Dislocated Toe

[maria]

I would like some opinions please. My 10 yo Rhoda had a rear lateral toe dislocated a few weeks ago twice. It went back in by itself both times and hasn't occurred since then. We have no idea why this occurred. She runs with her sister maryl in the backyard but nothing different occurred. She is on the furniture and bed often and jumps down. She is 10 but no particular health problems.

 

I looked it up on internet and there was a lot of talk of amputation. right now the toe is being good but because it occurred twice, a few days apart, I would appreciate some thought on what to do After 1-2 days of it twisting inward, the skin in-between the toes was getting red and I know that won't do for very long. She limped a little on it but she is usually very sensitive towards pain and did pretty good with the wayward toe.

 

Any input from those that have been affected by bad toes, please reply!

[GreytHoundPoet]

Honestly, ignore the stuff you read online and talk to your vet. You can get an Xray done to see what is going on. We've had dislocated and broken toes here with various hounds. They vary a good bit with location, severity, weight bearing vs. non-weight bearing, just bone vs. soft tissue also involved, chances of re-dislocating, etc. We have not had to amputate any of my personal dogs' toes but we came close to it. The biggest mistake that people make with toes, in my opinion, is that they don't limit the dog's exercise long enough and they let them re-injure themselves by letting them run and play way too soon, especially if they don't know if soft tissue was involved or not. One of my girls has had a break in one toe and a dislocation (a really bad one) in another and has bounced back with stronger toes than ever, in part, because we were so cautious with her healing. I don't run to the vet with every little thing but I don't play when it comes to feet and toes and, probably because of that, we have a lot less re-injuries despite the fact that my dogs run hard daily.

 

You can wrap her feet with vet wrap to help for a little while, if support is needed.

Edited July 27, 2014 by GreytHoundPoet

[RedHead]

My grey dislocated his toe last year. I managed to get it back in but it came out twice again on the car ride home. I wrapped it and we took things very easy for a couple of weeks (no running, short leash walks). After reading other stories I thought for sure it would keep coming out or that I would have to amputate it. Luckily though, it stayed in and has been fine ever since.

 

One big thing I learned was to keep the nails trimmed as short as you can. Having a longer toenail can really increase the chances of the toe getting pushed up or twisted if the dog steps the wrong way.

[Batmom]

I would put a supportive wrap on it to keep it in the position it's supposed to be; leave that on for at least 2 weeks; leash walk only (and try to avoid in-house zoomies and spinning) for at least 3 weeks. Pays off in the long run.

 

Let me see if I can find my wrap-job post -- might give you some ideas.

Here is what we did:

http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/236108-dislocated-toe-our-wrap-job-which-worked/?hl=dislocated

Edited July 28, 2014 by Batmom

[maria]

Thanks Batmom and everyone else for advise. I really liked your tutorial Batmom. I have also wondered if the nail length was a part of the problem, makes sense that it would cause toe to twist around. Rhoda HATES me to touch her feet when she is in pain, she shows her teeth and I am not going to mess with that. It scares both of us so much we have a hard time with toe injuries. Of course using the muzzle, we have wrapped her in king sized bed blanket and her eyes covered. Jeff holds her and I get to it. It is still so draining on everyone. Amazing how strong these greys can be. I think I will need to have her sedated at the vet for nail clipping, of course I can't do it per Rhoda. I had them do it once with no sedation and she went CRAZY. They told me she was one of the most difficult toe clips they have ever had.

 

Thanks again, helps so much to have input on problems.