Hey everyone!

Mylo has had this redness on his right paw left nail bed. One of the nails on his left paw is red-ish on the bed of it. Mylo has been walking just fine, no limping.

After I read about it possibly being a infection and could spread all over his paw or mess with his nail...we went to the vet. The vet checked it out and asked me all kinds of things and all of them being NO (playing too rough, biting himself, other dogs interaction). She inspected his paw, the red area, and even pressed the area to see if he had any pain..and nope she kept pressing and Mylo wasn't whining or anything.
So she didn't see it as anything bad and sent me home with a little bottle of liquid to mix with water to make a light blue color and dip his paw in it two times for five days. Been doing it for three days now.

Nail bed is still the same, sometimes it looks like he lost the fur there. He's a rug for 90% of the day...gosh I can't wait for it to start being cooler...I walk him a little bit in the morning and he feels like playing in the evening. I find it hard to believe it being some kind of infection but who knows.

Here's some pics I tried to take of his furry little paws.

-The Left Paw


-The Right paw


-Close up of the redness on the nail bed

Dave, if you can figure what is up let me know. Miya has had a similar spot on her left hip and left elbow, she doesn't bother with it at all, no excessive licking, no biting, nothing, we put neosporin on it a couple of times. She has had this for about a month, started when we got in the 100s for temps, and in the early morning she will lay on the ground. i gave up on the neosporin. because it wasn't doing anything. I have since started religiously using garlic in her food every other day, and coconut oil the opposite days, and it does look somewhat better, but it is still there. There has been 0 changes in lifestyle or food, and can not figure it out. My vet for Miya is useless, and well, Sofie doesn't have the issue, so not contagious, and Miya isn't bugging it, so obviously no infection. It just bugs me. I assume it is hot spots, but who knows, I did question it being ZRD, but that typically shows up around the face. I feel bad that I haven't taken her to the vet, but like you, it looks worse than it is, and probably my vet wouldn't know what it is either. So if anyone else here can help us out, I know Dave and I would feel a lot better about this.

Renee, from my experience with hot spots (little spaniel got them all the time, just above her tail) what you describe doesn't sound like a hot spot. Typically, what I've seen, a hot spot tends to be bare, moist (almost but not quite 'runny') and irritating.

In both cases, it sounds more like a reaction to a bug bite ... but no real help from here.

It's hard to say what it might be but my mind goes to a potential splinter up under the skin. It could even be from a long time ago and the splinter could just be working it's way back out.