Jump to content

Dislocated Toe - Our Wrap Job, Which Worked


Recommended Posts

Sharing this in case it will help somebody else.

 

@ 5 weeks ago, Zema dislocated the outside right rear toe. Put it back, dislocated again. Put it back, etc.

 

She dislocated it so that the last joint wrapped UNDER her foot. Not only an eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeuw moment, but a traditional wrap job would not work. We had to somehow keep that joint from turning in towards her foot. If we couldn't, we would have to amputate the toe. Vet did not think spoon splint would help -- if her foot shifted towards the side, whammo, that toe would just turn under again.

 

GreysAndMoreGreys suggested trying to support the toe from underneath. We did that for @ 3 weeks. She has been unwrapped for 1-2 weeks now and toe has held up through various rampages (knock on wood).

 

I did not get pictures while all this was going on, for which I apologize. Zema declined to have her foot wrapped yet again for this production, so you'll have to put up with my artwork.

 

Here is the foot. The dislocating toe is the rearward top toe in the picture:

 

foot_underside.jpg

 

I made a 1/4" thick x 5" long firm "cigarette" out of Kling roll (thick dense gauze, sometimes called cotton wrap). Folded one end over about 1.5" to make it thicker, packed that thick part into the bottom of her foot between the pads, and ran the tail out the side of her toe, under the first joint (the dislocating joint) and up toward the ankle. Sorta shown in blue:

 

underside_packing.jpg

 

Hold that thought while you contemplate the side of the toe, dislocating toe is the one we're looking at on this side:

 

foot_sideview.jpg

 

Ran the tail of the "cigarette" from under the joint up the side of her foot towards the ankle. Made another @ 2" cigarette, a little thinner, and tucked it in between the dislocating toe and the one next to it:

 

sideview_wrap.jpg

 

Cut a 1/4" wide piece of adhesive tape and ran that from underneath the foot, up under the toenail, trending toward the between-the-toes part to hold that padding in place:

 

sideview_tape1.jpg

 

Cut a wider piece of adhesive tape to hold everything in place at the ankle. (I had some adhesive tape across the bottom of her foot, too, but I'm not going to show you that. It was he!! to get off when I wanted to change it out although it did help keep the underside padding in place.)

 

sideview_tape2.jpg

 

Vetwrapped over the whole thing but left the dislocating toe's toenail peeking out so I could see it was still straight without unwrapping anything:

 

sideview_vetwrap.jpg

 

 

While packing/wrapping, tried to be very careful not to distort the foot's shape in any way but to pack firmly enough to keep that toe from moving anywhere at all. I also tried to keep adhesive tape mostly off of the dislocating toe because I figured I'd have to change it out at some point, and I didn't want to disturb the healing toe. Best to use the least sticky adhesive you can find on the bottom of the foot and on the ankle. Especially on the bottom of the foot, because pressure from walking, little moisture, etc. will meld that tape onto the pad and you will have lots of fun getting it off without using oil.

 

Anyways .............. that is what we did. It seems to have worked and we are grateful to GreysAndMoreGreys for her suggestion. YMMV. :)

 

 

ETA: I did my best to keep her from doing dumb things (spinning, pivoting, tearing off after squirrels) with the toe for the first 10 days. After that I eased up a bit.

Edited by Batmom

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very clever.

 

I hope I never need it, but it's nice to know you have a solution. :)

Standard Poodle Daisy (12/13), Grey Toodles (BL Toodles 7/09)
Missing Cora (RL Nevada 5/99-10/09), Piper (Cee Bar Easy 2/99-1/10), Tally (Thunder La La 9/99-3/10), Edie (Daring Reva 9/99-10/12), Dixie (Kiowa Secret Sue 11/01-1/13), Jessie (P's Real Time 11/98-3/13), token boy Graham (Zydeco Dancer 9/00-5/13), Cal (Back Already 12/99-11/13), Betsy (Back Kick Beth 11/98-12/13), Standard Poodles Minnie (1/99-1/14) + Perry (9/98-2/14), Annie (Do Marcia 9/03-10/14), Pink (Miss Pinky Baker 1/02-6/15), Poppy (Cmon Err Not 8/05-1/16), Kat (Jax Candy 5/05-5/17), Ivy (Jax Isis 10/07-7/21), Hildy (Braska Hildy 7/10-12/22), Opal (Jax Opal 7/08-4/23)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am going to try this for my foster. Her front to keeps dislocation (prob every other day). While she was in yesterday for her "big girl"surgery We had the vet look at it. He chose to not amp and wants to see if it will calisify into place. I dont see how it can when it keeps dislocatiing. So I am gonna try this and see if it helps. Thanks for posting

Cassie: Pikes Clara Bell Swoop: My Man Swoop

BRIDGE ANGELS Psi:WD'S Aleford 3/17/00-4/25/10 Snowman: Gable Snowman 1/9/96-2/14/08

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest GreysAndMoreGreys

You can't even tell that her toe was dislocated

Very nicely done and thank you for explaining it. Hopefully can help a few other hounds out there :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Cris_M

I think your artwork is perfect. The bright colors make it easy to visualize. A lot easier than seeing the real thing would have been.

 

Very clever of both you and GreysAndMoreGreys. Looks like it worked like a charm.

 

Thanks for sharing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

NICE! Now you keep those pics handy okay. That is going to be really helpful someday. And, I'm betting Jake will like to try that out at some point. :lol

Casual Bling & Hope for Hounds
Summer-3bjpg.jpg
Janet & the hounds Maggie and Allen Missing my baby girl Peanut, old soul Jake, quirky Jet, Mama Grandy and my old Diva Miz Foxy; my angel, my inspiration. You all brought so much into my light, and taught me so much about the power of love, you are with me always.
If you get the chance to sit it out or dance.......... I hope you dance! Missing our littlest girl.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Zuri did that not too long ago (dislocated "inward") - thankfully after putting it back in place a second time and keeping him calm for a few days, it didn't pop back out again! But good to know what to do if it does. That boy seriously has the worst joints, I think he's dislocated 3 different toes since I've had him. :headwall

gallery_12662_3351_862.jpg

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

See? I told my boys waaay back when we had our first greyhound and were planning our first trip alone (away from the boys) to our first Dewey, that if the plane went down and we didn't come back, they were to log onto Greytalk and ask you if they had any questions about greyhound care. And I was right, wasn't I? :lol

 

Great job! I'm glad the toe healed nice and straight! Dislocations can be so hard to fix right.

GTAvatar-2015_zpsb0oqcimj.jpg

The plural of anecdote is not data

Brambleberry Greyhounds My Etsy Shop

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

Bumping in case this can be of help to recent dislocate-ees.

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's a way to make your adhesive tape less sticky. Just put a piece on your clothes--your pants leg, the sleeve of your flannel shirt, something like that. The adhesive will pick up a bit of fuzz off your clothes. Peel it off your clothes, and use it where you need it. Then, if you need to, you can put truly-sticky adhesive over the less-sticky stuff. (This trick comes in handy when you're bandaging happy tail.) The less-sticky stuff will more easily peel off pads, skin, and fur.

15060353021_97558ce7da.jpg
Kathy and Q (CRT Qadeer from Fuzzy's Cannon and CRT Bonnie) and
Jane (WW's Aunt Jane from Trent Lee and Aunt M); photos to come.

Missing Silver (5.19.2005-10.27.2016), Tigger (4.5.2007-3.18.2016),
darling Sam (5.10.2000-8.8.2013), Jacey-Kasey (5.19.2003-8.22.2011), and Oreo (1997-3.30.2006)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Bumping this up b/c I found it while trying to figure out what to do with my dog's dislocated toe, and it's the most helpful thing I've seen. I don't come on here much unless we have a problem, and Batmom is always right on the money! Thanks for posting this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...