Poor Lucy...broken/bruised Toe

[fritofeet]

Lucy scared the bejeesus out of me this morning. She came in from outside limping and then basically had a melt down. She went limp and did the GSOD plus kicking the foot she had been limping on. I honestly thought she was having another stroke or attack except that she was very lucid and had complete eye contact with me the whole time. I got her up on the couch on her side and sat with her for awhile, feeling her back legs and feet to see what was going on and I noticed one of her toes is very swollen. Since she just had her dental I gave her some of her pain pills and have been hanging out with her while she has been napping. Now looking at that toe, it is very bruised but not as swollen. She did get up for me to go get cookies, but did the hop the whole way. I know it is her toe and am waiting for a call back from the vet but am wondering if there really is anything besides medication they can do for her.

 

Thanks.

[Guest KyGrey]

Poor baby. Sending prayers.

[Hubcitypam]

When Buck broke his toe my vet disn't do anything except for some pain meds. He sort of limped around for 3 weeks.

[CaliforniaGreys]

I'm not sure what they'll do but in the mean time, if she'll let you, soak her foot in warm water and Epsom Salts.

 

Feel better young lady!

[Guest greyorkie]

Awww...I wish I had more experience with toes. Hopefully when the vet calls back, it'll be something that can be addressed quickly and easily.

And I'm SURE glad it wasn't a stroke or attack! Whew.

Good luck with that phone call. Keep us updated.

[Hubcitypam]

In human first aid ice is recommended, at least at first. That may be easier said than done on a paw tho....

[Guest BlackandBrindle]

Is it dislocated or just swollen?

 

 

At most the vet is going to take xrays and if it's broken badly maybe surgery?

 

Will she let you ice it?

 

Finding my phone now to call you...

[Guest ss556]

Scritches to Lucy - hope she feels better.

[Guest trevdog]

Just keep an eye on her, if it's broken there's not much they can do except wrap or splint it, which can cause other problems. Not worth it to me...I had one that broke a toe, had it xrayed and splinted. They had it wrapped too tight and it rubbed his skin raw and he developed a bad infection that took months to heal, much worse than the broken toe to deal with.

Dallas broke a toe last year running around, we just let it heal on it's own and other than a small bump on the toe, she's fine.

[Guest Spencers_Greyt]

Aww poor baby! I don't think much can be done but pain meds. Glad it wasn't something more serious!

 

[Remolacha]

Is it an 'inside' toe or an 'outside' toe? Molly broke her outside toe on Thanksgiving, and the vet put a splint on it and wrapped it, I think because it was on the outside. She tolerated the splint for about 10 days (was supposed to be three weeks) then started messing with it, so the vet told me I could cut it off. I kept her on pain meds for about a month, until she (mostly) stopped limping. In retrospect, I probably wouldn't have bothered splinting it, but Molly is a bit of a drama queen so I thought it was worse than it probably really was.

[nyGreys]

Awwww, poor Lucy, hope she feels better.

[Guest KennelMom]

You can do soaking in ice water a few times a day for 10-15 minutes (or however long the dog will tolerate it) for the first 48 hours to help with the swelling. Otherwise, there's not really much that can be done. You could get an xray to be extra cautious. I wouldn't want them to splint a toe...that can create a lot more problems than it solves. If the toe is aligned, then it's just a matter of rest and pain management. Definitely leash walk her for several weeks...even after the swelling goes down.

Edited February 19, 2009 by KennelMom

[fritofeet]

It is an inside back toe, which is now very very bruised. She let me put an ice pack on it and DS magically appeared with an early release day. My vet is out of town until Monday, so I can't get any more pain meds unless I bring her in to another vet to be examined. She still has some left over from her dental, so I am hoping that will do the trick until Monday. I would take her in, but I don't have a car that will work to transport in since DS wrecked the dog mobile on Sunday. She is eating and wagging her tail, and got up on her own, hopped about and gave me the pathetic "a cookie would make it better" look.

Poor sad Lucy.

[mangos_mom]

When Takoda broke an outside toe on one of his front feet, my vet splinted and wrapped it until the bone got a good calcification on it. That took about 6 weeks because the break was bad. I was lucky in that I didn't have any bad effects happen. But we did break 2 splints and have the bandage pulled off twice. I got pretty good at rewrapping it myself! Sending toe healing thoughts Lucy's way.

[krissn333]

Ace did something to one of her outer front toes...I took her in and doc yanked on it to put it back into place. He instructed us to keep the activity light, apply an ice pack as many times a day as she would tolerate it, for 5 minutes each time. He also gave her some Deramaxx for a few days.

 

I think she ruptured a tendon/ligament or something in there because the toe doesn't sit right...it doesn't have that "knuckle" look, it just sits flat.

 

Doesn't cause her any problems though. I do make sure to keep her nails trimmed very well to lessen the chance of that one catching on anything.

 

Hope Lucy is feeling better soon! They DO bruise VERY quickly!

[fritofeet]

Ace did something to one of her outer front toes...I took her in and doc yanked on it to put it back into place. He instructed us to keep the activity light, apply an ice pack as many times a day as she would tolerate it, for 5 minutes each time. He also gave her some Deramaxx for a few days.

 

I think she ruptured a tendon/ligament or something in there because the toe doesn't sit right...it doesn't have that "knuckle" look, it just sits flat.

 

Doesn't cause her any problems though. I do make sure to keep her nails trimmed very well to lessen the chance of that one catching on anything.

 

Hope Lucy is feeling better soon! They DO bruise VERY quickly!

Here's her sad boo boo toe...

 

 

I don't know what it is about that outside toe, that nail is always really long. I always try to keep them short because I worry about that whole toenail snagging thing.

She is hopping around and went potty, so I am not so freaked out. I worry about my old dingbat though.

 

Thanks guys for the advice and support. I don't know that Lucy appreciates the ice, but she does like the fact that her Mom is way calmer than this morning.

 

and Diesel wanted to mention that he wishes he had a boo boo foot...

 

[krissn333]

Ace's looked almost EXACTLY like that. It looks awful but goes away in a couple of days.

 

Sending hugs to poor Diesel too...you don't have to have a boo-boo foot to get attention! I bet he wouldn't want an ice pack put on HIS foot!

[KF_in_Georgia]

If she winds up needing her foot bandaged or splinted, make sure there's padding between her toes so the nail of one toe won't rub against the next toe. You can use cotton balls between the toes before bandaging.

 

I have friends with lure coursing hounds. They say that breaks are less trouble than dislocations because breaks usually heal up well, while dislocations just occur over and over.

 

A greyhound-owning friend of mine has a helpful post about bandaging/splinting foot injuries and things you need to watch for--even when the vet's office does the bandaging.

[Guest RocketDog]

Both of mine have bunged up a toe or three in their play... the first time we had a toe go out, we did x-rays, but there wasn't much the vet could do other than offer pain meds. Rocket's wonky toe looked JUST like that after he bonked it, and within a few days the bruising had gone away and he acted like nothing had ever happened. We play around with straight-racing so we knew that wonky toes WOULD happen eventually, and all we do is restrict activity to leash-walkies for a while, and I do little foot-massages a few times a week (in conjunction with full 'post race' style body checks) to check mobility and soreness.

Edited February 20, 2009 by RocketDog

[Guest FullMetalFrank]

Frankie somehow banged his toe on the coffee table today and let out a GSOD, and later when he got up off his bed, another one; I looked him over and he looks fine. He is not limping at all. I wonder if he might have some bruising by tomorrow, though. DF said he was doing his "I need to go potty" routine (he paws at the edge of the table, naughty boy) and somehow turned his foot a little sideways and whacked the outside toe. What is it with the toes lately?

I hope Lucy's toe turns out to be nothing serious.

[fritofeet]

I sent the pic in to my out of town vet and got the ok for a prescription for more pain pills. We are on a wait and see course of action to see if it is broken or dislocated-and if she is not improving then we will talk toe surgery.

 

I'm hoping she is improving-the toe is pretty swollen, but she did let me move the other neighboring ones around and look at it without screaming in my face. I saw her do a toe touch when she was pottying, so I think she's better.

 

 

It is very weird, since over the years we have never really had any emergencies or health issues with either Lucy or Diesel except the dog attack. It was always Hogan who was at the vet. Now that my babies are getting older and having more issues, I really appreciate the support from GT plus the added knowledge and experience.

 

Thank you.

 

[duncan41]

Aawww! I'll bet if Mommy kisses Lucy's toes, they will be AAALLLLLLL better! (Worked with my kids.) Diesel, hon, milk it for all it's worth. You deserve just as much attention!

[Guest BoogieDown]

Sweetie, you need some cookies. Here you go, hon.

[NeylasMom]

I sent the pic in to my out of town vet and got the ok for a prescription for more pain pills. We are on a wait and see course of action to see if it is broken or dislocated-and if she is not improving then we will talk toe surgery.

 

Is the toe straight or crooked? If it's dislocated, you want to get it back in place sooner rather than later, ideally you would have just popped it back in right after it happened. It may be too late though if it's swollen. Another vet in the office could tell you that much by seeing her though. I personally wouldn't wait until Monday if you think it may be dislocated. Dislocating the toe usually damages the tendon and you want to get the healing started by getting it back in place. If it's not dislocated, then there's probably no need to rush. I'm no medical expert, just what I've gathered over time. Both of mine have dislocated toes - no running for 6 weeks afterward, that was the hardest part.

 

Hope the toe just got bumped and isn't broken or dislocated.