...foot continued all weekend (a week ago), but by Sunday night, Riley started to look rather sound. Then Monday morning, she is completely sound. Regardless, I take her to the vet and have her ready for surgery should we decide there is a foreign body inside of the puncture that closed weeks ago. Dr. C examines Riley and cannot find anything wrong with her. There is a lump at the puncture site that has been there for several weeks. We discuss whether to open it up and search for a foreign body. I was just about convinced when Dr. C noticed that her outside toe is splayed out further (left side in above photo) than the toe on the comparable foot (right side in below photo).
Hmmm.... Is that something or nothing? We decide to x-ray.... for the eighth time in the last 6 months. Again, all is well. Dr. C decides to ultra sound the area to see if he can find a "pocket" which would suggest a foreign body. Again, there is nothing.
I asked Dr. C what he would do if it was his dog. He said he would open up the lump and look for a foreign body.... but admitted that he was a surgeon and liked to do those sorts of things. Since I am afraid of needles and scalpels, I decided to wait and see what happens.
Of course, I rush home in search of photos of Riley's right rear foot. I want to know if that toe has always splayed out or not. I find this one.
Closer examination....
... it does appear tighter to me. But again, are we really seeing something here or not? I have decided that I am going to start taking pictures of my dogs' feet periodically so I can monitor changes since toes are the number one soundness problem in greyhounds. I know, it is obssessive, but I cannot tell you how many times I have wondered "has that toe always looked like that?"
Hey, don't their nails look great? I am obssessive about that too! I dremel their nails at least once, if not twice a week.
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No more nightlight needed before long, Riley will have a lingering glow all her own with this year's x-rays...
We had to take Brianna (human child) to the orthopedic when she was 6 months old because she had a leg that curved completely different than her other leg and the legs of her siblings. Ortho told us the leg we had him check was normal and all the other legs, siblings included, were actually shaped a little "off". I think the photos are great since obviously us seeing them every day can change our perception of normal.
Errr yeah that is kind of obsessive!! You'd never get my nails that short. Uncle Flynn had a paralysed toe that stuck straight out where an Adder bit him. Fortunately never caused him any major problems Deccy x
We have had more than our fair share of toe woes. I don't blame you for being obsessed with it!
You have no idea how many times I've looked at Summit's toes when he's started limping and wondered "has that always been like that?". His most recent serious limp appears to have been due to a corn that magically disappeared all on its own a few weeks later. I'm pretty obsessive with cutting nails too. :P
Jen, both my hounds occasionally have their toes turned out or in funny, depending on how they are standing/shift their weight. It has made me do double-takes too, but I think their feet are just more flexible or something, and it depends on what kind of surface they're standing on. It is more noticeable on hard, slippery floors. That's not to say that you shouldn't keep an eye on it, but her toes look just like Ferg and Win's.
I feel you on being obsessive about nails. I dremel them/trim them every week yet it never seems short enough to me! I can see their quicks though, so it can't go shorter -_-.
Frustrating, that's just the kind of thing I would obsess about. I'm glad it wasn't her hock fracture though. And, the nails do look great!
Good idea, I am going to start taking pics of their feet too. We try to clip/dremel weekly. My wife aims for pencil eraser toenails.
Jen, you might want to photograph feet with the girls standing on grid paper. (You might need to darken up the lines for better visibility.) Grid paper will make it easier to check for splayed toes--just count how many squares a foot spans.
This is kind of funny, but it reminded me of the bump you said Riley has where the puncture was. I thought maybe this would support your idea that it's not something inside and it will get better. :-) Over a month ago I accidentally left my finger sticking out underneath when I gave Zephyr a pigs ear. Dumb, I know. He loves pigs ears and chomped down on it and my finger leaving a large puncture wound on my finger. Ouch! It was really swollen and took awhile to completely close. A large bump developed there and the tissue is still discolored, it doesn't seem completely healed inside. I totally cleaned it out, I know there's nothing in there, but it does feel hard etc. Some days it is really sensitive and sore for what appears to be no reason and it really hurts if I bump it or rub it wrong and even swells a little. It does seem to be slowly improving though. I just thought that might give you a little encouragement. :-)
That's a good idea to take photos of feet and a great suggestion to do it on grid paper. I covet those toenails, and neat feet. Beryl has got ugly feet and talons that are never going to get shorter until I get brave enough to dremel them myself:(
I am obsessed about toe nails too..the dremel is a constant companion around here. I also obsessively dremel my boarders. Thsi weekend..I will dremel 11 dogs.
Good luck with the toe woes.
Thanks everyone and thanks for the story Hiking Hounds. I hope its something like that. Glad to hear I'm not the only one obssessive about greyhound feet and nails. :-)
Oh dear! I think most of us greyhound lovers become obsessive! Greyt nails!!!
Re Lucky's poly arhtritis, it started after her yearly vaccinations 2 years ago along with a whole host of other problems and it seems her immune system has been affected by the vaccinations.. Bit of blurb for you
Immune-mediated joint disease is a condition in which the immune system is stimulated to cause an inappropriate inflammatory response in one or usually multiple joints. The condition is sometimes termed idiopathic immune-mediated polyarthritis, reflecting an unknown cause of the condition that involves multiple joints.
Inflammation of the lining of the joints causes an increase in white blood cells in the joint fluid. This causes joint swelling and pain.
As with most diseases of the immune system, female animals are at increased risk of getting the disease."
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