Toe Injury But Not Lame....unless Chasing A Ball

[Guest Amber]

Poor Fey, she is pretty injury prone (compared to the veteran racers I had before...they were a lot tougher!).

 

So at the end of August she was running at the beach chasing the ball with two of her dog pals and must have done something then, although no obvious moment of injury. A couple of days later she pulled up whilst running and held her right paw up.

 

So we had been through some 'wristy' strains last year and I assumed it was the same thing again and went through several cycles of resting for a couple of weeks and then she would again pull up. Never lame inbetween time, walked fine and often after holding her paw up on running (normally chasing her ball) I would leash her but she still wanted to continue the walk and no signs of limping or on-going pain.

 

But then there was an occasion about 5 weeks ago when she really pulled up screaming . She recovered after a few seconds and was OK to walk, but that got me more worried. We did leash walks only for weeks and gradually then some off leash and she seemed OK until I tried throwing a toy and straight away , sore again.

 

So we went to the vet and he identified that her toe is swollen on right fore (not extremely swollen - I had not noticed it before) but he really couldn't say much about it, just said rest it for another week then gradually introduce off leash exercise.

 

So we have been doing this and OK so far, but will she ever be able to do her favourite thing of playing fetch and chasing her ball again? The vet didn't take an x ray, but we are assuming it is a soft tissue injury. It doesn't look dislocated, just swollen. Only seems to hurt when she does 'hand brake turns' at speed.

 

The only other thing I'm trying is a Chinese herb linament that I read about on some greyhound racing forums (some trainers swear by it for sprains and fractures) but she hates the smell lol and is a bit freaked out by it.

 

Any ideas how long this will take to properly heal up? Should I get x rays done? Vet says that will likely only indicate if there is arthritis, I assume that means he doesn't think it is broken. He doesn't think there is any surgical remedy.

[Batmom]

I'd get an x-ray so you know what's going on in there.

 

Could be she is stretching/tearing the ligament, in which case it'll take a long time (and, preferably, a supportive wrap) to heal. To support a toe, I use some rather firm cigarette-like rolls of gauze and white medical tape to hold the toe in the position it should be, then a light vet-wrap (sticks to itself) over that to hold everything on / protect from chewing.

[cleptogrey]

i know soft tissue injuries in humans take forever to heal. i sprained a tendon and ligaments in my foot- 6 months healing!!!! i am sure that your vet has manipulated the toe and doesn't feel that it's broken. if it's a hairline fracture- which i have had on the same foot as the sprained tendon that took 6 weeks to heal. no big deal for me, i just wore ordinary shoes but kept my pained foot off the clutch. have you tried icing it? w/ a dog a bucket of ice water may send them screaming, but w/ my swollen tendon foot(and boy was that swollen) i found out it's the only way to really get the cold deep down into the soft tissue.

 

do contact your vet re your concerns and ask about wrapping it. it's difficult to wrap if it's that swollen. i know since i needed to adjust my bandage during the day and if it's swelling the bandage might just add insult to injury. which chinese herb? they really do work and yes, they really do stink!!!

[Hawthorn]

A greyhound vet I saw told me that tendon / ligament injuries should be rested ie leash walks only, no running, for six months.

[tbhounds]

Imaging. Gotta get a few x-rays done. Make sure you get two views. You would be surprised how one view could look perfectly normal-reposition the foot and whamo-broken toe.

[cleptogrey]

Imaging. Gotta get a few x-rays done. Make sure you get two views. You would be surprised how one view could look perfectly normal-reposition the foot and whamo-broken toe.

sounds good to me. as i always say.....talk to your vet!

 

A greyhound vet I saw told me that tendon / ligament injuries should be rested ie leash walks only, no running, for six months.

sae w/ humans.....i know from experience.

[Guest Amber]

Thanks for your replies. Well previously, she dislocated a (different) toe and on that occasion, the vet did NOT advise any sort of wrapping or soft splint, because causes more problems than it helps. I didn't believe him and had wrapped it with vet wrap and within one day, she started getting sores! In the end, a soft boot that she wore most of the time seemed to help and no running for several weeks and now it is fine ever since.

 

The vet says it is OK to run her (but no ball for the forseeable), and that x-rays won't tell us much (as soft tissue does not show on an x ray), so I'm going to follow what he says, he has not been wrong about anything so far.

 

Could be a ligament but it's a bit odd that it only seems to hurt when she moves it in a specific way - no trouble walking or running. For this reason, the vet did not think it could be too bad (as she has never limped on it whilst walking and recovers quickly when she does tweak it).

zeng Gu Shui is the name of the liniment.

 

I think I would just like to know when it may be safe to try more vigorous exercise and reintroduce her favourite ball play. I'm thinking maybe in 2/3 months. I should mention that inbetween times when she has rested it has got better again and been OK chasing the ball BUT then she has gone and over done it on occasion (when playing with another dog) and the problem has reoccurred.

 

I think I will always need to be a bit cautious that she doesn't 'over-do' vigorous exercise, as she is one of the more delicate greys. But at the same time, she would have a rubbish quality of life if not allowed to run free, so it's trying to strike a sensible balance.

Edited November 27, 2015 by Amber

[Guest Amber]

May be a coincidence but she is bouncing around like a pup since we started using the Chinese herbal stuff (though she still hates me putting it on).

 

Also she has been running and enjoying herself, with no problem. Still laying off the ball though.

[cleptogrey]

here's a basic lowdown on the chinese herb https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng_Gu_Shui or http://www.amaluxherbal.com/oriental-products/zheng-gu-shui-external-analgesic-lotion.htm

 

i'm telling you, those chinese herbs can be fantastic. i use one for burns, overnight- healed!!!

Edited November 29, 2015 by cleptogrey