Still Limping

[christinepi]

Tracker came to us with a partly amputated right front toe 3 years ago. He limped a fair amount, so the vet said the toe should come all the way off because the remaining stub was hurting him. So we did that. The vet predicted that he might still limp for the rest of his life. This seems to have been a correct prediction. The weird thing is that he sometimes barely limps at all, and then again goes through phases where he limps a lot more, even to the point of hopping on three legs for a few strides when he gets exited. At the same time, he can run zoomies w/o problems, too. I'd say over all the times when he limps more strongly amount to ca 30% of the time, then another 60% of the time he limps mildly, and 10% of the time he's practically limp free. I don't quite know what to do. Take him back to the vet? I feel sad for him that he is in at least some amount of pain for him so much of the time, but maybe that can't be changed. I'm just terrified that one day he'll develop osteo in that leg and I won't notice at first because he limps there anyways, and then it might be too late (I realize it's often too late anyways, but still). Has anybody had a situation like that? Would some warm baths help for that paw? Or some support gadgets?

[OwnedBySummer]

Has he seen a chiropractor? That would be my first stop.

[tbhounds]

Have you had x-rays done on the entire limb and neck? You're assuming that its his foot that is the problem. . May just be an innocent bystander masking another problem.

Edited August 21, 2013 by tbhounds

[christinepi]

Good point, tbhounds. I believe the vet who amputated his toe may have taken those x-rays. I need to check on that.

 

OwnedbySummer: Chiropractic never did me any good, so I'm rather reluctant, but I'm open to it. I'll check on that as well.