Broken Toe

[Guest Parsniptoast]

Reggie broke his toe about 10 days ago - the vet prescribed a non-steroidal and rest but didn't give any indication as to how long this can take to heal. Apart from walking on the lead for ten days I didn't get much information about future care and I'm hoping that someone can give me some advice or reassurance.

 

Reg is bored stiff, I'm limiting his food intake but his lack of exercise means he's not sleeping so much and, much to my annoyance, has just learned to counter surf which isn't helping his weight at all! He's definitely gaining some.

 

How long will it be before we can expect to do longer walks (currently we only do a slow 10 mins for sniff and to do some business - we routinely walked for 45 mins twice a day before this!) He starts to pant heavily towards the end of the 10 mins and limps more. He does zoomies in the garden when I get back from work, which I am powerless to stop but then limps back to his bed again - clearly having overdone it.

 

The swelling has definitely gone down but there is still bruising around the base of the toe and he's on his last dose of non-steroidal tomorrow.

 

I hate having to leave him at home when I go out with Meg so she's not getting walked as much either.... our little system is breaking down just through one toe!

 

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can expect with this for the coming weeks? And should I visit the vet to get a top up of non-steroidal? I feel he should be on something even if it's not as strong!

 

Thanks in advance for your input

Jane.

[Guest Energy11]

I haven't dealt with a broken toe, YET, but I think the NSAID and leash walking, is about all you can do ... Broken toes are painful, and they take time. Maybe buy him a Kong and fill it with peanut butter, so he has something to do. I have marrow bones that mine have cleaned out, and I washed, etc., and often fill them with peanut butter. They LOVE trying to get it out!

 

Mine don't have broken toes, but, I cannot do anything with them. DH is in Orlando till Friday, and I cannot leash walk my five alone, .. not up here! You NEVER know what is around the corner. They DO have two turn out pens, but they don't choose to do much anyway, with temps being 87.

 

Good Luck! D

[ClarksMom]

Boy do I feel your pain. Runner broke one of his toes last Tuesday, and vet put him in a spoon splint for the next 6-8 weeks. X-rays showed a bad break pretty high up on the toe (last knuckle), so I think the splint is a good idea for now.

 

Sorry I don't have any suggestions for you, but just wanted to know that I'm in the same boat as you. One little toe is causing all this mayhem!

 

Hugs for your houndie.

[Guest Parsniptoast]

I wish our Vet had done an X Ray... and I would have thought that a splint would have been more comfortable - stopping the toe from 'splaying' but still... it hurts to see him limping but my soldier boy still manages to smile and barely whimpers at anything!

Love him to bits :-)

[Guest KennelMom]

Was it really broken or just dislocated.

 

You really need to keep him from doing zoomies. You can damage an already damaged toe even more. It's tough to get them through it but you have to be diligent.

[Guest kydie]

Poor pup. In humans broken toes hurt,but they heal on their own, with humans 6 to 8 weeks

[Guest patti909]

All 4 breaks I have had here were bad, twisted and broken with torn ligaments and the bones have chipped. These took about 4-6 weeks to heal after surgeries and casts. I hope your baby's isn't quite so bad.

[Guest TheDoggfather]

Inside(middle 2) or outside (outside 2)toe?

[Hawthorn]

I'm surprised your vet said to lead walk for only 10 days as, certainly in people, broken toes take about 6 weeks to heal. I think if he were mine, I'd lead walk him for at least 6 weeks and build up the length of the walks gradually. As for the zoomies in the garden, can't you just take him in the garden on his lead? As for the pain, from my own experience, broken toes are very painful for the first 2 weeks then not so much, so I wouldn't think you'd need painkillers after the first 2 weeks, unless he does something to make it worse.

[Batmom]

Is the foot wrapped or splinted? Should be. Also must keep pup from doing zoomies on it, as already mentioned. What I did with Zema (dislocation) was to block her out of the part of the house where she does zoomies and keep her on leash in the yard. We did more sedentary games (cookie bits hidden under cups, etc.) to keep her amused. It was a miserable business to be sure, but her toe healed perfectly and has now survived some pretty intense activity with no repeat injury.

 

Best luck!

[Guest onegreydog]

Hope Reggie heals soon. My Laci has a corn on her toe pad that is causing lots of problems too.

[Guest Parsniptoast]

Point taken about the zoomies, I have made a point of watching the signals for when he's building up to one and will leash him when it's building - they are more frequent now because he's so bored i think. I kind of assumed that he would know when it wasn't a good thing to do (ie pain = 'NO') but clearly I was way off with that!

 

The toe is the outside one on the front paw. The swelling has definitely gone down but there is red bruising between outside toe and its neighbour towards the base of the toe. The vet did say that it may just be a bad strain of the cusp or may be broken so perhaps her feeling is that it's a strain. She did say to go back this week if it's no better but as it's improved I don't think there's any need for a return visit - and this possibly does point to a strain rather than a break?

 

I'm rising to the challenge of finding interesting things for him to do - frozen kongs are a definite 'no-no' - I think he gets bored waiting for them to defrost but bones are always a big Yes and give hours of peace :-)

 

[SAVED2]

Foot raped loose , dont let get wet or damp , change every day , leash walk for at least 8 weeks.