot. In order to help keep the gauze in place, wrap your pup's entire foot in a self-sticking bandage such as Vetwrap or Well & Good.
Paw Pad Injuries in Dogs
Also, walking on an open wound can delay healing, and infection may occur. If this happens, the dog could end up with a bigger problem. If you notice an injury, you should apply first aid and take your pet to the veterinarian as soon as possible.
Any dog with a cut pad will be facing a minimum of ten days rest for it to fully heal – this may sound boring but, believe me, if you do not rest them and look after the wound it can take two to three times that long to heal.
If boots don't feel right for your best friend, try Vaseline or a paw balm such as Musher's Secret. Before walks, coat the balm on your dog's paws to create a barrier that prevents snow, ice, and salt from getting between your pup's toes. The balm or Vaseline also keeps their paw pads hydrated.