Unknown illness

[Krstewart85]

My dog, Tony, has been suffering from lameness for over three weeks now in his front left paw. It all started with a slight limp that turned into a high fever, all in the span of one afternoon. Bloodwork and X-rays came back normal. Ultrasound revealed an enlarged spleen. Infection of his toe is what was suspected, as his toe was swelling up at this point. He was put on antibiotics (clavamos) and steroids (prednisone). By day 3, his entire foot was swollen and by day 4, his back foot started to swell and he had red skin on his front right leg. I took him back to the vet and they changed antibiotics and also gave him medicine for vasculitis. He was very lethargic and did not want to walk at all. In a lot of pain. Two days after the new antibiotics the swelling was almost all gone and the other limbs looked normal again. (Baytril and Doxycycline). I think they took some fluid from the toe and it came back as an infection, but I am still unclear of the results. He has another appointment tomorrow because he has finished all medications and is still limping and holding paw up to walk. Swelling is down, but toe looks raised compared to other toes and is red between the toes. Has anyone heard of anything like this?? The vet called it a “challenging case.”  I tried to attach pictures, but is says the file size is too large. Added google drive pics if that works. The picture of the leg that’s all red and swollen foot is what it looked like 2 weeks ago. The other pictures are from today. 
 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QVJtXIGwBDtgnRfUrl3BX-x29pYKBudV/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hQ1Qlqmw5x8ZsyRE73o9bjNoXdIBhBFl/view?usp=drivesdk
 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jovWGHUixZgugvOOz8LvVHvyeZGOyRHN/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JeYHTWdq0HwhSQCx39Ygl-_r4oLBWKMQ/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GaERYYo2RYj6CcjqwyZ3VYGgfJvrHi6A/view?usp=drivesdk

Edited January 10, 2021 by Krstewart85
Add pictures

[macoduck]

How old is he?  Is there any chance this cold have been a spider bite(s)?  Any fluid oozing from anywhere on the paw or leg?
If you are on Facebook you can host your photos there. Open your photo, right click for "copy image location", return here and paste.

[Krstewart85]

3 minutes ago, macoduck said:

How old is he?  Is there any chance this cold have been a spider bite(s)?  Any fluid oozing from anywhere on the paw or leg?
If you are on Facebook you can host your photos there. Open your photo, right click for "copy image location", return here and paste.

He is 7. No there’s no fluid or anything that looks like he was bitten. Just red skin. I added the pics to google drive. See if this works. Facebook wouldn’t let me copy image location. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QVJtXIGwBDtgnRfUrl3BX-x29pYKBudV/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hQ1Qlqmw5x8ZsyRE73o9bjNoXdIBhBFl/view?usp=drivesdk
 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jovWGHUixZgugvOOz8LvVHvyeZGOyRHN/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JeYHTWdq0HwhSQCx39Ygl-_r4oLBWKMQ/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GaERYYo2RYj6CcjqwyZ3VYGgfJvrHi6A/view?usp=drivesdk
 

 

[greysmom]

Did the vet take xrays of the foot???  How about up the leg?

It sounds like he might have a foreign body in his toe/foot someplace.  One - like a foxtail or splinter - that wouldn't show up on xrays, but which might need to be surfically removed.  **Really** examin his foot and toes well - in between the toes, in the "well" in the bottom, all around the nailbeds - for a spot that looks like a wound or entry point.  

You should also be soaking his foot a couple times daily in very warm water and epsom salts.  This will help draw out any FBs and help with any infection.  Make up the solution of a cup of very warm water and 1 tablespoon of epsom salts.  Soak a washcloth (or similar sized cloth) thoroughly in this solution. wrap it around his foot when he's comfortably laying down.  Put a plastic bag over the cloth wrapped foot and secure with vet wrap or other just enough to keep the water inside.  Keep on for 10 minutes or so at a time.

These kinds of issues are very tricky, so good luck and keep us posted!

[Time4ANap]

If you still aren't getting answers from the vet or they are really puzzled, I would suggest a consultation with Dr. Cuoto.  Dr. Cuoto ran the Greyhound Program at Ohio State Vet School for many years and is now in private practice.  He will review labs, xrays, etc via email and work with you and your vet.  There is a fee for his consultation but many of us have found it to be money well spent when encountering an issue with our hounds. he responds to email within a day if he traveling and usually faster if he is in

https://www.coutovetconsultants.com

 

[Krstewart85]

12 minutes ago, greysmom said:

Did the vet take xrays of the foot???  How about up the leg?

It sounds like he might have a foreign body in his toe/foot someplace.  One - like a foxtail or splinter - that wouldn't show up on xrays, but which might need to be surfically removed.  **Really** examin his foot and toes well - in between the toes, in the "well" in the bottom, all around the nailbeds - for a spot that looks like a wound or entry point.  

You should also be soaking his foot a couple times daily in very warm water and epsom salts.  This will help draw out any FBs and help with any infection.  Make up the solution of a cup of very warm water and 1 tablespoon of epsom salts.  Soak a washcloth (or similar sized cloth) thoroughly in this solution. wrap it around his foot when he's comfortably laying down.  Put a plastic bag over the cloth wrapped foot and secure with vet wrap or other just enough to keep the water inside.  Keep on for 10 minutes or so at a time.

These kinds of issues are very tricky, so good luck and keep us posted!

Yes, he had x-rays done twice at two different vets and they didn’t see anything. The bones looked normal too, which I was worried it was cancer. What’s strange is that the swelling spread to his other limbs, so that makes me think it’s something systemic because If something was just stuck in his toe wouldn’t that be the only foot affected? I’ve looked at it all over and can’t see anything there.  It must have been some kind of infection because the antibiotics did help.. but it’s not completely cured because he still can’t walk on it. So just trying to find out what causes the infection and why it’s not completely  healed. 

[Krstewart85]

7 minutes ago, Time4ANap said:

If you still aren't getting answers from the vet or they are really puzzled, I would suggest a consultation with Dr. Cuoto.  Dr. Cuoto ran the Greyhound Program at Ohio State Vet School for many years and is now in private practice.  He will review labs, xrays, etc via email and work with you and your vet.  There is a fee for his consultation but many of us have found it to be money well spent when encountering an issue with our hounds. he responds to email within a day if he traveling and usually faster if he is in

https://www.coutovetconsultants.com

 

Thank you. I have heard of this doctor. I came across a website that had his name and have thought about emailing, but I wasn’t sure if he was still in practice. 

[macoduck]

"Facebook wouldn’t let me copy image"

Krstewart, when you have your photo on your FB page, you still have to click on it, then right click, then copy image location, not copy image.

You can right click back here and not have to click on the link icon at the top of this dialog box.

[smurfette]

Did they rule out those mediteeranean illnesses like leishmaniosis or anaplasmosis, I guess they are called tick born diseases in the US? 

It sounds to me like a foreign body compared with a reaction to the first antibiotics. I second bathing the food in salt water. 

[JohnF]

It looks like there's a corn on one of pads (in your last photo), so that could also be behind the persistent limp. But there's something systemic going on which may have been caused as a reaction to antibiotics or NSAIDS, tick borne disease may also be coincidental. For whatever reason it looks like the immune system was triggered and Lymphedema has also occurred. There may be an actual splinter somewhere in the dog's paw, I recall we had a mystery bad paw like that with our Great Dane which was eventually only found by surgery. It was a 3/4" (yes that big) splinter of pinewood from the forest floor, that hadn't shown up on any of the imagery they did. 

[cleptogrey]

Have you tested for lepto? Or tick borne diseases? What part of the country do u live in Or have traveled to? Are there stray feral cats in your area?

I'm asking this since  cats can pass on bartonella. When Jamie was ill we tested for that. It has some strange reactions. We travel and my vet looked into valley fever. That's a weird one too. Lyme is bizarre and lepto, don't ask. Test and I hope for the best.

[Krstewart85]

I don’t really know if anything specific has been tested for. Just for a bacteria, which is what the doctor thinks it is. Just a bad infection. I did consult with Dr. Couto over email today and he mentioned that Tony has a corn, but doesn’t seem to think that’s the whole problem because of the fever and infection he had. I saw the vet today and he prescribed another round of Baytril antibiotics and if that doesn’t work then they will have to take the toe. But I’m still waiting on Dr. Couto to tell me what he thinks.. he’s not done looking at all the information I sent over. 

As far as lepto.. Tony has been vaccinated for that one. We go to this dog park and he likes to get in the dog lake so I made sure he’s been vaccinated for that. And yes there are a lot of stray cats in my neighborhood. We live in northeast Florida. 

[cleptogrey]

forgot to mention Alabama Rot- one of the dogs in our group had it- this looks familiar.  it is caused by e coli. look it up and do mention it to your vet. it was a stressful recovery- but she did recover.

Lepto Vaccine only protects against certain strains. the reason i mentioned Lepto is the spleen inflammation. - and you mentioned that he goes into the lake- right? has your vet done a scraping and culture?

[Krstewart85]

26 minutes ago, cleptogrey said:

forgot to mention Alabama Rot- one of the dogs in our group had it- this looks familiar.  it is caused by e coli. look it up and do mention it to your vet. it was a stressful recovery- but she did recover.

Lepto Vaccine only protects against certain strains. the reason i mentioned Lepto is the spleen inflammation. - and you mentioned that he goes into the lake- right? has your vet done a scraping and culture?

Alabama rot was mentioned, but I think by now it’s been disregarded. I really don’t think any actual testing has been done on anything specific. The only testing they did was fluid from the toe and it came back as bacteria, but didn’t say what kind. I will ask about lepto next time I speak with the doctor. We hadn’t been to the dog park in a few weeks before this happened, but he was at daycare that week. 

[cleptogrey]

alabama rot is bacterial and it affects who knows what aside from the circulatory system.  cutaneous and renal glomerular vasculopathy is the full name for it.

have you considered taking all the test results in to another vet for a second opinion? post your location and ask if anyone has a vet in that area. the index on GT for vets is not very accurate. i had an emergency when i was in denver. non were still in business!  ah- daycare, but also bacteria picked up from the lake can take a while to fester. also, you can ask your adoption group for a vet referral. 

lepto seems to affect internal organism. bring the blood work results along as well. in other words full medical records.

best of luck