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Bizarre Swelling


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The hounds and I were out before the sun came up this morning. While under a street light, I noticed that one of Zip's hind paws was extremely swollen. It didn't seem to bother him one bit, as he was walking just fine and wasn't licking or biting at it or anything. I know that swollen paws can sometimes occur from allergies, a bite or sting, an injury such as a sprain or an infection. Within an hour, though, his paw was back to normal and looks totally unscathed. Could he have been laying on it weird so that it cut off circulation or something? I've just never seen anything quite like it. I will certainly be keeping an eye on it and if it happens again, I will have him checked out.

 

Here's a photo of his two hind paws. You can see how huge it was in comparison to his other paw. Poor Zippy.

 

Zippy023.jpg

Laura, mom to Luna (Boc's Duchess) and Nova (Atascocita Venus).
Forever in my heart, Phantom (Tequila Nights) and Zippy (Iruska Monte).

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Looks like a small puncture or scrape wound a bit higher up that leg - was that fresh too?

 

Could have been a bite. I would expect swelling from an infection to be hot and not go down very quickly like that. :dunno

 

He does have a couple of old scars on his legs, yes. I checked between his toes and couldn't find anything there either. I agree with you, I wouldn't have thought it would go back down so quickly, and it never seemed "hot."

 

If it happens again, should have give him something to help with the swelling? Fingers crossed that it was a fluke.

Laura, mom to Luna (Boc's Duchess) and Nova (Atascocita Venus).
Forever in my heart, Phantom (Tequila Nights) and Zippy (Iruska Monte).

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Wow, yeah, that looks like a lab's paw or something! No advice, but glad it's gone down and it didn't seem to bother him!

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Michelle...forever missing her girls, Holly 5/22/99-9/13/10 and Bailey 8/1/93-7/11/05

Religion is the smile on a dog...Edie Brickell

Wag more, bark less :-)

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Any history of cardiac or circulation problems?

 

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I did want to add that allergy wouldn't seem like the cause if it's only one paw...unless allergic to bug bite or something.

gallery_2175_3047_5054.jpg

 

Michelle...forever missing her girls, Holly 5/22/99-9/13/10 and Bailey 8/1/93-7/11/05

Religion is the smile on a dog...Edie Brickell

Wag more, bark less :-)

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Any history of cardiac or circulation problems?

 

Not that I know of. He's 12 1/2 and was returned to the group due to his owner's illness, and I have actually only had him for just over a week.

 

My guess is that he slept on it a little weird and at his age I would think that fluid retention isn't all that unusual.

Laura, mom to Luna (Boc's Duchess) and Nova (Atascocita Venus).
Forever in my heart, Phantom (Tequila Nights) and Zippy (Iruska Monte).

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i would watch and see if it happens again. if this occurs again- touch it, look inbetween the pads, webbing, nails. if everything is intact and he's swollen take a marker and draw a line at the top of the swelling, see if it continues up the leg. ....OFF TO THE VET!( i had an lesion at my toe, my entire foot began to swell. the school nurse drew a line and i watched it- when it crossed the line- i made an appointment at the dr. i have to credit our brilliant school nurse w/ the marker bit).

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Was this swelling a sign of what was going on with poor Zip?

 

We know his kidneys weren't great, so we think it was most likely just pinched while he slept, and swelled because of water retention.

 

His main issue was his severe anxiety. I discussed this with the group when I went to pick him up, but we thought he was just really stressed from having such a massive transition from his home of several years, so being handed back and forth between volunteers and then to me. He paced, panted, and howled, but we thought that he would be able to settle into his new environment and calm down within a couple of days. We had thought my house would be an ideal place for him since it is very quiet here, I have one hound, and I really only have to be at work for 20 hours each week as a professor, most of my work can be done from home. After a couple of days, he was not able to calm down, and was really only quiet if I sat of the floor and hugged his head. He literally paced the entire time, and his poor old body suffered. So, I took him in to get him on some medication. We didn't think putting him on anxiety meds was the best call yet, as they can take a while to kick in, and he needed something immediate. So, he was put on tranquilizers just so that he could calm down enough to lay down and rest his body. The drugs worked while he was on them, but as soon as they started to wear off, he would immediatly go back into panic mode. He also refused to eat, I think I got him to eat about 3 cups of food for the entire time he was here, he even turned down a cheeseburger and chicken and rice casserole. He was literally wasting away in front of me, and dipped 14 pounds below his racing weight. I tried a thunder shirt while I went to teach my classes, and he was crated to help keep him calm and make sure he wouldn't hurt himself, but the poor guy would get so stressed while I was away that he barked and upset his stomach so I usually came home to projectile diarrhea, which meant a bath for him. It was hard to believe that even then the tranquilizers weren't enough when I would have to leave, because they pretty much knocked him out while I was home. He also had substantial hind-end weakness, and while he was on the tranqs, he had a very hard time squatting to eliminate. After many long conversations with the vet and the adoption group (which was so wonderfully supportive through this process), we realized that his quality of life had become the primary issue, and that it was up to us to make the difficult decision to put him to rest.

 

This got kind of long, but it was a complicated situation, and I am so sorry that there wasn't more I could do to bring him comfort.

Laura, mom to Luna (Boc's Duchess) and Nova (Atascocita Venus).
Forever in my heart, Phantom (Tequila Nights) and Zippy (Iruska Monte).

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You opened your heart and home to this old man when he needed both. Thank you so much, and I'm sorry his time with you was so short.

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Very sad this boy didn't get more time with you.

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