Millie's Toe Problem - Advice Needed

[Guest A5teroid]

Millie is 6 years old and we got her from our local adoption group 2 weeks ago. We didn't notice this problem with the outer toe of her right rear leg until we groomed her nails. This toe appears to have been broken or dislocated at some point. As can be seen in the first picture, the toe angles in towards the adjacent toe. The pad is deformed and she's developed a callous on the knuckle that contacts the ground (which leads me to believe she has been like this for a long time). This didn't seem to bother her or effect her walking or running. The nail of this toe was so long that it did not scratch or grow into her other toe. However, we thought that the long nail may have contributed to the problem with her toe. So we trimmed it back with the dremel. Now, the short nail rubs into the adjacent toe and has caused some irritation and bleeding. I'm hoping that with time, she will get a callous on her adjacent toe and everything will be fine. We're planning to go back to the vet, but has anyone seen something similar? Any advice? Can this toe be fixed? Should we let the nail grow back out again? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

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Edited March 25, 2012 by A5teroid

[Sambuca]

Honestly, if it's not bothering her, I wouldn't worry. Even if it was broken it is probably long healed and to "fix" it you'd have to break it again. There's a chance she just has crooked toes. I would keep that nail a little long just so it's not rubbing funny, but not so long she's having problems walking.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Honestly, if it's not bothering her, I wouldn't worry. Even if it was broken it is probably long healed and to "fix" it you'd have to break it again. There's a chance she just has crooked toes. I would keep that nail a little long just so it's not rubbing funny, but not so long she's having problems walking.

 

Yup!

[PrairieProf]

I wouldn't do anything dramatic now, but if over time you find that toe does nothing but cause problems, you might consider having it amputated. Amputation of an outer toe will have virtually no effect on her quality of life, ability to run, etc. Quite a few of us have dogs with even weight-bearing toes amputated (like me) and they do well too. Again, I'm not telling you to think about doing this after two weeks but only planting the seed in your mind that if it came to that it wouldn't be a terrible thing in the least -- there'd be no need to struggle with a problem toe forever.

 

You really want to watch the irritation area very closely and be sure it's not developing into an ulceration. Those can be very hard to heal (greyhound toes have lousy circulation and little padding), and your dog would definitely need to be on antibiotics -- there is a risk of developing osteomyelitis (bone infection). Beth got a deep ulcer on a toe that got a severed ligament in a freak injury; the non-healing ulcer eventually got down to the bone, and that was part of what led to the need for amputation of the toe.

Edited March 25, 2012 by PrairieProf

[Batmom]

To prevent rub/sores on the adjacent toe, you can try wrapping a teensy piece of duct tape or white medical tape around the end of the toenail. Might not work but worth a try -- it smooths the toenail just a bit, so it doesn't dig into the next toe.