Apple Cider Vinegar on the Dog

I've been using diluted povidone iodine in a paw-bath for Choya twice a day after walks. Her paw-chomping compulsion has been reined in; the soak is keeping her paws clean and minor bites disinfected. In between, I use a paw balm. This girl loves to pounce and run, but her paws are so so delicate. Haizzzz. 🤯

She seemed to have gotten a scratch and bruising at the left hind leg carpal and tarsal joint. Likely from running around at daycare. It must have hurt because on the way home in the school bus, she chomped on her left hind paw till it was raw. She specifically chomped on that paw for at least a good 20 minutes. It was so raw till she hobbled a little when she got off the bus. Inspected the paw and couldn't see any cut or bite or lumps. There was no dried blood or bleeding. It was only the rawness from chomping and the scratch/bruise at the joints. 

My trusty assistants:
diluted apple cider vinegar,
and povidone iodine.

I had to bring out out the apple cider vinegar, dilute it in a spray bottle and use it on her paws thrice a day. I'm not keen to have her ingest apple cider vinegar. I don't belong to that camp. So it goes onto her as an external application and onto her raw patches. It definitely stung her as she held her left leg up after. But she quickly realized it was okay walking on the floor at home. Didn't hurt that badly.

Whenever we go out on longer walks, her first aid kit comes along. A bottle of diluted povidone iodine and bandages suffice for emergencies till we get to a 24-hour vet. Depending on where we go and how long we're out for, I now also grab that bottle of diluted apple cider vinegar. Just in case.

For the next few days, I stared at her gait. She walked and trotted okay on concrete and hard floors, but not on grass. That's when I knew there wasn't any fracture or sprain. It was probably minor bruising and muscle tear. Those grass bits would have poked into her paw and hurt the tender bits. It took a whole five days for that paw to be less raw. Out comes the cones and booties. Gotta rein in her compulsion to chomp it. That paw will take another ten days to fully heal.