Beau’s corny foot

By Helen Burns | Dated November 25, 2021

Beau the 4 year old greyhound was rehomed into his beautiful family 1 year ago this month. After spending his early life racing, he was looking forward to putting his feet up and enjoying life in the burbs. But not literally!

Beau came in to see us at Gordon Vet because he was having trouble walking on one of his feet because of the pain it was causing him. He was afflicted by a condition that is very common in greyhounds, but one that we almost never see in any other breed of dog. Beau had corns in his footpads.

Beau happily doing the rounds to maximise his treats!

A corn is a  circular mass of hard keratin that grows in the footpads of greyhounds in particular. They often stick out beyond the surface, and have a deep root that extends into the footpad. It is thought that they occur due to ongoing mechanical trauma to the foot, as may occur in racing greyhounds. As often occurs, Beau had several corns in his footpads, however there was one in particular that was causing him pain, particularly when he walked on hard ground.

So, while Beau was under anaesthetic having his teeth cleaned (another greyhound special), we surgically removed the corn from his pad. After a week of bandaging and TLC at home, Beau was again walking on his foot and has steadily improved since then.

Beau about to go home following his surgery