NeylasMom Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Yesterday I discovered that Zuri got a puncture wound on our hike the previous day. I'm assuming a stick of some sort just pierced right through - it's big enough that I can fit a q-tip head inside. The puncture is in between his 2 middle toes on his back left foot, on the top side, right up near where the toes meet (basically at the hardest area to access). When I realized I cleaned it out really well and jammed a bunch of Neosporin in it, then last night I did the same, then wrapped the foot. He left it alone overnight, but this morning it's clearly painful and his toes are red and warm. I called the vet and they are squeezing us in shortly, but I was just wondering if anyone has dealt with this type of wound before and what worked best. The girl mentioned the possibility of needing to lightly sedate him to clean it out very well, but I really hate the idea of sedation. I also know that generally you don't close up puncture wounds so you don't trap bacteria in, but if they do want to do the light sedation to clean it, maybe once it's cleaned a couple of sutures makes sense? Obviously I need to hear what my vet says, and I do trust her, but it's always good to go in knowing what to ask or discuss. And if you could send some good thoughts Zuri's way that it just needs a few days to heal up, we'd appreciate it. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieProf Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Poor guy! He needs serious oral antibiotics for sure. I don't know about sutures. Quote With Cocoa (DC Chocolatedrop), missing B for Beth (2006-2015)And kitties C.J., Klara, Bernadette, John-Boy, & Sinbad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 I'm upset with myself for not noticing it sooner. There was a lot of dirt and crud that I could have cleaned out much sooner, but he never even cried out when it happened or showed any signs of an issue. I just noticed him licking his foot yesterday. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schultzlc Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Poor Zuri! I hope he's feeling better soon! You can't beat yourself up, it's so hard to figure out there's something wrong with these dogs so often because they are so darn stoic! Quote Laura, mom to Luna (Boc's Duchess) and Nova (Atascocita Venus).Forever in my heart, Phantom (Tequila Nights) and Zippy (Iruska Monte). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryJane Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 I've had it happen with my first greyhound and I also wasn't sure why they were suggesting anesthesia to clean it out -- turns out that he still has a good size piece of bark in the there. They got the bark up, sutured, bandaged and it healed good but he had to have a plastic bag on it for a few weeks when he went out. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scullysmum Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 My bridge boy Mulder had a similar wound only the stick that caused it stayed inside the wound He had it removed by the vet under sedation and they flushed out the wound, he was put on strong anti-biotics as it was very wet and muddy at the time so the wound was filthy. It did heal up quickly and easily within about 10 days, which I thought was quite remarkable considering. btw. the Vet and the nurse who did the removal both said it was one of the most "icky" jobs they had done, more because of what they thought it must have been like for him when it happened...I always likened it to driving a pencil up through the sole of your foot....oh, and I still have the stick Quote <p>"One day I hope to be the person my dog thinks I am"Sadi's Pet Pages Sadi's Greyhound Data PageMulder1/9/95-21/3/04 Scully1/9/95-16/2/05Sadi 7/4/99 - 23/6/13 CroftviewRGT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josie Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 is it swollen? one of my friend grey, Elliot, get wound beetween his toes during summer... the vet says it's because of the friction... to put neosporin on it to prevent infection and restrain long walks to help it heal... and put zinc cream (you know the stuff you put on baby buttocks?) before going for walks, it will help decrease heat friction... Quote Our first greyhound, Tuffy: You will always be there with us my angel! Tuffy greyhound-dataOtis greyhound-data Abbey greyhound-data"When you open your minds to the impossible, sometimes you find the truth." W.Bishop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 Thanks everyone, were in the waiting room right now. The thought did cross ky mind that there could still be something in there so I will let them do whatever they feel they need to. It's not swollen, but his toes look very red and angry. Josie, its not friction, there is a big gaping hole but I appreciate the suggestions. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamaha_gurl Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Bella had a pencil sized stick pierce through her webbing a few months ago, yes...I had to literally pull it out. I washed it in Epsom salt twice a day, and put neospoirn on it...it healed beautifully! So don't panic yet Quote Greyhound Collars : www.collartown.ca Maggie (the human servant), with Miss Bella, racing name "A Star Blackieto" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kudzu Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 (edited) We just had a puncture wound on Sol that went from the back of his foot, basically equivalent to the ball of our foot that went up at an angle between the metatarsals. He hurt A LOT. All I saw was the surface wound of equivalent diameter to what you describe but when I found it it has almost closed up. I took him to e-vet because the pain was so bad for him & it was already starting to swell. As we were at the e-vet it continued to swell. However, the wound was so fresh it was really too early for infection to have set in. In my mind I was actually wondering if he had some other injury causing pain & the wound was almost incidental. Sooo off to e-vet... Vet said nothing broken nor foreign body in the hole but it was a bit deeper than it had initially appeared. They cleaned it up, without any sedation. Issued tramadol for pain & anti-b's to prevent infection. She debated putting a compression wrap on it but decided we should go without in deference to bony Greyhound feet. As I was paying at the counter I looked down & said, "Uh-oh." Asked vet tech if it was expected that his foot would continue to swell rapidly. "No, that's not normal. Can I take him in the back again?" I handed over the leash. Sol reluctantly accompanied her. They returned with his foot in compression wrap to be removed 24 hrs later. I'd already paid so the compression wrap was a freebie. Always a nice thing, especially at e-vet prices. When wrap was removed 24 hrs later most of the swelling was gone & did not return. Sol still limped just a bit but that didn't stop him from flying down the fenceline after some imaginary something or other. And he healed up without further incident. All better now, two weeks later. Hope your girl boy is right as rain quickly. Edited to correct gender bending. Edited July 23, 2012 by kudzu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 Vet doesn't think its infected, just inflamed. Also doesn't think there's anything stuck up there. Going to do a betadine soak, then cold laser therapy to promote healing. He'll he awake for all of it. Will also start him on ABs and i assume some tramadol for pain. Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greysmom Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Glad he's OK! We get "pokeys" pretty often in our yard - which is KNOT exactly the safest place - lots of sticks, pine cones, rocks, and glass. Yes, glass. For some reason, either our house sits on an old dump, or previous owners deliberately buried glass all over the yard. So we often have to deal with feet injuries. A good epsom salt soak after cleaning with betadine, lots of neosporin, maybe some liquid bandage and/or a wrap for a few days. Quote Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora) siggy by Chris Harper, on Flickr Angels: Libby (Everlast), Dorie (Dog Gone Holly), Dude (TNJ VooDoo), Copper (Kid's Copper), Cash (GSI Payncash), Toni (LPH Cry Baby), Whiskey (KT's Phys Ed), Atom, Lilly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 Yeah, I believe we've had this happen one time before. Can't remember which dog, may have even been a foster, this is just in such a tough location, trapped way up in between the toe bones so I'm happy to try the cold laser therapy to promote quicker healing, especially with Grapehounds this weekend! We go back tomorrow for our second treatment and then I'll decide how many more we'll do (at least one more) before we leave. They precharged me for 3 treatments, $82.40, which isn't bad at all. Heck, the bandage itself was $30 and I could do that myself! Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xan Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Interesting about the laser treatment. Tell us how that seems to work for you! Pogo had a piece of hard, thick, dry grass punch in, and work its way through his webbing last year. Epsom soaks really made the difference, and all was well amazingly quickly. Hope Zuri heals without incident! Quote My Inspirations: Grey Pogo, borzoi Katie, Meep the cat, AND MY BELOVED DH!!!Missing Rowdy, Coco, Brilly, Happy and Wabi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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