NeylasMom Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Neyla was missing a toe on her back foot when I got her. At one point, a stubby nail grew in and she worked it off. That was several years ago. Since then there have been varying levels of stub there, but it hasn't bothered her. More recently she's limping and it appears to be bothering her again. Has anyone experienced this with one of their greys? Like I said last time it resolved on it's own, but this time it seems to be more prolonged and we're not able to take walks because it's a bit painful. Inside, or on grass, she does fine. I just noticed her working on it a bit last night though, although it's been bothering her for a couple of weeks. Any input would be helpful. We're scheduled for our yearly exam in the next week so I will of course talk to my vet, but I wanted to hear if others have had this problem and how it was resolved. I REALLY don't want to consider toe or nail amputation, but I also don't want this to become a more frequent or more serious problem. Thoughts? Thanks, Jen Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Oh_Greyt Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I'm not sure I understand how her toe or nail is... But I know with cat declaws there is a chance of the nail regrowing kind of funky (I've seen this so many times!!) if they didn't properly remove all of the joint from the toe. In fact, my cat has this from before I adopted her. The nail grows so weird, that if I don't trim it regularly she can't walk - or at least she limps because it hurts. Sometimes she'll go for many months without a hint of a nail, then all of a sudden she's limping and it's time to trim it back again. I'm wondering if Neyla has a similar situation going on... Can you trim the nail back so it doesn't put pressure on her toe or pad when she puts weight on it? My cat doesn't even have a quick in the nail, so I'm able to trim it almost completely off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted July 25, 2007 Author Share Posted July 25, 2007 It doesn't actually make contact with the ground when she puts weight on it. I'll try to remember to take and upload a photo tonight. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted July 31, 2007 Author Share Posted July 31, 2007 I finally got a couple of pictures of the toe. When this started she was limping so I gave Tramadol for a few days until she seemed better. It's been a couple of weeks now and I only realized more recently how much it's still bothering her. She seems to be holding her foot out a bit at an angle, which is causing calluses to form on her paw pads and has also caused this sort of strange twisting of the pad on that particular toe, leading to the beginnings of a sore b/c she's now putting pressure on the side of her toe (you can see this a bit in the pictures). The toe that's bothering her is the 2nd from your right (the one with the little stub). Possibly exacerbating the situation is the other middle toe which also has a wonky nail. Anyway, if you look closely you can see how the paw pad is twisted and visible on the right side, and there's some redness on the other side where she's usually putting weight: This gives you a better view of the callous that's formed on the inside: So I pushed our vet visit up to yesterday. The vet said there isn't really any movement in the joint. Her feeling was it could be an old break that is now getting arthritic or there could be some sort of mass in there. She took x-rays but could only get a top view so the only definitive thing she saw was swelling. She mentioned acupuncture and amputation as possibilities, but we both felt the best thing to do was start conservative and get rid of the pain and swelling and see if it resolves. So she's on a 5-day course of Rimadyl with Tramadol added for pain (except that I'm going to run out of Tramadol in 2 more days). So...with that all said, and pictures posted, has anyone dealt with something like this or have any input or suggestions? I trust my vet, but it's always helpful if others have already dealt with a similar problem. Thanks, Jen Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scullysmum Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 I haven't had this exact problem, but Sadi ripped off one of her dew claw when we first had her, it grew back partly, but then she ripped it off again so I suppose that the nail bed can be weakened and therefore the nail is more likely to be lost in future....even more so in your case because it is in contact with the ground (well, soft ground at least). I don't know if it's possible but perhaps you could ask your vet if there is a way to stop the nail re-growing...cauterization or something So that it doesn't bother her in future. Quote <p>"One day I hope to be the person my dog thinks I am"Sadi's Pet Pages Sadi's Greyhound Data PageMulder1/9/95-21/3/04 Scully1/9/95-16/2/05Sadi 7/4/99 - 23/6/13 CroftviewRGT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lothianjavert Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 I don't have any advice Jen, but I hope you can find something that works for Neyla! Her foot does look uncomfortable, so I can see why she'd be limping. Quote In vino veritasRachael with Rook, missing Sully, Sebau, and Diesel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbotaina Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 (edited) Ouch, poor girl. You might want an orthopod to look at it. Oh, and I've got some tramadol (always on hand with Turbo's corn). Edited August 1, 2007 by turbotaina Quote Meredith with Heyokha (HUS Me Teddy) and Crow (Mike Milbury). Missing Turbo (Sendahl Boss), Pancho, JoJo, and "Fat Stacks" Juana, the psycho kitty. Canku wakan kin manipi."Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytlady94 Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Looking at the top photo, does anyone else think that second toe from the left looks broken, out of joint or something? Poor baby, it must be miserable for her trying to walk on those toes. I would be concerned that with her walk being off it might cause additional joint problems. Quote Greyhound angels at the bridge- Casey, Charlie, Maggie, Molly, Renie, Lucy & Teddy. Beagle angels Peanut and Charlie. And to all the 4 legged Bridge souls who have touched my heart, thank you. When a greyhound looks into you eyes it seems they touch your very soul. "A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more then he loves himself". Josh Billings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted August 1, 2007 Author Share Posted August 1, 2007 Looking at the top photo, does anyone else think that second toe from the left looks broken, out of joint or something? Poor baby, it must be miserable for her trying to walk on those toes. I would be concerned that with her walk being off it might cause additional joint problems. That is what I'm worried about. I wish I hadn't waited as long as I did to get her into the vet. It just seemed better for a little while so I held off. As for the second toe, she has that one, plus one or two on her other foot like that. They could be old breaks that healed improperly, but they've never bothered her. The vet is concerned that it's exacerbating the situation though (pushing on the injured toe if nothing else). She was able to manipulate it though without issue and didn't see anything wrong with it on the x-ray. Well I guess I'll see where we are when the Rimadyl is done in 3 more days and go from there. A visit to a specialist may be in order like Meredith suggested. We'll certainly do that before we even discuss amputation. If anyone else has input, I'm all ears. Otherwise, fingers crossed that this resolves with the nsaids! Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbotaina Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 Poor Neyla and her wonky feet. Quote Meredith with Heyokha (HUS Me Teddy) and Crow (Mike Milbury). Missing Turbo (Sendahl Boss), Pancho, JoJo, and "Fat Stacks" Juana, the psycho kitty. Canku wakan kin manipi."Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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