Rescued Greyhound, Blue, has always suffered from recurring corns that causes him a huge amount of discomfort, but has found comfort after his owners tried using Animalintex.
Blue and another Greyhound, Gracie, were both adopted by owners Gerarde and Lisa Manley two and half years ago and are much loved family pets. Throughout this time, Gerarde and Lisa have tried everything to ease Blue’s pain, caused by recurring corns.
Corns are a common problem in greyhounds but not in other breeds of dog, which means that some vets can often struggle to make a correct diagnosis. Initially presenting as a tiny dot on the pad, a corn can grow quite large if left untreated and be extremely painful to the dog – imagine walking around with a stone in your shoe that you can’t remove!
The corns would flare up for Blue every three months, limiting him to shorter daily walks as he struggled to put pressure on his foot.
Due to little experience of treating the condition, Gerarde has often had to point the corn out to the vet, which can be quite frustrating. Blue has had the corn surgically removed twice but as there is no cure they frequently come back. Another treatment option is hulling, which is when the vet uses a tool to gently elevate the corn and free it from the dog’s pad.
After trying a number of homeopathic remedies, Gerarde began researching corns on different Greyhound forums for advice when he came across a number of posts saying they had good results using Animalintex. Animalintex is a multi-layered poultice and wound dressing that is licensed by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) to treat both horses and dogs.
As Gerarde did not want to put Blue through surgery again, he decided he had nothing to lose in trying Animalintex as it was a manageable and cost effective way to treat the corn.
After soaking Blue’s paw for around five minutes, Gerarde secured the soaked Animalintex onto his paw using a cohesive bandage. Understandably, Blue is not keen on having his paws handled but found this to be a simple pain-free way to treat the corn.
Gerarde said: “The Animalintex was very effective at removing the corn and along with applying a soothing balm it has been by far the most successful treatment. Once the Animalintex lifted the corn to the surface, I could literally pull the corn out of the pad without Blue even realising.
“The good thing about using Animalintex is that it isn’t an invasive treatment and as the corns always come back even with more expensive veterinary intervention, this offers a solution that I can use anytime alongside continuing to moisturise Blue’s paws.
“Animalintex is cost effective and the best thing of all is that Blue doesn’t get stressed when it is applied.”
Animalintex is sold in a 41cm by 21cm dressing, which can be cut to the size and shape needed, and it retails at around £5.50.
For more information contact Robinson Animal Healthcare on 01909 735000 or visit their website.