Tell Me About Dogs Who've Lost Weight-Bearing Toes

[PrairieProf]

As I've posted on a couple of threads recently, Beth has had a very bad injury to the second-from-the-inside toe on her left rear foot a week and a half ago -- completely tore a ligament on one side and has a bad ulceration on the inside of the toe with the torn ligament exposed. The ulcer isn't healing very fast, but more problematically, the toe is completely deformed now -- it lies over to one side so that the pad is barely on the ground and the knuckle presses into the adjoining toe. I can't imagine that isn't going to cause all sorts of problems with that toe getting abraded or causing abrasions, leaving aside the pain she's in.

 

I think amputation of that toe is the likely ultimate outcome here; the only question is whether we keep trying to rehab her for weeks and weeks now to see how it does, or just go ahead and do the amputation so she can be pain-free and active again much sooner. I am feeling really tempted to just go ahead a do it so we can hopefully put this issue behind us. But it is so scary to think of amputating a weight-bearing toe on an active five-year-old hound -- she loves to run and we love to take long walks, on trails as well as pavement.

 

Can you please share stories of greyhounds you've had/known, or even other dogs, who lost a weight-bearing toe? How did they do? Could they run, did they limp? I've read every old toe thread I can find on the board, and I know there are some GT hounds in this position. If you have pictures of weight with middle toes amputated, I'd like to see them too -- I keep trying to imagine, and most of the pics I've found are of outside/inside toes.

Edited May 23, 2011 by PrairieProf

[greysmom]

I think the whole "weight-bearing toe" phrase is a bit over blown. I've seen dogs missing both middle toes - the "weight-bearing" ones - and they get around just fine.

 

VooDoo broke his weight bearing toe - the second one from the outside on his right rear leg - about four years ago, and had to have it amped. The incision was completely healed in about three weeks and it has never bothered him since. The foot changed shape significantly to accomodate the missing toe, but he has full function in it and runs and plays and jumps and does everything he would do WITH the toe. In fact, that missing-toe foot is the one bearing all his weight now that he had the other leg amped due to osteo. He is doing fine with only three toes on his one remaining back foot.

 

If Beth's toe is painful and the chance of full healing is low, even with long-term rehab, I would probably lean toward the side of amputation. Make sure the doctor take the whole toe back into the foot so there isn't a stump left over to rub and bump on the ground when she walks and runs. That will cause more problems quickly. There is always the risk from the anesthesia and any post-op bleeding, but if you have a good vet you like and who is experienced dealing with these issues, please consider amputating the toe.

[pabozem]

I have a broodie that is missing a toe one of her hind feet. She's an older gal and doesn't run much, but it doesn't seem to bother her in the least. I have no idea what happened to her as she came to me that way. Best wishes to Beth -- I know this has to be very painful for her -- and you!!!

[PrairieProf]

That is good to know, Greysmom -- the idea that being a toe down on one foot would be a problem if something happened to the other foot was something on my mind. I'm glad VooDoo did so well -- Beth is also a big jumper!

 

Beth has had anesthesia several times with my vet so I'm less freaked out than I was about that. And I know about Dr. Couto's recommendation for Amicar to prevent bleeding issues. My vet hospital has very advanced facilities, so I do trust it and my vet's skill.

[calif_chaz]

Our Sam had a growth in the first joint of his weight bearing toe on his right hind foot. It was causing him a lot of discomfort, rather like a bad corn

but it wasn't one. As a last result our vet removed the first knuckle and the results were terrific. Once he healed (and the hardest thing was keeping him from licking constantly) he gets around just like before. He does wear a therapaw boot on that foot a lot of the time because he still gets regular corns but the partial toe removal has caused no problems. Very glad we had it done.

[macoduck]

Gracie (age 11) recently had the second from the inner side rear toe amputated. She was diagnosed with a rare benign tumor of the nail bed. She heeled quickly from this and didn't fuss with her bandages. She did need a second round of post-surgical antibiotics that were a bit stronger, but that mostly due to the degree of initial infection. Vet also commented that it is a tricky place to suture, especially with skin as thin as a greyhounds. The amputated portion of that toe does not touch the ground. They removed the 2 of the bones on that toe.

Her surgery was April 4th and she has had no complications. No limps and no problem running.

[PrairieProf]

Glad to hear Sam and Gracie are doing so well. This would be a complete toe amputation, because of the ligament issue -- but I know with that you don't have to worry about the remaining portion touching the ground or getting bopped.

[Guest greybookends]

Daytona has only one toe on her right rear foot. other then a limp she does just fine. She runs and plays. She just does it with a limp.

[Saharasmom]

Coltrane has a bad toe which twists over the top of the one next to it. When he walks, the bad toe doesn't come in contact with the ground. It looks terrible, but doesn't seem to bother him.

 

ETA: You can see his toe on his original greyhound-data adoption pic.

Edited May 25, 2011 by Saharasmom

[EllenEveBaz]

Scout came to me at age 9 with 2nd from outside toe missing on a rear foot. I don't know why or when it was amputated. He was an active dog for 9. The other toes on that foot gave him some minor problems (tended to swell every now and then) but nothing remotely major for his remaining 4 years.

[inugrey]

If you've looked at toe stories you've probably seen ours. Inu lost one of his back weight bearing toes due to a staph infection. I have to admit some days I still wonder if I did the right thing.

 

His recovery took a good solid three weeks or even more. He did finally come through recovery but his foot was quite swollen for some time. As said earlier the thin greyhound skin along with the minimal extra skin makes that site very tricky. We used Amicar and the vet said he felt like a plastic surgeon working to sew the area up. He's his normal happy outgoing and playful yet some what curmudgeonly self. I definitely see that he doesn't always have perfect balance on that foot. He can lift to pee and such but you can just see he's not always balanced properly.

 

I only removed the toe because we had exhausted all of the drug options and suspected an imbedded object we couldn't find on x-ray. I would really talk long and hard with your vet about the reality of healing the various issues in time vs. a quick fix and a lifetime change. Yes, the dogs do adjust I'm just sitting here still hoping today that I did make the right decision.

 

I'm happy to talk with you more if you are interested in my thoughts.

[TwiggysMom]

I've had 2 fosters that were missing a toe. (I think there might have been a 3rd one, but I can't remember for sure - maybe a really short-term one).

 

Anyway, Maya was missing a middle toe on one of her front feet. I don't have a picture of it, but it would be pretty uneventful if I did because her foot didn't really look much different. The remaining toes sort of moved toward the center to fill the space, if that makes sense. Maya had no trouble whatsoever with that toe; no limp or anything.

 

More recently, Chambers was missing the outside toe on his left foot, and the toe next to it had significant ligament damage, causing it to be flat on the ground, and stick straight out. (It looked like he had the longest toe in the world). The amputated toe doesn't seem to cause any problem at all, but the damaged toe will cause him to limp if I let him overdo things by running too hard or walking too long (but 2 mile walks and some playtime are fine). That toe may eventually need to be amputated as well if it ends up getting severe arthritis, or something like that, but it may be just fine as well. (I do have pictures of Chambers' toe, but you said you weren't looking for pics of outside toe amputations; let me know if you do want me to post pics, though).

 

As others have said, if the toe is problematic, amputation is not a bad solution at all. The dogs I've known have had no trouble getting around with one fewer toe.

[PrairieProf]

Thanks everybody. Beth is having the amputation tomorrow... my vet looked at it and today agreed it needed to happen. The toe is completely deformed in how it lies on the ground, painful when not wrapped, and the ulcer isn't healing. So there really isn't another good option.

 

Interestingly my vet swears that amputating a middle toe is pretty unproblematic, that having the inner/outer toes present for balance makes it easier for them.

Edited May 25, 2011 by PrairieProf

[Cully]

Sending lots of prayers for both of you. Will being thinking about you tomorrow.

[TheFullHouse]

Lots of good thoughts for tomorrow!

[greysmom]

Good thoughts for you and pretty Beth! Please let us know how she's doing tomorrow.

[Guest jag]

Our dog is facing weight-bearing toe amputation now. As we prepare for this surgery (in about 3 weeks), any other stories and advice are very much appreciated!!!

 

Thank you so much for starting this thread and to everyone who has shared their stories - it's been so helpful, as I've been worried sick over the idea of amputating a rear weigh-bearing toe on Chego our 4.5 year old grey (2nd from the inside). However, he has become increasingly bothered by the toe and his activity level is decreasing. After 13 months of trouble shooting, amputation of the digit appears to be the only thing that will relieve him and resolve the problem.

 

Meantime, here's our story...

 

After we adopted him, Chego demonstrated occasional lameness. At first it just seemed like sore muscles from playing/running too much. When the problem persisted we took him to a vet our adoption agency uses. The initial hypothesis was that he suffered from corns. Fast forward over 13 months... he's had many examinations from 4 different vets, x-rays, testing, including a "punch biopsy," and multiple treatments (corn cream, foot baths, antibiotics) vets have ruled out corns, fungal infection, osteo, and several other possibilities, but still a mystery with no definitive diagnosis. His pad remains very swollen and continues to drain slightly. He limps more than ever, but wearing a Therapad makes him comfortable on walks. It seems like a low-grade infection that persists but doesn't get worse. The biopsy yielded microscopic bits of sand/glass in the tissue, but the surgical specialist he is seeing now says that could be a red herring and not the cause of the problem.

 

There are 3 bacteria present, which his current vet cultured (his previous vet prescribed 2 broad-spectrum antibiotics which were only indicated for 1 of the 3 bacteria, so it's no wonder he never healed up from those). However, even after after administering the correct antibiotic (based on results of the culture), the problem continues.

 

Thank you. After the surgery we will post how he does.