Cut On Side Of Toe Won't Heal

[Guest cwindover]

Hello all,

 

I stumbled across your group while researching a problem I'm having with our grey and can tell you are a knowledgeable group who love their greys!

 

About 3 months ago Olive (7 year old female) came in from the backyard with a deep cut along the outside of her front left foot on the side of her pad. It was not an area where it would have been cut by stepping on something as the pad seemed fine. We took her to the vet who just had us keep it wrapped for a few days and put her on antibiotics.

 

During the next few weeks we walked her on a leash in the backyard to keep her from running on it. After a few weeks it looked completely healed and we let her loose in the backyard. One quick run around the yard and it was open again.

 

Went back to the vet, more wrap, more antibiotics and this time we waited 3 weeks. One run and it opened again.

 

Next time the vet put staples in for 2 weeks, then after that we just kept it wrapped for another 2 weeks, Finally we did another 3 weeks of walking her on a leash to keep her from running. I took her on some long walks and she seemed to be fine on the foot. Then yesterday, after 7 weeks of no running we let her loose in the yard. One fast run to chase a rabbit and it was open once more! I leave to take her to the vet in a few minutes but wanted to see if anyone has come across this.

 

At first I thought I was keeping her nails too long and the run was putting too much strain on that foot (she tends to run to the left in the backyard). But after checking other sites it looks like they are fine. They do not touch the ground when she stands and I trim them weekly to keep them that way.

 

I'm at a loss of what to do to get this fixed. She so enjoys running in the yard.

 

Thanks in advance for any advise you can give.

 

-Carolyn

[XTRAWLD]

Are you able to post a pic? My boy once had a very nasty cut on the side of his toe and I'm very lucky it healed up well. I soaked his foot in epsom salt baths 4 times a day and sprayed colloidal silver on it regularly to ensure it didn't get infected (easily did that for a week) and thankfully it healed on it's own and didn't need stitches, but it very well likely could have turned out to go that direction. He was leash walked so the risk of it opening again was minimized.

 

Try to get her to stay off her feet and no runs!

[MP_the4pack]

Go to this thread. Aiden's toe seemed to be doing the same.

http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/318922-aiden-the-toe-is-g-o-n-e/

[racindog]

Aiden's thread above is probably the best explanation of it. It sounds exactly like that. My Slim had that in both front feet. Basically what it is is that the little toe bones have dislocated and damaged the little ligaments which basically just shrivel up and 'go away.' That leaves the toe bones being held in place by nothing more than the skin which of course tears chronically. And it is usually a pretty good tear- on Slim you could actually see the toe bones through the tear! That is a layman's explanation garnered from my experience and my vet and others experiences. To make a long story short there is nothing you can do to fix it short of amputation which I would highly recommend if it is only 1 toe involved. If more than 1 toe is involved as it was with Slim then you can't amputate because of course you can't remove but so many toes! I managed it as best I could by having him wear Therapaws- and the brand is important because not just any boot will stay on a running greyhound and cushion them- and also by spraying Tuff Foot http://tuffoot.com/ on his feet at night before he went to bed. Both of these things worked well. My vet was one of the best-board certified & greyhound experienced- there just isn't anything that can be done to 'fix' it. Most ordinary non greyhound vets would not have a clue. If you elect to amputate it be sure and get some Amicar to give your baby so she don't bleed out after the surgery. Check it out-it is a very real threat. They can die without the aminocaproic acid. Its a greyhound thing discovered by the worlds best greyhound vet Dr. Cuoto. Others on here can tell you more about it.

Edited November 2, 2016 by racindog

[FiveRoooooers]

Hi, this is Aiden's mom. In hindsight, I should have amped Aiden's toe right away. The cut only continued to get deeper each time it had seemed to heal but then reopened, and after five rounds of crime scene and trying to resolve this myself Aiden had the toe sutured. That held for a while then reopened, necessitating a second suture surgery. That failed and it was then that we decided to amp (and do a dental at the same time). We've had some complications and a fourth surgery but Aiden is now doing well and is doing fine without that toe (lateral on the right front). If your girl were mine I'd do the amp, no question about it. Dr Dyce at OSU is a fab resource and he would be happy to do a consult with your vet. I learned about him from another GT'er and am so glad to have had that information. Best of luck to you!

MP and Donna, thanks for linking Aiden's thread here

[cleptogrey]

How about forming scar tissue with hydrogen peroxide rinse. I did that with a torn web,edges sealed well. I did h keep the paw bandaged for a week and washed it with peroxide 2xs a day which was a pita.

[Guest cwindover]

Wow. You guys are amazing and I think you hit it exactly right. When they went in this morning they found that the bone in front of the first joint (closest to the nail) was separated from the rest of the toe bones and it was just the ligaments and skin holding it in place. When the vet saw that they called me and then amputated the toe at the second joint so that she would not have parts of the remaining toe rubbing on the ground all the time.

 

It looked just like the wound in the above referenced thread before the surgery.

 

My vet said he had never seen something like this in his 20 years and I'm going to pass this information along to him. Olive is doing well and I'll keep you posted.

 

Thanks again for the quick and perfect information.

[FiveRoooooers]

Thank you for coming back to let us know how Olive is doing. I'm so glad that your vet knew to amp high enough to prevent the toe stump from contacting the ground. If that isn't done some dogs have had to have a second surgery to remove more of the toe to prevent exactly that situation. Your girl should be in good shape now without that pesky toe. Please keep us posted, ok?