Dislocated Toe

[KellyandKris216]

Indy managed to dislocate his toe this morning while running around the backyard. According to my husband, he spotted Indy going full tilt on three legs, and when Indy finally came over, one of the middle toes of his back right foot was at a wonky angle (FWIW, he broke the outside toe on the same foot a year ago, but it's healed nicely). After determining the toe was just dislocated and not broken, my husband popped it back in place, and Indy took off for another lap on four legs before my husband could stop him.

 

It doesn't seem to bother him much if he's running on it like a crazydawg, but is there anything we should be doing for it post-recovery? Or are things fine as-is?

[RaineysMom]

once a toe gets dislocated, it will dislocate WAY easier again since the tendon is now stretched what we had to do with Rainey was keep it wrapped up snuggly for several weeks so it could rest and hopefully shrink or whatever.....

[Remolacha]

once a toe gets dislocated, it will dislocate WAY easier again since the tendon is now stretched what we had to do with Rainey was keep it wrapped up snuggly for several weeks so it could rest and hopefully shrink or whatever.....

Yep, this. You can just watch it for now, and if you are lucky, it won't repeat, but odds are it will pop out again. I will say, after Sallie's was wrapped and rested it never dislocated again.

[NeylasMom]

once a toe gets dislocated, it will dislocate WAY easier again since the tendon is now stretched what we had to do with Rainey was keep it wrapped up snuggly for several weeks so it could rest and hopefully shrink or whatever.....

This. Don't mess around with it. Wrap it, Let him rest. We had one dislocation that seemed to heal fine without much intervention, but the next one became chronic so for the last several years of Zuri's life we just had to wrap it anytime he was going to be off leash. We live in a condo so that was doable because it wasn't on a daily basis. The alternative would have been surgery to remove the toe.

 

ETA: One time he managed to pop it out just walking in the snow. Granted it was during a snowstorm that dumped 2' of snow on us, but he didn't do anything wild and was on leash. I didn't even know he'd done it until we got inside and his toe was swollen.

Edited February 23, 2017 by NeylasMom

[KellyandKris216]

To wrap it, do you just wrap two toes together, or do you wrap the whole foot? Lord knows I have enough vet wrap in the house to wrap him nose to tail three times, just wondering the best technique.

[KellyandKris216]

Or would something like a a dog bootie provide enough protection? I think I have a set of those somewhere too.

[robinw]

Loca dislocated a toe. The entire foot was wrapped and and I covered it with an old IV bag for waterproofing whenever I walked her. I only leash walked and no running allowed. It took a while until I was able to let her get back to normal.

Edited February 24, 2017 by robinw

[RedHead]

Teague dislocated a toe a few years ago when I took him to run off leash. I popped it back in, but it popped out a couple more times before I got home. It was the outer toe, but I wrapped his whole foot up for 3-4 days and did no off leash running for a few weeks to allow it to heal. I stuck some cotton pads between his toes (to avoid chafing) and wrapped with vet wrap. Thankfully, the toe hasn't come out since. The tendons need a little bit of time to heal, if not, they tend to get stretched and toe will keep dislocating.

[greysmom]

Boots will work if they will stay on. They're lots faster than daily wrapping. My boy's Therapaws for his corns work great when a toe dislocates, but only as long as he's walking. As soon as he goes faster they fly off.

 

Make sure your boys toenails are short - it will help keep them in place.

[mom2four]

Our former foster Grey dislocated his toe a lot. We'd just wiggle it and it would pop back in. His now-parents do the same thing.