Paw Cysts – AKA Interdigital Cyst

What are they? Painful nodular lesions located in the webbing/paws of dogs. Cyst like sacs that become red, inflamed, painful, sometimes bleed and ooze.

We tried everything and listed to our vet for cysts. We did the following:

  • Take an antibiotic
  • Give a steroid
  • Soak in Epsom salt
  • Soak in povidone iodine
  • Give another steroid
  • Change kibble
  • Give a different antibiotic
  • Do allergy testing
  • Give Apoquel and Atopica
  • Send to Dermatologist
  • Give more steroids
  • Give Cytopoint shots
  • Give another antibiotic
  • Try another kibble

It was all BS. For SEVEN years, it didn’t work.

Tyson’s Story
He started with a cyst at 8 months. The vet gave antibiotics and steroids and the cyst went away. As soon as the steroids were done, they came right back and worse. It was a vicious cycle for seven years, always doing what the vet told us and spending over $20,000 in the process to fix it. They wanted to do surgery, we said no. So we kept trying until eventually the steroids took over his body, causing Calcinosis Cutis. Why? For a cyst? Really?

The vet just wanted us to keep coming back for visit after visit, one issue leading to another. We trusted him. He was the “bulldog expert” after all and had bulldogs himself. We couldn’t have been the first bulldog with a cyst? Seven years of steroids, all types of antibiotics until Tyson became resistant. Then came Apoquel and Atopica. Same thing – helped right away, but after a few months, cysts were back with a vengeance. Back to steroids! Shots were no help. Neither was every kibble on the planet. It wasn’t until using all those medications for a cyst caused Tyson to almost lose his life that then the hot spots, calcium deposits, more cysts and skin falling off started.

Until we addressed the issues from the inside out – fixing diet, throwing kibble in the garbage, quit feeding yeast, were we able to properly address what caused the cysts.

We worked on his diet and supplements, we fixed his broken immune system, incorporated probiotics and goats milk, started charcoal paw dips and wraps, detoxed from over medicating and over vaccinating.

What’s a Charcoal Paw Wrap?

Charcoal Paw Wrap Instructions
Gather the following items:

  1. Activated hardwood charcoal (we like Starwest Botanicals from Amazon).
  2. Indian healing bentonite clay (we like Starwest Botanicals from Amazon).
  3. Gauze wrap.
  4. A baby sock or our favorite reusable rubber Velcro adjustable disposable Bubble Paws (www.bubble-paws.com).

Then:

  1. Make a paste using 1 spoon of charcoal, 1 spoon of clay, use a little warm water.
  2. Apply to cyst area and under paw.
  3. Wrap with gauze, then apply sock or boot.
  4. Leave on for up to 30 minutes. Remove, wash and repeat until cleared.
  5. Cyst may burst – that’s okay. Do it again. The charcoal will clean out any bacteria from the area.

Believe me when I say, nothing worked except the paw dip and changing the diet.

Activated charcoal is carbon treated with oxygen. The carbon absorbs a wide range of impurities and contaminants including odors, pigments, bacteria and yeast. Because absorption works by chemically binding the impurities to the carbon, the active sites in the charcoal eventually become filled from removing those unwanted impurities. Indian healing bentonite clay works in soothing redness impurities from the pores and skin. These dips/paste/masks not only work on your pet’s cysts, but also are great for a wide range of skin issues for pets and humans alike.