Remove Both Weight Bearing Toes?

[Guest nix]

This forum has been such a great resource over the years and I've almost always been able to find a situation similar to ours. Your experiences and discussions have been immensely helpful!

 

Our guy, Andy, has a problem I haven't encountered here so I'm reaching out for help:

Andy had one of his weight bearing toes removed from a fore limb last year after a corn became abcessed. The remaining weight bearing toe is now causing similar pain and lameness. We're still checking the cause but it's likely soft tissue cancer. Our vet is concerned about amputation of this toe, leaving the other two prone to splaying and general discomfort.

 

Has anyone encountered amputation of both weight bearing toes, digits 3 and 4, on your greys? Or, did you confront this but decided against surgery?

[greysmom]

I don't have personal experience with taking two toes off one foot, but I have had two dogs lose one toe. I *have* seen at least a couple greyhounds with their two middle toes missing. It didn't seem, just on my short contact with them (at different times), that they were having any issues from it. They walked, and even played just fine, for the time I was observing them.

 

If I was considering it myself, I would want to definitely define with my vet/surgeon exactly what he was going to take and what was going to be left. I would try and preserve as much of the central pad as possible, while taking as much of the affected bone as I could. Recovery from toe amps is generally easy, taking precautions to change bandaging and splinting often so you don't get pressure sores. I would also probably restrict activity far beyond the actual recovery time to give the foot a chance to settle into it's new configuration. I would also probably put a boot on the foot - a Therapaw or similar boot with lots of support and padding - not only for post-splinting, but for anytime my dog would be on his feet or walking a long time. If necessary I'm sure you could do some sort of wrapping on the foot for extra support.

 

And if I had the extra money, when investigating cancer, I would definitely like a good look at his lungs and other legs (from body to ground), and possibly an ultrasound of his organs. You don't want to go to the time and expense of amping a toe if the cancer has already metastisized elsewhere. And the rads and ultrasound can always be used as baseline comparison in case there's ever a question later in life (or hopefully never).

 

If it is cancer, and you don't amp, things are more complicated.

[tbhounds]

Regarding the tumor--I would consult with Dr Couto before I proceeded with any surgery.

http://www.coutovetconsultants.com