Age seems like it may have a lot to do with. Can you get that info from the shelter?

Also, where does he spend most of his time standing?

You are such a good owner to continue trying to figure out what is wrong.

Question: Both paws are sensitive? Is there swelling, or are the paws hot?Did the vet consider an x ray?

Billy the Shar Pei will now be getting wax put on his paws in the morning. Boy, i hope this works. I was going to buy booties but i think he'd chew them off.

The other dogs (and i have many) do not have this problem so it's not my footing here at the house.

Try Therapaws - very high quality and comfortable for the dog. Yes they're more expensive, but worth it.

http://www.dogleggs.com/files/therapaw.cfm

Hey thanks Cynthia!!! I will probably try those - that sounds like a good idea!! That's why i post things on this forum - i bet no general practitioner vet would EVER have suggested those. They sound good.

Too bad both feet bother him - LOL!! More expensive.

thanks again!! I will let you know if it works for him.

vic

You may have to put a resticting collar on him until the paws have a chance to heal. Try and not let him livk his paws, all that wax may gum up his system. I agree, place wax, or some other dry, cracked paws remedy on his paws, and then place booties over his paws, this will help keep the meds on, and allow the moisture to stay around the paw area so that they may heal quickly. good luck.
PS - if you have a lawn or carpet or are using some sort of floor cleaner, herbicide, insecticide, pesticide or you are taking your pup out to a lwan which is being trated with these chemicals, they may be making the situation worse. Good luck

That's a good idea Mazer - putting wax AND the booties on. I have to measure his feet - how silly. I have to trace around them as he's bearing weight on them.

LOL!!

There are a couple other major differentials for furuncles of the feet- demodex mites (easy to skin scrape and diagnose, hard to treat), fungal infection (need a fungal culture; treatment is antifungal meds almost always need systemic and topical), pedal pemphigus (need biopsy to diagnose; treatment is high dose steroids), lupus (need biopsy with steroids for Tx), metabolic problems (Cushing's disease, liver disease, etc.)- bloodwork may be suggestive or you may need specific testing) or a bacterial infection resistant to cephalexin (need culture and sensitivity). Basically you need the appropriate diagnostics. Throwing misc. meds at the problem is not helping your dog and is wasting your money.

I have a patient with similar issues, but have just started on the diagnostic pathway. So far, I did cytology of the puss that comes out of the furuncles and didn't see any evidence of fungal or bacterial infection. I also did several skin scrapes and found no evidence of demodex. So far I've spent less than $100 of the client's money of diagnostics. This is a Great Dane though, so her 6 weeks of Abx for empirical treatment was another $85. It's extremely important to rule out infections before treating any immune disease such as pemphigus or lupus because immunosuppressive steroids will worsen any infection- demodex, bacterial, and fungal- so much that you may NEVER get a cure. But the owner knows that if this Abx course doesn't help, she's getting biopsy, bacterial culture and sensitivity, and fungal culture at the 6 week check up.

Unless your vet is willing to do the appropriate diagnostics and recommend appropriate follow up, I'd go ahead and get the dermatologist. Shar Peis are prone to many dermatologic problems that some vets may not be familiar with. In the meantime, Musher's wax is safe and may provide some relief to your dog.

Good point meghane - i need to go to someone who knows the breed!! Thanks for the reminder. There is someone is Tucson who is supposed to be knowledgeable about Pei.

Another thing i tried was to trim off some of the callous thinking he had abscesses in there but that didn't work out well.

I'll ask the vet about that because when you handle his feet and individual pads he gets upset.