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Post by Adam Samantha & Cora on Dec 23, 2013 23:43:05 GMT -5
Hi Everyone,
Donna hurt one of her paws a few weeks ago, after it accidentally got caught under a door in our apartment building lobby. Specifically, she seems to have injured the tissue that holds her toe nails in place on the two inner toes. The vet has had her on pain killers and anti-biotics for the last two weeks, and for the last week she actually had the entire leg in a splint to keep weight off of the paw and toe nails.
Today we got the splint off and, much to our dismay, her paw seems very swollen. The vet tech seemed to think that this is sometimes normal when the leg has been in a splint and wrapped up for a while, but the actual vet thought this was not a good sign. He has suggested we do another week of anti-biotics, and that we should not wrap up her foot (other than to go outside, few minutes only) so that it can breathe a bit.
We are hoping that it heals up and returns to normal size by Friday, but the vet has mentioned a few times that if her toes don't heal properly by then he may have to amputate them, as toe injuries can be bad. Specifically he mentioned the injury could cause lameness if it doesn't heal, among a few other things i can't remember.
To us the amputation of the toes seems a bit extreme, but then again we have no vet training.
Does anyone else have any thoughts?
We've only had the splint off for a few hours, so it may just need time. Hoping the best right now...
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OwnedBySummer
Hound Nut
"Summer" (aka Coach Standifer)
Posts: 1,392
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Post by OwnedBySummer on Dec 24, 2013 2:15:00 GMT -5
I flagged your posting on FB Greytalk for Jennifer Ng, who is a greyhound vet. Hopefully, she'll see the tag and offer an opinion.
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Midge
Grey Lover
Posts: 891
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Post by Midge on Dec 24, 2013 8:16:12 GMT -5
My thoughts would be that if you're not comfortable with the Vet's diagnosis or treatment plan, get a second opinion.
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Post by Heather (& KC) on Dec 24, 2013 9:18:35 GMT -5
I agree with the above. If it doesn't feel right, get another opinion. Good luck!
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Post by newtothis1 on Dec 24, 2013 14:57:38 GMT -5
Definitely get another opinion. I have had a dog (not a grey) who had toes amputated because of a growth on them. The vet wanted to do the whole leg to be safe, they were thinking cancer. Well another vet said that was ridiculous and took two toes. She was just fine after that and never had any other problems and lived to a ripe old age to boot. Needless to say we never used the first vet again. I know this is not the same situation, but a second opinion is well worth it when it comes to your little one.
Keep us posted .
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Adam
Newbie
Posts: 9
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Post by Adam on Dec 24, 2013 23:43:07 GMT -5
We saw the vet again today. He sent us home with a kit for doing laser therapy on her paw. He suggested a few minutes on the front and back of the paw, and then a minute on each side repeating 'about every 8 hours or so'. I honestly have no idea what this gizmo is supposed to do or how it does it, but I did the routine for her tonight and am hoping it helps. She squirmed a bit but didn't seem to mind the ray-gun too much.
He also added an anti-inflammatory pill to her regimen, and told us not to wrap her foot unless we're going outside so that we can try to let it breath as much as possible while she is indoors.
Bill at GRA-C recommended Colloidal Silver and we picked up some of that at one of the local pet places. Donna is also wearing her brand new cone (plastic, with the little pegs and holes) as her inflatable one really wasn't working at all. She isn't happy about the cone, but so far she isn't really protesting and it seems to be working.
We're hoping the cone will stop her from licking the paw and nails ,and that the medicine will then help it to heal.
Got our fingers crossed so far, just hoping she will behave while we're asleep and keep the cone on and not lick!!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2013 8:50:03 GMT -5
Sending positive thoughts your way. Hoping that Donna feels better soon!
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OwnedBySummer
Hound Nut
"Summer" (aka Coach Standifer)
Posts: 1,392
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Post by OwnedBySummer on Dec 25, 2013 15:16:57 GMT -5
She may be more comfortable in her muzzle instead of a cone. If she licks with the muzzle on, you can put in a stool guard or, if you don't have one, just use duct tape (making sure there's room to drain for when she drinks water) or get one of the colored UK muzzles from Karen where the stool guard is integrated.
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whovian
Junior Grey Lover
River (a.k.a Iruska Cool Chic) has claimed me as her "friendbeast"
Posts: 171
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Post by whovian on Dec 25, 2013 20:27:42 GMT -5
Even better than the cone - try wrapping a towel around her neck. I had to do this with River when she cut her knee. There are better instructions on this forum somewhere, but here is what you do in a nutshell:
1. Fold a bath towel in half twice lengthwise (hotdog style) 2. Wrap the towel around Donna's neck with medium pressure - tight enough so it doesn't fall off but not so tight that she has trouble breathing 3. Secure the towel - I used a backpacking strap but a lightweight belt or a strip of velcro will also work.
It's not the most dignified, but it works better for a Grey than a cone. Donna won't be able to bend at the neck enough to reach her back toes, and she will likely give up licking quickly. It should be comfortable enough for her to sleep in.
So sorry this happened. Hope she starts to feel better soon!
Sent from my SGH-I747M using proboards
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daylight
Hound Nut
what's so funny Light?....Joker!
Posts: 1,275
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Post by daylight on Dec 26, 2013 9:16:14 GMT -5
Thinking of Donna and really hoping you are seeing some positive signs of healing by now.
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Midge
Grey Lover
Posts: 891
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Post by Midge on Dec 26, 2013 10:11:09 GMT -5
She may be more comfortable in her muzzle instead of a cone. If she licks with the muzzle on, you can put in a stool guard or, if you don't have one, just use duct tape (making sure there's room to drain for when she drinks water) or get one of the colored UK muzzles from Karen where the stool guard is integrated. The cones never worked for Holly, with her long neck she always managed to get her nose around them. I have a spare UK muzzle you can borrow if you'd like to try that. I'll message you my cell #.
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Post by Adam Samantha & Cora on Dec 26, 2013 16:31:27 GMT -5
Donna's swelling has gone down a lot today vs. yesterday. Thank you guys for the muzzle!!! She can't get out of it. She can't lick it and It's helping and making a big difference.
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Post by Heather (& KC) on Dec 27, 2013 8:32:54 GMT -5
Good progress! Keep us posted. I'm glad the muzzle is working.
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Post by angelollie on Dec 27, 2013 16:47:17 GMT -5
Would you be able to post a photo of Donna's toes? Donna's injury sounds similar to Willy's who lost tissue surrounding his front middle toe nail when we had the freezing rain storm. The tissue surrounding the nail was quite raw, the toe swollen and sore looking for days but now is looking so much better. I've been bathing it in epson salts and putting a little polysporin on the raw part. I do this when he is sleeping near me so I can keep an eye on him (no licking).
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Post by Adam Samantha & Cora on Dec 27, 2013 21:09:47 GMT -5
Yea I took a pic of her feet like a few days ago. I can try to add it to this thread. We have been using Silver and polysporin on her three red marks on her foot. We only cover her foot when she needs to go outside. She's been really great for walking on it.
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