Dogs Broken Toe

[ratkilla 35]

Last night my dog broke his right inside toe, I took the nail right back to bleed it out and the dog is on rimadyl at the moment.

 

I got it Xrayed today by an equine vet that my mate is friends with as i was going to visit him today. I wanted oppinions please folks on advice weather to leave it with a good rest and hopefully it will come good or get the toe removed. I'll be contacting a greyhound vet tomorw. I just wanted people with experiance with running dogs point of view.

 

Cheers

 

 

[hector 1]

let it rest mate had similar injury a few yrs back with rest the dog was fine atb with him hector

[bucky 11]

wouldnt remove the toe, a mates dog did the same thing. vet said remove the toe the dog would only loose a yard or so, she was never the same again

[poacher3161 1,766]

It looks like its shaterd more than a clean break it should callouse over given plenty of rest and time to heal though it will always look slightly swollen same as the other posts have said dont let the vet convince you into having it removed good luck.atvb

[skycat 6,173]

Nice clear x-rays. How old is the dog? What diet is it on?

 

From experience I do think that the foot should be completely immobilised and the dog kept up, not allowed off the lead at all until it is healed.

 

There are slightly differing opinions amongst vets as to the type of immobilisation needed. Most modern vets no longer put plaster casts on dogs, preferring to use a type of soft fibre cast held together by an elastic bandage: less likelihood of causing sores under the cast etc.

 

Make sure the dog is on a good RAW FOOD diet, plenty of red meat as well as lamb and chicken bones in the form of carcases and ribs, and adding Vitamin C in tablet form has proved useful in speeding up healing in many cases.

 

Homeopathic remedies include Hypericum (for crushing breaks) and Calc Phos 30c. Jackie Drakeford reccomends these and I know from first hand experience that they really do help the healing process.

[ratkilla 35]

Nice clear x-rays. How old is the dog? What diet is it on?

 

From experience I do think that the foot should be completely immobilised and the dog kept up, not allowed off the lead at all until it is healed.

 

There are slightly differing opinions amongst vets as to the type of immobilisation needed. Most modern vets no longer put plaster casts on dogs, preferring to use a type of soft fibre cast held together by an elastic bandage: less likelihood of causing sores under the cast etc.

 

Make sure the dog is on a good RAW FOOD diet, plenty of red meat as well as lamb and chicken bones in the form of carcases and ribs, and adding Vitamin C in tablet form has proved useful in speeding up healing in many cases.

 

Homeopathic remedies include Hypericum (for crushing breaks) and Calc Phos 30c. Jackie Drakeford reccomends these and I know from first hand experience that they really do help the healing process.

 

Thanks for the info, The dog is four years old and he is on a Flesh and bone diet. He is just kept confined and goes out on a chain in the garden so i'll give him plenty of time to rest. I'll keep you up dated.

[sandymere 8,263]

Cage rest, imobilise the digit and crossed fingers for a couple of weeks then review. A good balenced diet and time will alow the dog to make a good a repair as poss but expert advice is a must to exclude the need for any surgical intervention.

All the the other stuff is to make you feel better but will not help the dog unless there is an underlying deficiancy and thats a whole new subject.

Good luck s

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Just to put this in perspective ,there are many lurchers every year that break toes that the owners never know about ,puting it down to a strain of one muscle or another.A few weeks off and they are back .Im not saying this is the way to go but cage rest will not alter the set of a toe ,neither will a bandage .The toe will be 'cocked 'forever but will not hinder the dog in any way .Just go easy on the dog now you know its happened but no need for pampering to the extreme .From experience and not books .

[spiderfly 111]

same happen my dog and after 3 weeks she was fine...

[skycat 6,173]

Just to put this in perspective ,there are many lurchers every year that break toes that the owners never know about ,puting it down to a strain of one muscle or another.A few weeks off and they are back .Im not saying this is the way to go but cage rest will not alter the set of a toe ,neither will a bandage .The toe will be 'cocked 'forever but will not hinder the dog in any way .Just go easy on the dog now you know its happened but no need for pampering to the extreme .From experience and not books .

 

 

Cage rest may not alter the set of the toe, but if you continue running a dog with a broken toe with a bone that is in several bits as this one is you will definitely inhibit healing as the constant movement will stop the bones from knitting back together as they should. This is also from experience and not from books.

 

Common sense should tell you that a bone needs time to stick itself back together: about 6 weeks as a rule, so don't let the dog run about or jump up and down for that time: keep it on the lead and walk it only. There is a great deal of difference between a simple crack in the bone and one that is in bits.

[the monkey 338]

as chalkwarren says take it to an expert ...i totally agree with sky cat if it was mine it would be immobilised

[the monkey 338]

as chalkwarren says take it to an expert ...i totally agree with sky cat if it was mine it would be immobilised

[sandymere 8,263]

Just to put this in perspective ,there are many lurchers every year that break toes that the owners never know about ,puting it down to a strain of one muscle or another.A few weeks off and they are back .Im not saying this is the way to go but cage rest will not alter the set of a toe ,neither will a bandage .The toe will be 'cocked 'forever but will not hinder the dog in any way .Just go easy on the dog now you know its happened but no need for pampering to the extreme .From experience and not books .

 

The bones will take at least a fortnight to begin to nit well and this will be helped by minimal disturbance during this time, as the are multiple fragments the better they nit the less the long term callus and so the better the outcome. There is a differnece between a kocked up toe and a shattered one. If there are " many lurchers every year that break toes that the owners never know about ,puting it down to a strain of one muscle or another" they are poor stock men. Two weeks of rest, and a cage ensures this as far as possible, isn't such a big investment if you expect the dog to make the best possible recovery. Remember that a ruuning dogs feet are subjected to forces beyound those that they were designed for. From experience and books. But again get advice from an expert.

[ratkilla 35]

I took the dog to see a greyhound vet and he said from the Xrays i showed him the bone was in 4 plus pieces, Metacarpophal joint looks ok but more xrays to assess p1/p2 joint.

 

The advice he gave me was if the joint is damaged best option was it get it amputated high up, if not could strap up and not allow the dog to run or jump for eight months. But if amputated he could be running ok in 4-6 weeks.

 

From people with experiance with dogs that have had this sort of break my question would be is that i dont want to give the dog time to rest and hope for the break to come good and wait for it then to break again later on down the line and have it amputated, and have the dog out for more time. Or if i was to get it amputated now and have the problem sorted this was, people with experiance with amputations to the front inside toe do you find it hinders the dogs speed or turning greatly, or the foot is alot more liable to damage/injury ?

 

I know each dog is different, just hearing about peoples expriances i'd appriciate.

 

Thanks

[benny 1 5]

[bANNED TEXT] mate my wheton x bitch had the esact same injury on one off her back toes i tryed all the rest i could but nothing was working as soon as she ran again it would swell up and she would be injured for a while so i took her to the vet and they said if u want her for a pet then leave it on it will set its self but for working she would need it off it cost me a fair bit and it took like 6 weeks to heal but once it did she was a diffrent dog ran 10 times better heres a wee pic off her just out the vets