Frostbite on Dog Paws: Signs, Salt and Winter Care

Frostbite on dog paws makes the pads or the skin between the toes look pale, gray or bluish and feel cold or brittle. As the tissue warms up, it often turns red, swollen and painful. The damage can take a few days to show fully, so if you suspect frostbite, call your veterinarian now rather than waiting to see how it looks tomorrow.

Frostbite isn't the winter paw problem you'll meet every week, though. The everyday ones are road salt that stings and gets licked off, ice balls between the toes, and dry, cracked pads. One quick check after every walk handles most of it.

Go to the vet now if:

- Your dog's paws look pale, gray, bluish, blistered or black after time in the cold.

- Your dog licked or drank antifreeze, or might have. Go even if your dog seems fine.

- Your dog ate ice melt from a bag or pile, or has repeated vomiting, heavy drooling, wobbliness or twitching after a walk on treated ground.

- Your dog is shivering hard, weak, slow or unwilling to move after being out in the cold.

Signs of Frostbite on Dog Paws

Below freezing (32°F, 0°C), the body narrows the blood vessels near the skin to keep its core warm. That can cut blood flow to the paws, ears and tail so far that the tissue freezes. Paws are among the most common spots, and wet paws are more at risk than dry ones.

Look for:

• Color change: pale, gray or bluish skin or pads. Dark pads may look grayish or washed out; pink pads may look bluish.
• Cold, hard or brittle feel that doesn't warm up like the rest of the foot.
• Pain when you touch the paw, limping, or holding a foot up.
• Swelling of the toes or pads, and licking or chewing at one paw.
• Redness and pain as it thaws.
• Blisters or open sores on the pads or between the toes.
• Black or dead-looking skin. Badly damaged tissue darkens to deep blue or black and can slough off over days to weeks. Pus or a bad smell means infection.

The American Veterinary Medical Association notes that frostbite may not be fully recognized until a few days after the damage. A paw that looked a little pale on Sunday and has blisters on Tuesday is the same injury showing itself.

Higher-risk dogs: short-coated or short-legged dogs, very young, old or thin dogs, and dogs with heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease or hormonal conditions that affect circulation or temperature control.

What to Do If You Think Your Dog Has Frostbite

First aid happens on the way to the vet, not instead of it. These steps follow VCA's veterinary first-aid guidance:

1. Get your dog somewhere warm and dry as quickly and safely as you can.
2. Warm a cold, shivering dog first. If your dog is chilled all over (hypothermia), wrap their body in warm, dry towels or blankets. The whole dog comes before the paw.
3. Warm the paw gently, with warm (not hot) water, only once you're inside and it can't freeze again. Then pat it dry. Don't rub.
4. Call your veterinarian or an emergency clinic and tell them you're on your way. Keep your dog wrapped in dry towels or blankets for the drive.

What not to do:

• Don't rub or massage the paw. It damages frozen tissue further.
• Don't use direct dry heat like a heating pad or hair dryer.
• Don't warm the paw if it could freeze again before you reach shelter. Refreezing does more damage.
• Don't give any pain medicine unless your vet tells you to. Many human pain relievers, including acetaminophen and aspirin, can be toxic to dogs.

At the clinic, the vet treats whole-body cold first, then the paw, usually with pain relief (thawing tissue hurts) and antibiotics if dead tissue could get infected. Mild frostbite usually heals with little lasting damage. Severe cases can need surgery to remove dead tissue, or amputation.

Salt and Ice Melt: Why Licking Matters

Road salt and ice melt irritate the skin, leaving pads sore or cracked and the skin red between the toes. And whatever stays on the feet ends up in your dog's mouth, because dogs clean their paws with their tongue.

Most ice melts are salts (sodium, potassium, calcium or magnesium chloride). ASPCA Animal Poison Control says its most common ice-melt calls are about dogs licking their feet after walking on treated sidewalks, and a couple of licks will not cause serious problems. At most you'd expect mild drooling, vomiting or diarrhea that passes on its own.

Eating ice melt is a different story. A dog that gets into an open bag can swallow enough to cause repeated vomiting, dehydration and dangerous changes in blood salts, and calcium chloride can burn the mouth and stomach. Call your vet or ASPCA Animal Poison Control at (888) 426-4435 straight away if your dog ate more than a lick, vomits more than once, keeps drooling, or seems wobbly, twitchy or weak.

At home, choose a pet-safe ice melt: ASPCA's poison control team rates products with urea as the main ingredient as the least irritating to the stomach. Check the ingredient list, not just a "pet friendly" label, and keep the bag out of reach. Sand doesn't melt ice but gives traction. On walks, steer around visible salt.

Still licking long after the salt is gone? See why dogs lick and chew their paws.

The After-Walk Paw Check

One quick pass takes about a minute and catches salt, ice balls and early cracks. It's built on guidance from the AVMA, the ASPCA and the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine:

1. Wipe or rinse the feet, legs and belly with a damp cloth or lukewarm water as soon as you come in. De-icers, antifreeze and road grime collect there too, not just on the pads.
2. Dry thoroughly, especially between the toes.
3. Spread the toes and look for ice balls, salt crystals, redness, cuts or cracks.
4. Check the pads. Compare each foot with the others and note anything pale, gray, blistered or bleeding.
5. Watch the first few minutes indoors. A dog that keeps licking one paw or limps after warming up has told you where to look.

On long walks, a small towel in your pocket lets you wipe stinging paws on the way. It's the winter version of a summer habit: in July the danger is pavement that's too hot for paws.

Snowballs Between the Toes

Sudden limping or chewing at a foot mid-walk? Check between the toes first. Snow packs into the fur there and freezes into hard ice balls that press with every step; the AVMA lists them as a cause of sudden winter lameness.

• Remove them gently once you're inside, then dry the foot.
• Prevent them in long-haired dogs by keeping the fur between the pads trimmed short. A groomer or your vet clinic can do it.
• Don't shave the whole coat. The ASPCA says trim the feet and problem areas and leave the rest for warmth.

Cracked and Dry Paw Pads

Cold air outside, dry heated air inside and salt all pull moisture out of pad skin until it splits, bleeds and gets sore.

The ASPCA suggests rubbing petroleum jelly or another vet-approved paw protectant (a balm or wax) into the pads before a walk, as a barrier against salt and ice. Some dogs find paw wax tasty and lick it off, which can upset the stomach, so put it on right before you head out. A balm won't fix a deep crack.

See your vet if a crack bleeds, gapes open, makes your dog limp, looks infected (swollen, smelly, oozing), or isn't getting better. Pads that are thick, crusty and cracked all year, not just in winter, can point to other conditions such as paw pad hyperkeratosis.

Do Dogs Need Booties in Winter?

Not every dog does. Booties cover more than balm and keep salt and sand out from between the toes. They make the most sense on heavily salted city sidewalks, for dogs with cracked or sensitive pads, and for long outings in deep snow.

The AVMA's one condition is that booties fit properly. The catch, as the ASPCA notes, is that some dogs just won't wear them; then paw balm plus the after-walk check is a fair plan. If your dog wears a coat, swap a wet one for a dry one: the AVMA warns a wet coat makes a dog colder.

Antifreeze: The Winter Emergency

Most antifreeze contains ethylene glycol, which the Merck Veterinary Manual describes as often fatal to dogs and cats. Cases peak in fall, winter and early spring, when spills sit on driveways and garage floors. It tastes sweet, and although US makers have added a bittering agent since 2012, Merck notes some animals may still find it tasty. The AVMA warns that even small amounts can be deadly.

The signs trick people:

• Within 30 minutes to 12 hours: your dog may look drunk, with vomiting, wobbly walking and dullness.
• Around 12 hours: they can seem to recover.
• About 36 to 72 hours later in dogs: the kidneys fail.

The outlook gets worse the longer treatment is delayed, so don't wait for signs, and go even if your dog seems fine. If you saw your dog lick a spill, found a puddle with your dog nearby, or found a chewed container, go to your vet or an emergency clinic now and call ASPCA Animal Poison Control at (888) 426-4435 on the way. Our full guide to antifreeze poisoning in dogs explains what happens next.

To prevent it, clean up spills, store antifreeze out of reach, and consider propylene glycol products instead, as the ASPCA recommends.

How Cold Is Too Cold for Your Dog's Paws?

We found no sourced temperature where paws become unsafe; wet paws, wind, time outside and the dog itself all change the answer. The AVMA's line: no pet should be left outside for long periods in below-freezing weather, and even huskies are only more tolerant, not immune. Coat, body fat, age and health matter, short-legged dogs chill faster, and in very cold weather the AVMA suggests shorter walks. Whining, shivering, slowing down or hunting for somewhere warm to burrow mean hypothermia: bring your dog inside and call your vet.

When to See the Vet

Everything in the go-now box at the top of this page is an emergency. Book a vet visit soon for:

• A paw that stays red, swollen or painful after it has warmed up
• Cracks that bleed, gape, look infected or aren't getting better
• Limping that doesn't settle once ice balls are cleared
• Licking or chewing at the paws that continues well after the salt has been cleaned off

Sources

• American Veterinary Medical Association: Cold weather animal safety
• ASPCA: Cold Weather Safety Tips
• ASPCApro (ASPCA Animal Poison Control): Ice Melt Toxicity in Pets
• University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine: Protect Your Pets from Winter Hazards
• VCA Animal Hospitals: Frostbite in Dogs
• Merck Veterinary Manual: Ethylene Glycol Toxicosis in Animals
• Emergency Veterinary Care Centers: Frostbite on Dog Paws

This article is for general information and is not a substitute for advice from your veterinarian.