stlgrey Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Sierra was seen about 12 days ago for a her toe. The vet treated her for a bacterial infection. Her toe nail seems to have a black crusty stuff on it, which they scraped and put under a slide. They said they didn't really find anything but went ahead and prescribed her Simplicef 200 mg. once per day for 14 days. Her toe still looks red and somewhat puffy as you can see from the photos. The camera makes her toe look very red, which the coloring is off for some reason on my camera. However, has anyone seen or had a toenail issue like this? I am planning on bringing her back in to the vet this week since I don't think medication has helped her. This is the only toe involved. It doesn't seem painful and she walks and runs fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Has she been licking it?? The hair looks lick stained. Wonder if soaking the foot in dilute chlorhexadine solution would help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest d0ggiem0mma Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 It does look like she's been licking it. I've found that's the most difficult thing about toe injuries... they really like to lick them. Try to make sure she's not licking with socks or an e-collar. Cleaning with chlorhex sounds like a good idea too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stlgrey Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Yes, she does lick her toe. I will try what you suggested to soak it. Still taking her in to see her vet this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest desertlady Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 This looks very similar to the toe problems my BlueBaby has been dealing with. We have been through 3 rounds of antibiotics over the last year. Plus I have soaked her feet in various products and put dog booties on her. The vet did a culture and found "many types of bacteria", which is why the antibiotics were started. We are now at the end of the most current episode. Her nail bed and surrounding tissue and pad are still swollen and "crusty" looking. I'm now looking at the possibility of allergies. I've considered SLO, but her nails (she'll have 2-3 feet affected at the same time)have never become snarly or fallen off. Good luck on your treatment plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesiRayMom Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Sounds just like what DesiRay has been fighting for the entire year that he's lived with me. At first, we thought it might be SLO (even tho, as you say, nails don't fall out); tried every protocol our research came up with for SLO; absolutely no effect. His foster mom had taken him to OSU & they had said, Not SLO, looked like allergy feet. OK....so I tried antihistamine, & switched his food to grain-free. That helped, but didn't clear up completely. Finally sent a culture of the goo to an outside lab, they came back with staph, suseptible to Cephalexin. 30 day course of that....gone, gone, gone. Yea!! Had a good 3 months then started flaring up again back before xmas & right now the inside & outside toes on all 4 feet are affected. Now vet is thinking some kind of autoimmune problem that will wax & wane & he will probably deal with forever. Right now, am back on a 30-day course of Ceph & am trying the therapy laser. Just started all that yesterday, so can't tell yet if it will help or not. His feet are very sensitive to cold, he does/will NOT go outside without his boots. When he gets into a real licking mode, I tape a toddler sock on whichever foot he's obsessed with. Also use Douxo Calming spray. That seems to make it feel some better, I think. At least he can sleep through the night without obsessive licking. If you come up with anything great, I'd love to hear. Kathy & DesiRay Quote Blessed is the person who has earned the love of an old dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stlgrey Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 (edited) I took Sierra over to the vet on Friday evening after work. Her vet re-examined the foot and they did some xrays to be sure she didn't have a broken toe or something to be of concern. Nothing on the xrays to see. My vet did another microscope exam of the crust on the toe, and nothing. We are continuing the medication and add foot soaks twice a day. Edited February 13, 2011 by stlgrey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesiRayMom Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 What are you soaking in, if I may ask? DesiRay had 2 therapy laser treatments last week; Wed & Thurs. On Friday his toes were so bad he was leaving a little blood trail on the floor. They had wanted me to do another therapy laser on Friday; saying sometimes it has to get worse before it gets better. I ixnayed the 3rd-day treatment. He seems to be some better this weekend, but who knows if it was the laster therapy, or just the Cephalexin kicking in. They want to do laser therapy MonWedFri next week....am still on the fence about that. Quote Blessed is the person who has earned the love of an old dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EllenEveBaz Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 What is the laser therapy supposed to do? And sending smooches to all the pups with sore toes. Quote Ellen, with brindle Milo and the blonde ballerina, Gelsey remembering Eve, Baz, Scout, Romie, Nutmeg, and Jeter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesiRayMom Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 (edited) Therapy laser is a new laser technique that is supposed to promote healing in cells at the molecular level (over my head).] Different than a surgery laser. My vet clinic uses it on spay incisions...and also deep tissue, like arthritic backs, knees, elbows, etc. I saw it work on a humongous St.Bernard (over 10 yo) that couldn't get up by herself & then could barely walk. After two weeks, the difference was amazing. Granted, she's still very gimpy, but she can get up by herself & walks alone. Another case I saw it work on was a dog fight wound....lots of skin missing, nothing to suture together. Used that therapy laser on it & it made a huge difference in the time it took the wound to granulate & start healing. So I thought I'd give it a try, but I'm not convinced that it will help these icky toes. Edited to add: they also use it every other day for a couple of weeks on cruciate repairs, and it seems to make recovery easier & faster. Edited February 13, 2011 by DesiRayMom Quote Blessed is the person who has earned the love of an old dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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