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Toe Dislocated Or Broken Or...?


Guest JsMom

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Our dog hurt his foot yesterday after a run. I didn't hear him yelp or anything, he just came running up and held up his foot. I checked his joints and toes, and he never complained, but his outside toe seemed to be detached from the rest of his foot. We were about 1/4 mile from home, and he made the walk just fine, no limping. He did fine on last night's walk, til just before we got home. He pulled up short and limped a tiny bit for the rest of the way, like he'd stepped on a rock or something. This morning, he did fine on a short walk, til just before we got home, and he started limping just a little bit. No one would notice the limp, but I was watching for it. When we got inside, he went to pounce on a stuffy like he usually does, and the toe dislocated again. I put it back in place and he limped off.

 

I found Batmom's post on padding and bandaging toes, and did the best I could, but I'm a terrible vet tech and he's a terrible patient. he is limping around with the bandage on now, hoping someone will take it off for him.

 

So I'm assuming we need to get him to the vet on Monday. I have some Rimadyl and Tramadol left over from last year's issues -- should I give him some Rimadyl to keep him comfortable til we can get to the vet? Is the vet going to amputate his toe if it is completely dislocated? We really can't afford a big vet bill right now, so I want to do as much of his care myself as I can.

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Guest WhiteWave

I would take him in and get an x-ray. Riddick broke his toe and it never healed properly. When he was running he broke it again in the same spot and then at another joint so bad, the bone was sticking out. They tried pinning it, but the bone had infection from the old break and had to be amputated. It is been 2 months and while he runs on it fine, he still favors it a little, but is getting better daily.

 

I think it would be find to give him some pain meds until you get in, but I would certainly get an xray to find out for sure what it going on.

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You don't know anything without an x-ray, but it does sound dislocated. I myself would never wait until Monday to have a serious injury checked, but that's me. Amputation wouldn't be the first line of treatment for a dislocation especially if the toe stays in place, but if it doesn't it may end up as the best option. Beth had traumatic dislocation involving a completely severed toe ligament and had the amputation -- severed ligaments don't heal though ones that are just stretched may. I would absolutely give him painkiller.

Edited by PrairieProf

With Cocoa (DC Chocolatedrop), missing B for Beth (2006-2015)
And kitties C.J., Klara, Bernadette, John-Boy, & Sinbad

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I would take him in for an x ray, also. Broken toes take forever to heal.

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Xavi the galgo and Peter the cat. Missing Iker the galgo ?-Feb.9/19, Treasure (USS Treasure) April 12/01-May 6/13, Phoenix (Hallo Top Son) Dec.14/99-June 4/11 and Loca (Reko Swahili) Oct.9/95 - June 1/09, Allen the boss cat, died late November, 2021, age 19.

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You can give him a pain killer to help him over the next day or so, but you do want the vet to see the true picture. In other words, as awful as it is, you WANT him to be in pain when he gets the vet. The vet will have a better idea of what is going on and be able to make better decisions if s/he sees exactly what is going on. I'd give a painkiller today and maybe tomorrow if the appointment is later in the day on Monday. I'd give it just today if the appointment is early on Monday.

 

Personally I'm neurotic and if I wasn't 3 months away from graduating vet school I'd probably already have gone in when it first happened even if I didn't have any idea what was wrong. And certainly if you think it is dislocated I'd go in sooner. I've never dislocated a toe, but I have done my shoulder and it sucks.

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Thanks, everyone. I called the vet, told them how I could move it around and it seemed to be loose/detached from the joint. They are not at all concerned. This is the first time I've ever called them and not had them say, "Bring him in today." They said to keep it bandaged up and give it a few days. I guess since he's walking on it they think it's not all that urgent. However, this is the dog that came to me with a fractured foot that no one knew about, b/c he barely limped. I'll wait til Monday and see how he's doing then, but I'm assuming we'll be going in.

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If the dog is in pain, I wouldn't withhold pain meds due to an upcoming vet visit. The vet doesn't need to see the dog in pain to evaluate a broken or dislocated toe.

 

If you do give pain meds, vet-prescribed are best. A lot of people give "people" meds out of the cupboard, sometimes with unfortunate consequences.

 

Best wishes to your pup.

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.

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Ruby dislocated one of her toes last year. On a weekend.

Fortunately her vet is personal friend who happened to drop by the house.

 

She manipulated the toe back into place and prescribed rest ( :lol ), traumeel drops for pain as well as traumeel cream on the toe. I always have traumeel on hand.

Ruby was perfectly fine in a few days.

 

Nancy...Mom to Sid (Peteles Tiger), Kibo (112 Carlota Galgos) and Joshi.  Missing Casey, Gomer, Mona, Penelope, BillieJean, Bandit, Nixon (Starz Sammie),  Ruby (Watch Me Dash) Nigel (Nigel), and especially little Mario, waiting at the Bridge.

 

 

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Guest OMGiluvgreys

My girl Misty came in from chasing a rabbit and had a dislocated toe. Never knew she was hurt until I went to wipen off her paws. Had at the vet within an hour and it was reset, wraped and good to go. Leash walked for 3 weeks. good as new now

 

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We went through a break recently. During that time I learned that some dislocations are as tough as breaks. So definitely get him checked out. Ask if you should continue the Rimadyl for a couple of weeks. And a soft bandage will help. It's laborious but change it every couple days. Have the vet show you how. And keep it dry. Get an old IV bag from the vet and use an umbrella on your leash walks. Keep the activity level restricted to just walks. It might take two weeks or two months.

 

Here is the thread on Kevin. It may be some help to you. Good luck and I hope he feels better!!

 

http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/277498-update-on-kevins-toe/page__st__60__p__5085419__hl__kevin__fromsearch__1#entry5085419

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He keeps taking the bandage off. I was trying to get him to lie down last night so I could put a new one on before his walk, and he slipped on the floor (he does that a lot) and out went the toe again. This time when I put it back in place I felt/heard a pop, like it was in the right place now. I rebandaged as best I could and he seems to be doing okay. He took it off again just a little while ago so I'm leaving it off til it's time to feed and walk him since he's mostly just lying around. Since I can't get him still enough to do a good job of padding it the way Batmom's old post outlined, I figure leaving the bandages off for a few hours will be good to get air to it and prevent sores. I just hope it doesn't keep popping out!

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You can use a muzzle to make it harder to get off. I wrapped a cotton surgical batting, then a cling, then vet wrap. I wrap inside to out and start at the foot. I put cotton between toes. and then i wrap up and back down. I wrap firmly but not tightly and I stretch the vet wrap before applying it, otherwise it can create a a stranglehold and cut-off the blood supply. Good luck tomorrow!

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's been two weeks and he just wouldn't leave the bandages alone. I realized after the last one that his two middle toes were rubbing together and the space between was all red. Since the vet wasn't concerned, and he was putting weight on it, I left them off. He's been doing great, but is antsy to play again. I have managed to keep him from running until just now. He was lying quietly as usual and then just suddenly got a case of the zoomies. I heard him scuffling around, so I called to him to stop and I didn't get there in time. He suddenly cried out and met me with his paw up. It's not dislocated again, but he cried a little when I touched it. He has not had a problem with me poking at his foot over the past couple of weeks, so he must have tweaked it.

 

Is this just something that's going to take awhile to heal? I'll continue to try to keep him from running in the house so it can rest as much as possible, but I hate to hear him cry out like that. Should I give him aspirin or something for the pain/inflammation or just leave it alone? (I have two more Rimadyl pills left, but it doesn't seem like it's that severe.)

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No aspirin, especially if he's had Rimadyl recently. If he's limping on it, you could give him a Rimadyl (assuming he's had it before, didn't have problems with it, and isn't taking any other meds).

 

I would maintain a supportive wrap if you can and leash walks only for another 3-4 weeks. Pain in the rear, I know, but if you and he can put up with the annoyance now, it should heal well. Best luck!

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.

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He only had Rimadyl for the first 3-4 days, so none for over a week. Is aspirin no good? (We were recommended by someone in our rescue group to give him aspirin ages ago when we found out his foot had been broken and untreated before we adopted him....) I was thinking aspirin would be milder than Rimadyl, and that I should save the last two we have just in case something else happens and we can't make it to the vet/pharmacy immediately. (Because these things do always happen on Sunday morning or Friday night, right?)

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Guest madredhare

My Sadie dislocated the same toe twice. The second time we wrapped it about every 3 days. Make sure and have gauze put in between the toes. That will help keep the toes from rubbing a raw spot. Because it popped out the second time, we kept it wrapped for a couple of weeks. Also, we continued with the leash walking and limited activity for 6 weeks. It was a pain, but it did work.

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Guest trevdog

It takes a long time for them to heal, maybe 6 good weeks and it may never be quite the same. My Dallas has broken or dislocated at least one toe on each foot.

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Aspirin is the worst for causing stomach ulcers / perforation - way beyond Rimadyl, Deramaxx, etc. If you use the Rimadyl and need more in a day or two, you can get it and give it. If you use the aspirin, you need to wait several days before giving another anti-inflammatory. Can't switch back and forth.

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.

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Okay, thanks for all the additional info. I have been leash-walking only, and not letting him play in the house, and he is going CRAZY. So the one time he sneaks off to pounce on a stuffy, he hurts it again. I guess I should just be grateful that the old guy still has his spunk (not that he ever had THAT much to begin with!).

 

I have not given him anything yet. Just a short walk last night and this morning and trying to get him to rest (not on our bed where he has to jump down -- why can't they have just a LITTLE common sense?). If he continues to limp I'll give him more Rimadyl. Will the vet give a refill without seeing him? Or is that something I don't need a prescription for? (I've been lucky that I don't have much experience with illness and injuries so far...)

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