Valley veterinarians see rise in dogs with burned paws

Veterinary offices around the Valley are starting to see multiple cases a day of dogs coming in with burned paws.

Dr. Sara Colin said it’s a mix between owned pets, and strays, like the one she treated Wednesday.

“When she came in all four of her paw pads were basically peeling off, and that includes the actual palm part as well as all of the little toe pads,” stated Dr. Colin, with the Veterinary Emergency Group in Phoenix. “She was struggling to walk. We sedated her, soaked all of her paws, and cleaned them the best that we could, because these guys are really susceptible to infection once that happens. We put kind of like a salve that we have over them and then we wrap them.”

With temperatures well into the triple digits, it only takes a few minutes on the hot surface to scald paws. Not all surfaces are created equally.

“There’s different types of composites based off asphalt or concrete… different types. It’s about 20 or 30 degrees higher than the actual air temperature, and then it depends on if it’s in direct sunlight vs. if it’s in the shade,” according to Dr. Colin.

Vets suggest avoiding long walks at any time of the day in the summer, but if you need to bring your pet out, walk in the shade, find real grass instead of turf, and put booties on for short periods of time.

“If we leave pet booties on and they’re running around outside, they can actually overheat that way and we don’t want to see heat stroke, which is another common thing we see here in Arizona right now,” the veterinarian said.

Dogs won’t always give a visible or audible reaction when the pavement is too hot for them, so Dr. Colin encourages her clients to feel it for themselves.

“If you’re unsure… use the wrist or the back of your hand and try to feel that pavement before you take them out on to it because if you think it’s hot… they think it’s hot too.”