Aiden's Toe. Update: We Have A Plan! Update Post-Surgery

[FiveRoooooers]

 

Thoughts? Sorry, I couldn't get better pics before wrapping him and I needed to stop the bleeding. This is the fifth time in a few months that this right front lateral toe has sliced open when Aiden does a couple of laps in the yard. Tonight he was padded with a sock and a boot and this still happened. The time before this was in the middle of February. It healed nicely or so I thought. It is a big, deep slice. He is not limping, nor does he seem in pain. We did xrays in January this year (that was the third time it ripped open) and the films do not show anything to suggest a foreign body or issue with bone. Are we going to have to amputate this toe? Thanks for any help.

 

4-08-16: Aiden is home after surgical repair to his toe. He has 6-7? sutures, is wrapped, still sleepy and came home with Clavamox. He did really well and we will just have to see going forward how this plays out. We will definitely be doing the experiment of booting his hind foot to see if that stops the interference with the front. Thanks again to all of you for your very helpful posts. (Bea had her nasty corn hulled and is also glad to be home.)

Edited April 8, 2016 by FiveRoooooers

[Batmom]

 

If there's no sign of infection or other things, I'd probably just keep on keeping on. Could be that the scar tissue from the first 4 times isn't tough enough yet; that can take awhile.

 

Has the doc suggested cleaning it out well and then gluing it, to help it heal properly?

 

Or, could be less a healing issue than that he's whacking it with his rear toenails on that side, when he runs. Might be worth getting some video of him doing his laps next time. You'd want the boot on the rear foot in that case.

[tbhounds]

My Stan has had the exact same injury! I had it sutured twice. Thankfully he's a good boy and had it repaired with just a local. I ended up taping that toe with elasticon tape (after the sutures were removed) to support that area hoping in time the scar tissue formed would be enough to prevent it from reopening. Knock wood things seem to be holding--it's been over a year now.

It was so frustrating because just when I thought we had it healed Stan would run a few laps or dig his favorite hole and it would open up again.

[greysmom]

Some sort of inner flaw with the toe tissue?? From an old injury or dislocation?? I would be slightly odd to have a cut happen in exactly the same spot from random stuff on the ground. The thought about him cutting himself with his own back toenail is definitely possible.

 

I read recently, on a topic about corns on FB, that a scan (CT or MRI, I can't remember right off hand) located/identified a flaw deep in the toe. A tendon didn't heal properly after an injury, creating scar tissue next to the bone. This deep flaw then caused a corn to erupt out of the pad below it. The flaw and the corn were connected. I just wonder if there's something like this going on with Aiden (and Stan).

[FiveRoooooers]

 

If there's no sign of infection or other things, I'd probably just keep on keeping on. Could be that the scar tissue from the first 4 times isn't tough enough yet; that can take awhile.

Has the doc suggested cleaning it out well and then gluing it, to help it heal properly?

Or, could be less a healing issue than that he's whacking it with his rear toenails on that side, when he runs. Might be worth getting some video of him doing his laps next time. You'd want the boot on the rear foot in that case.

Thank you! That is an excellent idea about the rear toe interfering with the front. If Aiden were a horse that could be easily addressed His nails are already dremeled as close as they can be. When he heals enough, this will be a good experiment to video tape him. Thank you.

 

My Stan has had the exact same injury! I had it sutured twice. Thankfully he's a good boy and had it repaired with just a local. I ended up taping that toe with elasticon tape (after the sutures were removed) to support that area hoping in time the scar tissue formed would be enough to prevent it from reopening. Knock wood things seem to be holding--it's been over a year now.

It was so frustrating because just when I thought we had it healed Stan would run a few laps or dig his favorite hole and it would open up again.

Bingo! That's the toe slice exactly. Thank you so much for this T. Poor Stan, but it sounds very encouraging that the healing has held for over a year. We will share this with our vet when Aiden is seen tomorrow. I would of course love to be able to have this sutured vs. taking the toe. *Thank you*

 

Some sort of inner flaw with the toe tissue?? From an old injury or dislocation?? I would be slightly odd to have a cut happen in exactly the same spot from random stuff on the ground. The thought about him cutting himself with his own back toenail is definitely possible.

 

I read recently, on a topic about corns on FB, that a scan (CT or MRI, I can't remember right off hand) located/identified a flaw deep in the toe. A tendon didn't heal properly after an injury, creating scar tissue next to the bone. This deep flaw then caused a corn to erupt out of the pad below it. The flaw and the corn were connected. I just wonder if there's something like this going on with Aiden (and Stan).

Thank you for pointing this out. Stupid corns, I wonder if these toe slices are in fact somehow connected. We will explore this as well.

 

This has been incredibly frustrating. Thank you all so much, I feel as tho now we have some options to explore to help Aiden's toe finally heal. He is a working professional (therapy dog) and can't be taking time off for the toe, again. *Sigh*

[tbhounds]

Just wanted to mention that Stan's laceration was most definetly trauma induced. He sliced it running into another hounds foot while playing.

Left a scar but, knock wood it is no longer a concern

[FiveRoooooers]

Just wanted to mention that Stan's laceration was most definetly trauma induced. He sliced it running into another hounds foot while playing.

Left a scar but, knock wood it is no longer a concern

It looks really good! Really hope it holds after a year of staying solid, that is very encouraging. Thank you for this info, I'm pretty sure Aiden's slice is also trauma-related.

[GreyPoopon]

I don't have any new ideas to add, but I do want to send the best to you and Aiden .

[kudzu]

Some sort of inner flaw with the toe tissue?? From an old injury or dislocation??

 

That's what it was for my girl, Venus. She had a bad ligament that sometimes caused the last joint of one toe to subluxate. The skin would split open from the inside out. It was always in the same spot & only happened after running.

 

ETA: There was never a visible luxation, but the vet could feel the joint was lax when he examined it.

Edited April 1, 2016 by kudzu

[FiveRoooooers]

 

That's what it was for my girl, Venus. She had a bad ligament that sometimes caused the last joint of one toe to subluxate. The skin would split open from the inside out. It was always in the same spot & only happened after running.

 

ETA: There was never a visible luxation, but the vet could feel the joint was lax when he examined it.

Thank you too for your post. Were you able to get it resolved for your girl? If so how?

[kudzu]

Sadly, we had no real resolution. There was a surgery we could have tried for the ligament but the original injury was so old it was quite unlikely to be successful. The thing that seemed the most likely to cause it was fast turns. I opted to skip it & just work to limit her running, no lure coursing or oval track racing. The spot would reopen several times a year when doing something like chasing squirrels but as time went on it happened less & less.

[FiveRoooooers]

I can't thank you enough all of you who responded with your own tails tales of toe woe. Aiden was seen today and on Friday he will have surgery with light sedation to flush, clean the margins, and suture his toe. There wasn't time to do this today but I am thrilled that we have a plan to try to wrap this up. Thanks again.

 

Waiting to be seen. I don't know why the stinkeye because we didn't wait that long

 

Yep, Aiden, that's where they are

[Time4ANap]

Aiden is one handsome dude!

 

We will be waiting with bait on our breath for an update on Friday. Good luck, Aiden (and Mom).

[tbhounds]

Stan says "No worries Aiden-it's a piece of cake!"

Edited April 2, 2016 by tbhounds

[Rickiesmom]

Aiden

[DesiRayMom]

The nose knows.,..,.....where the cookies are!!!!! Hope the sx goes well.

[FiveRoooooers]

Stan says "No worries Aiden-it's a piece of cake!"

Aiden says "Thanks Stan!" and "There's cake??"

 

Thanks all

[Houndtime]

Good luck, Aiden, with your surgery. I love his collar!

[greysmom]

Always good to have a plan!

 

{{{HUGS}}} for now and then! And smooches for Aiden!

[rschultz]

Ouchie Aiden (hugs)

[kudzu]

How did surgery go? Is he on the mend? Whenever someone asks me about Greyhound health issues I mention toe injuries.Who know one breed could have so many toe issues. Oy!

[racindog]

Slim had this happen to toes on both feet-amputation therefore was not an option since he absolutely needed to have at least a few toes. At any rate a board certified vet told me that the ligaments etc had all shriveled up in his affected toes and the only thing really holding the toe on was the skin etc. When he would run and bust them open you could actually see the bone in his toes. The vet said there was nothing that could be done and named the syndrome "Slim's Syndrome" , as it was the first like that he had seen and he had been unable to even find other vets that were familiar with it. I managed it with Therapaws and Tuff-Foot. That helped A LOT. He had to always where his Thera-paws before I turned him loose though or his toes would bust completely open again. The Tuff-Foot applied to the foot and toes also helped toughen it up a little.

[Rickiesmom]

Fingers crossed for Aiden tomorrow. And his worried mom.

[FiveRoooooers]

Thanks so much for thinking of us. Aiden's surgery is tomorrow (Friday). I will update as soon as I can Bea is going with to have her insulting corn hulled. *Sigh*

[greysmom]