Interdigital cysts are painful, recurring lesions that develop between the toes of dogs, causing significant lameness and often requiring prolonged treatment to resolve.
Interdigital cysts cause genuine lameness - dogs with active lesions are reluctant to walk normally, hold up the affected foot, and show behavioral signs of discomfort including licking the paws intensively. The lesions are painful to touch and rupture spontaneously, causing acute pain episodes. The chronic, recurrent nature of interdigital cysts in predisposed breeds means that some dogs experience ongoing pain for months or years without adequate resolution. Bulldogs with severe recurrent disease face repeated veterinary interventions including surgical procedures under anesthesia. The predisposition in short-coated breeds is partly structural and partly related to allergic skin disease that requires comprehensive management to control.