A cookout!
Yeah, we didn't do any of those fun activities. Sure wish I had gone to work on Friday though. As you can see, Reagan dislocated a toe. I have been there and done that before, but this really is adding insult to injury (or should I say adding injury to my already insulted dog).
If malabsorption and losing hair wasn't bad enough, this certainly is the icing on the big, fat, &%$!# cake. Can it get any worse? Yep, it does.
After doing some agility on Friday, Reagan was fetching a toy when suddenly she came back to me limping. Dang it!
Once Reagan was home, it was quickly obvious that it was a busted toe. With the old and retired, I tend to just amputate the toe because the recovery is quick, but with the young and in training, I want to save the toe.
I have not had a young greyhound dislocate a toe since Travis probably 6 or 7 years ago. I took him to the Auburn vet school and Dr. Rob Gillette, sports medicine vet, injected it with schleroising agents. A splint was then applied so as the scar tissue forms, the toe is in the correct position. Travis had to have it done a second time, but the toe held up great for agility and never gave us another problem.
Also over the years, one of the vets I use that Southeastern Greyhound Adoption also uses has learned to surgically correct dislocated toes by sewing the collateral ligaments back together. Toe surgery is not common to small animal practices. I was able to get an appointment for later that afternoon. Dr. Toby confirmed that it was dislocated and I expressed my desire to have it fixed.
As luck would have it, not only were we starting a 3 day weekend, but Toby was going to be out of town for a full week. The decision was made to do surgery now since it would not be good for the toe to wait a week.
Toby gave Reagan a sedative so she could start settling down in the exam room. Reagan proceeded to cry and whine as the sedative took effect. She was a terrible drunk and fighting the effects.
Toby used anesthesia that normally gives you a short window in which to do surgery and then the patient quickly wakes up and is walking around a half hour later. Surgery was done in 10 minutes and the waking up process began.
We placed Reagan on a blanket on the floor at about 6 PM. As she started to wake up, she began crying and barking. She paddled, struggled, and swung her head around. This continued for an hour. Most dogs are up and about at this point. We took Reagan outside and tried to stand her up. She couldn't stand, but would try to bolt and run away.
We brought Reagan back inside and laid her down. Toby gave her some Ace to try and relax her as she continued to come out of anesthesia. Immediately, Reagan's face began to break out in hives. Toby gave her some Benedryl and Reagan's face returned to normal.
Toby and I were dumbfounded and just could not believe this was happening. Its not a good thing when you vet is saying "They never do this." I'm all about shattering greyhound stereotypes, but this is not what I had in mind.
We decided it would be best to just get her home and in a crate. Reagan rode home just fine and was quiet. Stephen and I placed her in a crate. After a few minutes, barking, howling, and crying ensued, but she still could not stand up or walk. I was able to get her to pee by supporting her with a towel around her waste. After 4 hours of barking and crying, Reagan finally fell asleep at 10:30 PM. What an ordeal!
Here is a short video of Reagan at home at around 9 PM. It is so weird. Notice the tail wag between barks.
Reagan was fine the next morning........ but she still has to be spayed, scheduled for June 11th :-(.
