Large Red Swollen lump on paw—appeared out of nowhere

Tilly, our 18 month goldendoodle, all of a sudden on Sunday afternoon wouldn’t put any weight on her front left paw. Thinking it was a nail or pad issue we searched around and there was one tender spot on top of her paw, but nothing was visible and no cuts or redness was visible in-between toes or anywhere. Out of nowhere this evening a red lump/bump appeared and it’s inflamed and swollen around it and between her toes. My guess is she may have gotten a little grass seed or cheatgrass in there and it took a while to get infected. Debating if we can wait to take her in tomorrow or if it’s an emergency situation? We’ve trimmed the hair back and cleaned it and put Vetericyn on it along with an antibiotic ointment we still had a little of from when our other dog ripped his nail. We also had some vetprofen that she had from something else that is still within its expiration. That definitely helps her be more comfortable it seems, but she will not put any weight on it at all still. Thoughts? Thank you!?

Hello!   That (foreign body) might indeed prove a good explanation for what has happened.  The body is very good at walling-off and ejecting bits of foreign material in this way.  The enemy of the process is the pain and itching which makes dogs gnaw at - and therefore damage - their feet.   Using old antibiotic is inappropriate - for a start, if infection is present, it will be walled off on the inside and nowhere near where the antibiotic ointment can reach it.  Second, putting antibiotic on the body's surface kills any 'normal, easy to kill' bacteria, but not nasty bacteria, so giving them an evolutionary advantage. Antibiotic resistance is making life very hard for some people in the world and antibiotics really should only be used as prescribed.

Regular bathing in luke-warm water can sometimes be helpful.  It is useful to stop the licking at the area, in order to enable any foreign body to be evicted and the sore to clear up, but this is easy to say and hard to do.  Usually vets 'cheat' by means of buster collars and safe anti-inflammatories to stop the itching (and sometimes antiinflammatoy creams).  Please bear in mind that some common human anti-inflammatories are poisonous to animals.

Some of these also involve demodex, others are exacerbated by arthritic pain and in very unusual cases, tumours .   We therefore strongly reccommend an examination and treatment from your vet.

Vetprofen isnt a formulation I'm familiar with, but having checked, it is Carprofen, which is an anti-inflammatoy, and once again prescription only in the UK, so illegal to give unless prescribed by your vet.  For this reason - bd because it can sometimes be useful but sometimes completely counter productive in cases such as this, starting to 'switch off' the inflammatory response that may be evicting any foreign body, so it is sonething that might vary case to case and to talk over with your vet.   Wishing that foot all the best from here!