hi all,skye has a very swollen toe joint on back foot,went to vets,didnt think dislocated or broken gave antibiotics and pain killers for 5 days-no change back again on tues given stronger antibiotics and more pain killers still no change(£200 already!) although i could now do with the pain killers myself from having to lead walk!!! i thought what may have caused it was a few days before i noticed swelling, i pulled a chesnut case fron between her pads and thought a spine may have gone in.the strange thing is she is not limping unless she is favouring her middle toes(i just noticed from back view that is was swollen) or really bothered about it unless you get hold of joint which she is not happy about but not going mad trying to get away from you.got to go back monday,he was talking about xray next but not sure if it is a spine that it would show up on xray? any ideas greatly recieved.

Know nothing about chestnut spines but I hope it settles quickly. Your wallet is probably hurting more than his toe

Hello lurcherlover,

Poor Skye.
We hope of speedy and full recovery.

I think the best is, if the vet x-raying the foot.


Best regards
Joerg and Yoki

lol!! yes your prob right brollachan!!!

thanks for your kind thoughts Joerg and Yoki,yes will prob have to go with having xray

Ask your vet to consider septic arthritis if it doesn't settle soon - an X-ray should confirm. I had a young bitch who missed her first year's coursing with this condition. It took a long time to clear, but eventually with high doses of Synulox it cleared up completely.

thanks very much for that sid,the vet seems to be a bit puzzled as too what it is?? i will suggest that on monday.

Ouch, is it not a knocked up toe? Seems we wpend a fortune trying everything out before they finally diagnose it. Maybe just keep her in for a week or so and see if it heals itself.

Hi Lurch
could be, but didnt hear her cry out which would be unusual(whimp!)and no limping.she has been on lead for 7 days now and the swelling has not gone down a single bit.it was going to be her first go at coursing at fun day tommorrow,typical!!! she will just have to watch and see how its done instead!!!

Not sure where you live, but if you are near a greyhound track, the vets their are usually pretty good, especially for sighthound injuries.

I wish her well and back to her usual self soon.

I second Lurch's idea, try and find a Greyhound vet, they see so much of this type of injury in racing Greys. We are lucky in that we have 2 close by and I always take the dogs to them for injuries (rather than illness) before the regular vets who always seem rather baffled by something not out of a text book.

Pam

thanks both,sound like seeking a greyhound vet out could be the way to go.

As others have suggested i would/do go to a vet thats well up on sight hounds/running dogs.to me it COULD be one of two things, tendons, or ligament/s.either way if it is then at least 6-8 weeks rest/toilet lead walks,and as with any injury patience from us owners.IF it is ligament damage then rest alone will not be enough,a good vet will advice you.PLEASE LET ME KNOW how you get on

Dont know how far Longhborough(sp) is from you,
but theres one in Shepshed.
Will copy the post from stat.

thanks jane for that info,i have found a greyhound vet near us,after going to fun day yesterday i got a few people to have a look at it and most thought it would be better to keep up antibiotics and do salt water as most think prob brewing abcess from the chesnut spine,so will just keep close eye on it and see what vet says tommorow.

thanks trevor for your input,would she not be limping and in obvious pain if it was ligament or tendom damadge? will keep you posted as to how we get on.

lurcher lover how is skye, and sorry for this late reply,if you have kept skye on lead walks for 7-10 days then even with some ligament/tendon damage(depending how severe),its only when you let the dog of the lead to run/play the dog will/may show discomfort.please let me know how things are .ATB TREVOR

hi trevor
i did let her off at weekend for a run-no limping or discomfort,have been back to vets and opted for more antibiotics because having shaved toe can now see skin and looks like there is something trying to get out-chesnut spine i think,its very red,going back next week if nothing has erupted by then we will take further action.didnt want to sedate and xray unnessary because iam still convinced the chesnut spine is responsible.so still a wait and see what develops senario!!
thanks
Rachel

just an update on skyes mystery toe injury,finally had to get xray today as 1 month on trying various combinations of antibiotics there is still no change. its looking like the chesnut case could be responsible,i cant remember what it was called but is protective bit around the joint of toe which apparently has been pierced by something,which has caused new bone growth on side of bone which you could see quite clearly on the xray.stopped antibiotics and have to do hot compresses twice daily,which will hopefully bring this thing to surface !!! so still a wait and what happens senario!!

worth trying a bit of sugar on the hot compress as it's osmosis action may help to draw any forign bodies out