sand toe

Hi John,

Sand toes can be a real problem with some greyhounds, particularly those with white feet. As usual good hygiene is important and that means washing the feet after each run, preferably with a weak solution of a skin disinfectant, and drying them properly whenever it is possible to avoid fungal infections.

To protect the skin around the nail from sand abrasion it is necessary to tightly wind a narrow strip of tape around the nail as close as possible to the nail quick but not on it or any of the hairs in that area.

The best tape suitable for this is a non stretch closely woven Elastoplast, or if this is not readily available you can get away with Leukoplast elastic tape.

Both are available in a small roll about 25 mm wide, and to obtain a strip of tape suitable for what you need to do it is best if you use a very sharp blade such as one of the snap off blade knives to cut into the tape while it is still on the roll cutting a 5 mm wide strip that can be unrolled by cutting just about all the way through the full layer of tape.

In the past I just used to divide the tape into 5 mm wide strips, mark lines all the way around the roll of tape and then cutting each one until I had a roll of tape that consisted of closely packed 5 mm wide strips, and enough tape to last a long while.

To place a barrier around the nail and stop the sand from forcing under the nail quick you need to wind the tape very firmly around the nail for at least four or five windings. The easiest way to do this is to first wind a section of the 5 mm wide tape around the end of a very small piece of dowel or a short section cut of a wooden skewer, and use that to help wind the tape firmly around the nail.

It may also be of some advantage, particularly if there is the possibility of an infection under the nail quick, to use a cotton bud and apply Betadine around the nail in the space between the nail quick and the tape.

Cheers,
Tom