Any Experience With Torn Web Between Toes?

[Guest LoveSeniorGreys]

My 11yr old Angel has a tear between her toes on the left front foot. We were walking (on a sidewalk) and all of a sudden she stopped and screamed. It looks bad (thin greyhound skin and all) and she is obviously in pain. We keep it as clean as possible and she wears a sock and bootie on walks. The only meds are canine aspirin as the regular vet office is closed for the holiday.

 

Looking for similar experiences.....should this be an E-Vet visit?

[Guest houndlover]

Yes, I have had the unpleasant experience of this happening to one of my greys (on X-mas eve nonetheless). I did not take him to the e-vet. I kept it clean and dry (that was the hardest part). It took a long time to heal but it did without a problem and it didn't get infected so I never had to put him on antibiotics. I do think that it can be painful and would give canine asprin if you had some. Is it bleeding? Casey's bled on and off for a day or two and if you give Angel asprin that could increase the bleeding.

 

When I took Casey in to the vet the next month to have his nails trimmed (he goes monthly), I had the nurse look at the cut and she said that it was healing well and they wouldn't have done anything different than what I had already done.

 

I hope that Angel is feeling better soon.

[krissn333]

Ace has done it twice, and Fritz has punctured his webbing (wasn't a tear of the whole thing).

 

First time with Ace we went to the emergency room. They stitched her up. We kept it bandaged and cleaned it every day. Eventually it healed and looked good as new. Then she tore it again. At our first visit the doc had told us leaving it unattached wouldn't be detrimental to her toes or walking or anything, so when she did it the second time, I decided not to have it stitched, knowing that it probably would just happen again. So again we bandaged it and cleaned it daily. It healed quickly and we've not had a problem since.

 

Fritz must have stepped on something, because the MIDDLE of his webbing was cut, and part of the middle of his foot was cut also. That required a vet visit (thankfully our regular vet was open) because I was concerned about his foot, not so much about the webbing. Doc stitched his webbing anyway while we were there and got his foot repaired as well. He's good as new

 

So, long story short, I'd just keep it clean, bandage it for a day or so if it's bleeding. If anything looks/smells funny about it, a vet visit might be in order for some antibiotics and to examine it closely. Other than that, just be vigilant with cleaning. Dial soap and water works great in a pinch. I actually have Hibiclens here though (stuff they use in hospitals) so I often use that instead.

[Guest jbox]

This happened to our grey a week ago! She ripped the whole webbing in between her two front toes and it bled like crazy! I mixed about a teaspoon of some antibacterial soap (Dial) with 2 cups of water in a glass measuring cup and soaked her foot in it for about a minute while she layed down then took her foot out and layed it on a towel and used 3x3 or 4x4 inch gauze pads dipped in the soapy water and at the time it happened I couldn't pull her toes to far apart as I know it was painful for her so I just squeezed the soapy water out of the gauze pad and into the area between her toes and kept repeating this over and over till it got thoroughly cleaned (even though I really couldn't visually see it well). Then I rinsed the measuring cup out and filled it with clean water, then soaked her foot again to rinse it well then repeated with squeezing clean water into the injured area. Then I dried her foot well with paper towels. For the first 2 days I didn't put antibiotic ointment (neosporin or polysporin) on it as I really just wanted it to dry out. Then I started putting it on it after I had cleaned her foot after the second day. Of course she wore a sock the whole time, I bought a bag of 3-5yr baby socks so I had plenty of clean fresh ones in case she needed a changing at any time. I used Vet Wrap to keep it on but not on the paw part, only wrap the vet wrap above the paw on the leg as you want the paw to breathe and dry out through the sock. Also don't put vet wrap on their leg, make sure it's only over the sock and that part of the sock is sticking out on top of the vet wrap to protect her leg from irritation from the vet wrap. Of course hand walking her on a leash is very neccessary to keep her/him from damaging it anymore. It's been a week so far and it's looking really good! I only clean it once a day, even from the beginning when it happened because you don't want to irritate it too much. I'm still handwalking her and she still gets it cleaned everyday and has a sock on but I think within 2 more weeks it should be fully healed. :-) Just keep an eye on it for infection. Rio's was really bad looking and just by keeping it clean and a sock on it so she can't lick and irritate it, it is really healing up nicely!!! Good Luck! :-)

[Guest jbox]

Oops, I just recleaned her wound and meant to say 1/2 tsp of soap with 2 cups of water. And Sterile pads work just the same as gauze pads for cleaning. Also you can buy vet wrap at a farm and garden store or a tack store where they sell horse supplies.

Good luck!

[Guest fatesrelease]

Awh poor thing. I hope Angel feels better.

[Guest LoveSeniorGreys]

Thanks for the information, appreciate it.

[patricia]

I hope Angel is feeling better.

[Guest TBSFlame]

My 11yr old Angel has a tear between her toes on the left front foot. We were walking (on a sidewalk) and all of a sudden she stopped and screamed. It looks bad (thin greyhound skin and all) and she is obviously in pain. We keep it as clean as possible and she wears a sock and bootie on walks. The only meds are canine aspirin as the regular vet office is closed for the holiday.

 

Looking for similar experiences.....should this be an E-Vet visit?

 

Yes, Flame had a torn web. It took a long time to heal and lots of blood. Flame only has 3 good legs so he was in a bad place with only two good legs. It took several months to heal. Leash pottying only. Also, vet finally put a staple in it b/c it kept bleeding. Really tough to heal. Thank goodness he did heal.

[Guest lauri]

Yep! Been there! Had to go to the vet - Miles' tore up into his foot. That was a painful and expensive injury!

[TinyMityMo]

Bailey did this. We had it stitched but the stitches ended up coming out anyway so that it healed as if it were never stitched. I wouldn't bother about trying to stitch it. Clean it off with a bowl of water etc. and keep it dry with a sock. What the other folks have said. Good luck.

[dbullwinkel]

Missy did this and my old vet stitched it up..what a disaster. she kept ripping the bandage off, even with a sock or boot.

 

When Garry had a similar injury, I learned from someone here to soak it in epson salt a couple times a day, keep it covered when outside. It heeled very fast.

[Guest sheila]

Kiowa did this a few times and even my vet told me that stitching it would likely be futile as the stitches would not stay. I would just soak his paw in soapy water and rinse it off and put some anti-biotic spray and keep it covered as well as I could.

[SPDoggie]

Kingsley did this and since it still looked raw after a couple days our vet put a couple stitches in it which did help it heal quickly, and for some reason he left it alone and let it heal!

[momtogeorge]

After George tore the web between his toes. the evet stapled it and wrapped. When I took him to my regular vet for recheck, you could smell the infection when it was unwrapped. After a month of not healing, George finally had to have a skin graft between his toes.

[Guest LuckyGrey]

Princess tore her webbing outside a few weeks ago which resulted in stitches. The vet was wonderful.

[greytpups]

Bailey did this in the winter...I think she ripped it on a piece of ice...I took her to the vet and he put something on it (anti-biotic cream?) to help heal it and then bandaged it up. He stressed not to get it wet because you want to make sure bacteria does not grow if the bandage gets wet. In fact he called us at home that night to remind us again. He also did not stitch it because he said they will likely come out and the webbing isn't particularly useful now.

 

I can't remember how long the bandage was on...it was almost healed once we removed it, then we soaked it in epsom salts 3 x day until it was fully healed. Bailey did cut it once since but it healed quickly and she's never had a problem.

 

Also the bandage covered her whole paw and part way up her leg to prevent swelling and bacteria from getting in.

Edited September 1, 2008 by greytpups

[PatricksMom]

Patrick did this, resulting in 17 stitches. If at all possible, I'd take her to the evet and see what they thing.