Last summer (2008), my 3 year old Chocolate Lab. (who suffers from an underactive thyroid), suddenly started to limp and was licking her paws a lot. She developed a huge boil between her middle toes on one paw, We were at our holiday home at the time so I took her to a local vet immediately who decided that the boil needed to be lanced and cleaned there and then. He suspected a grass seed.

When I collected Tilly later I was told there was no foreign object, just pus but that it had been cleaned out and when healed should be fine. Sadly, more of these boils started to appear elsewhere between both her front paws. The vet said Tilly may be prone to interdigital cysts and prescribed antibiotics. We had to visit the vet both at home and on vacation several times, our vet at home told me that dogs make a big issue about paw soreness but it is not as bad as they would have us think! After ten weeks and three different types of antibiotic it was obvious that nothing was helping so the medication was stopped. Strangely, the cycts seemed to clear up and although Tilly had one or two over the winter they were nowhere near as bad as the ones she’d had up to fall.

In early April of 2009 the cysts started to reappear so we returned to the Hol. Home vet who had since retired. The vet whe replaced him was a young woman who decided that the cysts needed to be investigated, a biopsy and swab taken and possible onward referral to a specialist. (Turned out she has a horse with a skin problem and was very switched on) When the results came back they revealed that these were not interdigit cysts but Interdigital furuncles which are very painful for the dog. There was a bacterial infection that needed to be treated with an eight week course of high dose antibiotics (the ones last year were too low a dose), the problem was also linked to her thyroid and this and various other skin conditions are extremely common in dogs with thyroid problems. There are ingrowing hair folicles causing inflamation and irritation and it was likely that Tilly was suffering an allergic reaction. The vet suggested that after the course of antibiotics, if we still had problems a blood test could be taken and sent to the US for analysis.

I decided that I wanted the test done immediately as we had already lost one summer and I didn’t feel confident the condition would clear after last year’s experience. I want comfort for my dog sooner rather than later. The blood test revealed that Tilly has 27 different allergies, 6 food which are easy to manage but the others, grass, trees, weeds, fungus, house dust - are mainly seasonal which explains the lull but these are virtually impossible to avoid. My dogs are used to 3-4 hours of exercise daily, off lead, cross country and swimming so this is my worst nightmare. Two special vaccines specific for my dog are being made which should help over time, to control the allergies and hopefully relieve the painful sores. Meanwhile I am keeping Tilly’s paws clean with an antibacterial wash prescribed by the vet. When we are out in the car or briefly I keep hand sanitiser gel to apply to kill any bacteria. At night time I slather arnica gel between her pads and cover with some fleece socks I made for her. By the morning any red soreness has subsided and she no longer licks furiously. I have just found an article on the internet that I also intend to try, washing several times a day with warm water and epsom salts.

Other reason’s I wanted to contribute my story are because:

1) My dog was only checked for Thyroid after I requested the test. The vet told me that at 18 months old it was highly unlikely a dog would have a thyroid problem and insisted I was overfeeding/under exercising my dog which I knew was utter rubbish. I had previosuly inherited a Choc. Lab that had a Thyroid problem and I also suffer myself so recognised the signs. Tests revealed that the Thyroid wasn’t working at all and it took more than a year on medication for my dog to lose half a stone. My second Choc. Lab. (Male) started to show signs of underactive thyroid at 8 months old but the vet refused to test until he was 14 months old. By then he was 45kilos despite being fed a light diet and the daily amount recommended for a dog half his size since nine months of age. It is an ongoing battle to reduce his weight, he is now 2 1/2 and 41 kilos, he gets great exercise and 225 grms food daily. He is not fat or globular but is still overweight although he is of a large muscular build. I am constantly aware that both my dog’s diets need to be closely monitored, no tid bits, minimal home-made non fat treats. Another vet told me that an underactive tyroid is a common condition in Chocolate Labradors so I wonder why the original vet didn’t suspect anything. I see a lot of very big, Choc. labs. and they also have a reputation as being lazy. I often wonder how many are undiagnosed, they are afterall ‘thoroughbred’.

2) I recently met an owner of a black lab who asked about the boots my dog wears. We talked about the problems I have and she told me she wished she had met me 5 years earlier. Her previous Black Lab. had terrible sores around his genitals. After several years of antibiotics and steriods when the dog was 5 years old, her vet said he should be put to sleep as nothing could be done for him. The lady was very upset and sought a second opinion. The second vet immediately took blood samples and followed with a thyroid test that revealed the dog had an underactive thyroid and untreated, this was causing the skin irritation. It took 3 years from the start of the problem to relieve the skin sores. The owner was upset because the dog was by then 8 years old and should have been enjoying the best years of his life but worse still, had she listened to her first vet, he would have been euthanised at 5. He went on to live a good life. ALWAYS SEEK A SECOND OPINION! (In my case with Tilly, had I stuck with my regular vet at home I would have ignored the limping and believed nothing more could be done - it turns out the diagnosis was completely wrong)

3) Whilst searching for suitable dog boots I have carefully read reviews and notice several owners comment that their dog suffers from what appears to be the same condition as my dog but that their vet is ‘non plussed’ when antibiotics don’t work. It seems nowadays that some of the most reliable information may be found online through other owners actual experience. Vets are incredibly expensive, and we should be getting a better service for our animals especially when a condition is common to certain breeds.(I am lucky that my dogs are fully insured with lifelong cover - beware of small print in cheap dog insurance)