forevergrey Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Hi Fellow greyhound friends, Last Friday while walking my two boys, Onyx stepped on something sharp and ended up with a cut on his back toe. The cut was rather deep and bleeding. I have been soaking his foot three times daily in Epsom salt but he was still a little lame on it, but nothing serious. We were going for our regular walks and he was fine. However as of last night, Tuesday he has not been putting any weight on that foot at all and has been pretty much hoping on three legs since yesterday. I took a closer look at his toe and it is badly swollen. The bottom part of the toe is much bigger in comparison to his other back toes and while nothing is oozing out of that toe-it looks huge (not the bone part, the pad/bottom part of the toe). I made a vet appointment for Friday morning. And continuing with the soaks and adding iodine solution to the epsom salt. I can't stand seeing him not put any weight on his back foot! I am so paranoid about my greyhounds. Has anyone else experience this? Is it always a matter of something embedded in his toe? Or can it be an infection on it's own? He does not have corns. Any suggestions before the vet visit would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greytpups Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Broken toe maybe? Quote Jan with precious pups Emmy (Stormin J Flag) and Simon (Nitro Si) and Abbey Field. Missing my angels: Bailey Buffetbobleclair 11/11/98-17/12/09; Ben Task Rapid Wave 5/5/02-2/11/15; Brooke Glo's Destroyer 7/09/06-21/06/16 and Katie Crazykatiebug 12/11/06 -21/08/21. My blog about grief The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not get over the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same, nor would you want to. ― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4My2Greys Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 The toe is probably infected. The hole may have closed close to the surface and not allowed the infection to drain thus causing the toe to swell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryJane Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 i agree that it is probably an infection but, it could also be that something is still in the cut. It probably needs to be looked at right away .. might need x-rays .. might even need to do a surgical look to see if something is in there. At the least, will need antibiotics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kudzu Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Don't think I would wait until Friday. May want to call your vet's office back & let them know what's going on. I would ask them to try to squeeze him in tomorrow. While a possible infection isn't an emergency. If not tended to promptly it has the potential to become an emergency. Had it happen to one of mine. Have seen it happen to a couple others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HTC504 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 We has something similar with Ubet when we first got him, his back foot swelled up and he started to run a fever. Concluded he must have stepped on something and it caused an infection. We took him to the vet and within 24 hours of antibiotics he was feeling much better. We now have another issue with a foreign body in the front foot that is refusing to come out and not responding to antibiotics but that is a whole other story! At least you know what caused it....good luck hope it all works out ok. I would try to get him into the vet today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forevergrey Posted June 21, 2014 Author Share Posted June 21, 2014 Thanks for the replies folks. Onyx was doing much better as of Thursday, walking pretty much normally and not limping and the swelling went way down. I still kept my vet appointment for this morning and my vet who is very greyhound savvy, said that the toe is infected. Right after the vet visit we are right back where we started-he is now hoping on three legs and the toe is swollen again. My vet gave me Zeniquin (an antibiotic) and told me to continue with the soaks plus pain meds/anti-inflammatory drug. This is so frustrating. I thought he was getting better. Sigh... For these who had this happen, I know all dogs are different but generally how long did it take for them to get better, for the swelling to subside and start walking normally again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kudzu Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 The improvement was swift after starting antibiotics. It took a while for all the swelling to dissipate and for the dog to walk completely normally again, like several weeks. However, the improvement was steady and the gait was only barely off after the first week or so. Most people would not have noticed it. And, as expected, when she was intent on chasing something she ran like the wind with no obvious problem at all. Only after the excitement would she limp. Oy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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