DISEASES OF THE CLAWS AND FOOT PADS 



379 



Fig, 124.— Pads of foot. 

 a, Carpal pad: b, .sole; c, 

 1 to 5, toe pads. 



inflammation of the matrix. The broken ends of the claws must be filed 



or pared down to make the surface smooth and prevent it catching in 



carpets, rugs, etc., and tearing it further. Occasionally a dog with long 



crescent-like nails, due to want of wear, catches it in a carpet or rough 



boards in a floor when he is running and the claw is 



torn loose from the matrix, hanging l^y a small piece 



of very sensitive flesh, and every time the animal 



moves or it touches an object, it causes extreme 



pain. As it is generally hanging by a small portion 



of flesh it can be seized by the fingers and quickly 



torn off, or if it is more firmly fixed, it can be cut off 



by means of a pair of small wire cutters, care being 



taken not to cut too close to the matrix. 



Where there is extensive injury to the matrix, 

 it may be necessary to exarticulate the part. 



Where the nail is torn from the matrix and that 

 is exposed, it is not advisable to bandage it. Paint 

 it once daily Avith compound tincture of benzoin. 



Inflamed Claw. Panaritium. — This may origin- 

 ate from traumatisms, such as being stepped on, 

 crushed between doors, or the extension of inflam- 

 matory process from the leg, from unknown causes 



which develop an inflammation of the matrix of the claw, and is 

 also seen in dogs that are very highly fed and are plethoric. 

 There frequently appears a gouty inflammation of the second phalanx 

 and the matrix, causing considerable congestion, pus and sloughing of 

 the nail. Eczematous eruption of the local epidermis is also com- 

 mon in overfed dogs; the two conditions are apt to recur in 

 these plethoric dogs from time to time. In rare cases pus is found 

 and may burrow under the tissues, causing fistula or after the 

 acute inflammation subsides, a thickening of the toe. Occasionally one 

 toe is attacked and when the acute symptoms sulxside, then another is 

 attacked; it has been thought to be contagious, but this condition is so 

 frequently seen in overfed animals that it evidently is gouty in character. 

 Frick found that salt water produced irritation of the claws in animals 

 that were at seashore places during the autumn and winter. Ral:)e 

 ascribes this condition to a microbe which he calls Cladothrix canis. 



In acute inflammation of the claw the animal is very lame and on 

 examination of the toe it is found hot, swollen and very tender to the 

 touch; the skin surrounding the affected toe is tumefied and congested; 

 the claw is very painful; the animal gives evidence of acute agony if it is 

 touched; the claw is dull, the natural lustre having entirely disappeared, 

 and frequently the claw may have changed its position, that is, it may 



