Is she any better today?

"No news" is starting to sound bad. I hope thing are better with your dog.

I was also hoping to hear an updaate w/good news.

Shelley

hi
we have been going thru a week of hell. her toe does not seem to be getting any better. although she's trying to be braver and step on it - to me it looks worse. she's been eating some, but has not had very much water. i don't know much else to say right now, besides the fact that i will not give up on her. since i can't post any pics here, i decided to do a blog entry on my site with pictures from 10/04 and today. i wanted to keep my site positive, but maybe someone will come up and say - hey i've seen that and here is what you have to do... i recommend awareness, as pictures are not pretty . the link is http://www.whatnottolove.com/Home/Blog/Entries/2009/10/10_Bad_news_for_Baby_-_The_Most_Precious_Dog_in_the_World....html

Here is a link that might be useful: Baby's swollen toe

Poor thing, it has only gotten worse.

My furry kids have never had this problem so I cant help you there.

For the not drinking, I have never met a dog that doesn't love ice cubes or crushed ice.

thank you for writing "gammyt".
i will try the ice cubes right now.

No wonder she doesn't want to put any weight on it. Poor thing. If the ice doesn't work, maybe she'll eat a little vanilla ice cream.

What state do you live in? Here in Tampa we have an emergency animal hospital that's state of the art. FVS gets animals from all over for specailized treatment and surgery. They're wonderful with cancer situations. Is it possible you have such a facility in your area?

Perhaps you could call them and describe the problem and they might have a suggestion. Or you could fax a picture of her paw.

Good luck.
Mona
------------------------------
FVS CONTACT INFO

info@fvs.com

Tampa
3000 Busch Lake Boulevard
Tampa, Florida 33614
Phone: (813) 933-8944
Fax: (813) 936-9595

"monablair" thank you so much for the recommendation and continuous help. i just called the clinic in FL - we are in the state of MD. i spoke with a doctor, and of course they can't be certain as to what could be happening without them seeing her. however the doctor i spoke with and everyone else there was so so nice... they gave me some direction and i will be taking her now to another vet here in our area.

I'm glad they could suggest a vet to go to. Let's pray this is the one who can Dx and heal your baby.

OMG......it's worse that I imagined! Here are a few shots for those that have trouble accessing the site.

I'd definitely find another vet since this has been going on for a week with no improvement. She has to be in a lot of pain.......

i appreciate you getting some pic's here "annz" - i couldn't figure out how to do it.
currently searching for "the best" vets in the area... she's going to have to see someone else. anyone to recommend a good vet near Gaithersburg, MD?

Here's a list of vets in your area. Personally, I'd start with James Jeffers since he's a specialist. If he can't help he can probably refer you to someone who can.

It may be worth calling his number now (Sunday) to see if he has a phone number on his voicemail for weekend emergencies.

Here is a link that might be useful: vets in your area.

Sending prayers that you find out what is going on with your dog. I hope you get some definitive answers soon. (((hugs)))

Hugs and prayers to you both.I hope you can find out what the problem is very soon.Hoping Meaghan will check in a be able to offer some advice.

Shelley

How awful what you and your furbaby are going through...sending prayers that you can find someone to heal her..
~LBF

thank you all. will keep you posted...
"annz" I have decided to take your advice and make an appointment with Dr. Jeffers first thing tomorrow (there is no emergency # on his recording) - thanks so much again.

Ouch!

I just treated a dog with a similar looking paw. Must be something going around. The owner and I believe her dog was stung by a cow fly, a type of wingless wasp. Her paw swelled up and got really red like that, and she wouldn't stop licking it which made it worse. I ended up having to surgically debride the wound. Under the redness there was a lot of dead tissue and pus. That was Tuesday. On Friday she came in and the wound was almost completely healed. There was no redness or swelling and the pain was gone. You wouldn't have known anything was wrong except for the stitches. Sometimes you just have to go in there and dig the nastiness out. Of course, she is also on antibiotics and pain medication but I don't think it would have healed without surgery.

I hope your dog gets relief soon. It looks really painful.

I emailed your photos to my local Vet. Without examining your dog, he thought is was either a staph infection or an imbedded "something".

Hope you get some good results from your Vet appointment.

Ouch is right! Poor thing. Keep us updated; I hope you got an answer.

I can't help but wonder how your furbaby is doing.

Me too,I have been checking back since monday.I hope he/she has gotten some relief.

Shelley

bump

i am sorry to all the GREAT people here i haven't being able to do an update this week. it's been a tough, long one. on Mon we called the last vet she saw because we needed a referral to see Dr. Jeffers. he said he wanted to check up on her before he sends us to Dr. Jeffers. we took her there Mon late afternoon and he agreed that the toe was not getting much better. he then suggested that we bring her in first thing Tues morning so that he can do an incision and see if he can find what caused it, as well as see if it would drain - he said Dr. Jeffers would have done the same thing. after the procedure he explained that there was nothing wedged in there and yet again it could have been an old cut or injury that was now affecting her. he didn't remove the bad tissue, but said he placed 2 drains in there. her paw is now bandaged and i can't see what it looks like or if the swelling has gone down. just have no idea and hoping it's better. she does seem perkier, happier and more willing to move around though.
he also changed her antibiotic and pain reliever meds which she'll be taking for another 14 days.
now we are taking her back on Sat to have the bandage removed and the toe reexamined.
Just praying to Dear God she's really doing better and healing finally.

i'd like to say again THANK YOU, to ALL who have been concerned.

Thank you for the update, I was worried about her. I'm glad she seems to be feeling better. Keep us updated when you can!

Sign my name to Weed's post.I am sending (((HUGS))) to you both.Keep us posted.

SHelley

Thank goodness she seems to be better. I was so worried.
Please keep us posted.

glad to hear she's more willing to move around, that's a good sign!! i'll be watching for an update. ((((hugs))))

Great news - I have been checking on this thread for updates and glad to hear the good one!

What did the toe look like when the bandages were removed?
Major improvement,I hope.

hi! so glad to be able to share with all of you caring people here! her toe was not red anymore yesterday - but rather gray-brownish where the tissue has expanded. there was a little "healthy" looking blood from the incision. the swelling has gone down a little bit. our vet said that he hopes for the bad tissue to just "shed" off with the time. he noted that she wasn't in as much pain as she was before when he was touching the spot and that was good news.
they had to bandage it again and now we are going back Wednesday to have it rechecked.
over the past few days i have really felt that my 'old' Baby is back! she's happier and even attempts to run in the backyard now. she's eating and drinking water, she want's to play too!
Just can't wait for her to be back 100%, walking without a bandage on and running up and down the fence with the neighbor's dog... :):):)

So good to hear, babydoggie! I was worried about that foot! Thanks for the update.

gotta love happy endings!!! hope she continues to improve with each passing day. :)

What an ordeal! I'm glad Baby is getting better.

I'm anxious to hear what the Vet said yesterday.

bump

How is she?

hi monablair,
she is doing better i can say. the toe is looking better but it's still a little swollen. our vet decided to bandage it for few more days when we went there Wednesday. we are going back Monday hopefully to have the bandage removed permanently.
she's in good spirits and feeling OK based on her level of energy!
thanks for checking in!!!

Thank goodness! I was so afraid the infection might lead to having to perform drastic surgical procedures.

babydoggie -- I just accidently come to this thread today and read through the messeges. I am glad to know that your dog is getting better. From my experience, if it's something my own vet couldn't figure out soon, I will take my dog to an emergency room affiliated with a veterinary school. They have access to the most experienced facaulty. If needed they can perform a lot tests on site and consult other specialists on site, so you don't have to make appointment to see different Vets one by one hoping to find one who knows what to do.

University of Penn veterinary school is a very good place for me. There are policemen driving a couple of hours to take their K-9 tho U Penn.

I don't know where you are, but maybe there are some good university veterinary school near where you are.

I hope you never have to go through this again.

Just wondering if Baby has fully recovered.

What happened with the toe injury?

I do hope you took her to the vet already. My dog had a swollen toe, which I didn't think was a real problem since it didn't affect her walking or seem to bother her at all. I had taken her to the vet for other things and they noticed the toe, but didn't seem too concerned of it, so I figured they would know and left it as just another in a long line of benign bumps she'd previously developed. It became a natural part of life for months until it suddenly turned dark and made her limp, at which time I panicked and took her in. My deepest nightmare and regret... Even after they surgically took the toe off, she developed Mast Cell cancer from it. The surgery was too late and killed her about a month later. The kicker here is that once the toe turned dark, my vets relayed of their having heard of many other dogs getting Mast Cell cancer from swollen toes before and that if ever a dog had a swollen toe you should just take it off and not chance it, because even if it's benign in the beginning, the chances are it will turn later, and probably too late. These are the same vets that noticed it earlier and didn't say a damn thing! I'm angry and frustrated and just don't understand. I miss my girl terribly and feel I truly let her down. I know I was in denial and should have investigated further and not just count on bumbling doctors not paying attention or simply not giving a damn. I think I was afraid of knowing due to not being able to fix it, but this was fixable if caught in time. Please do not allow this to happen to your baby. You'll regret it forever. I do. My heart aches terribly from it all. I will never forget my beloved baby girl and pray I reunite with her in the ever-after when my time on this earth is done. God knows it would never be Heaven for me without her.

In an attempt to be clear, I think I had better clarify... I had written, "The surgery was too late and it killed her about a month later"; but I actually meant, "The surgery was too late and the Mast Cell killed her about a month later."

I understood what you meant.

I'm so sorry for your loss. How awful that you weren't made aware of the possible danger of ignoring the swollen toe.

Don't feel guilty; you didn't know. You were relying on the doctors to give you the information that would be best for your furbaby.

I do believe you will see her again. There's a book I really enjoyed, that though sad, gave me the peace and comfort I needed when my little PeeWee died.

"Cambium: and the Life of Lanagan Murphy" You can get it through Amazon.com.

Shilobloo, remove every toe that is swollen? We had to take our cocker spaniel to the vet today. Luckily, she is an orthopedic specialist. She found that his limping is due to an inflamed and swollen toe on front foot. We are giving pain pills, anti-inflammatory drug, and mild antibiotic to cover all bases. She did an incredibly thorough exam and xrays of his paw. Now I am worrying that his toe should just be removed rather than go the course we are going. But yet that seems a bit odd, so not sure what to think. i am very sorry for the loss of that pet and know how you feel- been there, done that many times. second guessing and sadness from the loss.

I had a chow mix that looked like he had a cracked nail, but he was limping. Vet cut nail really far back, and thought he should feel better in a couple days. He didn't so I took him back and vet xrayed it and found a benign fast growing tumor in toe that was pressing on nerves and going into the bone. He amputated the toe, dog recovered with no further issues. Get toes that are swollen xrayed if they don't get better in a few days.

Hi new to this site I have a blue roan cocker spaniel she is 10 years 6 months , at my wits end had the same condition as the picture on this site swollen toe and large red like cyst , been attending vet since 2012 with the same problem, had had a deep scale clean of her paw biopsys on antibiotics , steroids every couple months constantly flaring up , it was getting that as soon as the course was finished within a week flared up again . We made the descision on the 10th Dec 2015 to get webbing removed and toe thought that would be the end of this problem , but tonight paw has flared up again and leaking blood and fluid and swollen, we thought careful to this surgery as it is very invasive , lucky I still have antibiotics and steroids at home so gave her a couple and back to vets tomorrow just don't know where to turn now about this as I don't want my dog constantly on antibiotics would appreciate if anybody can help or give me advice on this Jill .

It looks infected. I wouldn't try treating it at home by myself unless I knew exactly what it was. Based on your pics, it looks like it would be easily irritated so the wrong treatment could make it worse.

There's something called CareCredit http://www.carecredit.com/ it's a CC just for vet bills.

You can also try contacting your local SPCA. They may be able to refer to vets that offer low cost care.

Here's more info.

http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/trouble_affording_veterinary_care.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/

Tori, what did you end up doing about your dog's paw? How is she doing?