Broken toe

[sam_m]

So some may be aware I have a crazy boxer called Rox. Well I accidentally trod on her front paw Saturday, had been getting progressively lamer so took her off to the vets who have diagnosed a broken third toe by feel. Vet has recommended not to xray at this stage as to how upset she gets at the vet so has given me a weeks worth of metacam and to take her back if no improvement. So my question is besides keeping her quiet which shes doing herself, is there anything else I can do to make her more comfy? Vet wasnt interested in discussing how to go forward unless shes still not right next week.

 

[Montmorency]

What about bandaging the foot to try and immobilise the toe a bit better?
When my whippet broke his toe the vets splinted the foot and bandaged it. It was a complete break though and they were even talking about amputating the toe at first!

Be very careful to watch out for pressure sores though. Vets managed to give my poor boy an awful one that actually caused him more pain than the original break. I gave up going to the vets and just bandaged it at home every day so I could keep a close eye on the sore which took forever to heal.

I also bought a special foot splint online but actually never used it because he had developed the sore by then so you could try one of those instead of bandaging?

Hope your boxer heals quickly. It was a nightmare trying to prevent the whippet from running around!

 

[{97702}]

My eldest greyhound has managed to break three toes (three separate incidents) and also got trodden on by my horse which resulted in a broken foot

Each time my vets insisted on x-raying, even though the treatment would be exactly the same regardless of whether the toe was broken or not! It was simply a matter of putting padding around the foot and bandaging it up, none of the breaks were splinted, and I gave her pain killers until it got a bit less painful. I was reluctant to bother taking her to the vets when it got to the second and third occasions, as I knew what the outcome would be, but they are much better at bandaging the foot up than I am

I wouldn't worry too much, it is a relatively minor matter, I was lucky that greyhounds have no problem keeping themselves quiet and sleeping all day...

 

[sam_m]

Thanks both of you, vet made no mention of splinting it or padding it, shall refer to good ol google and have a look at how to pad it up. Luckily she is keeping herself very quiet (until the postman comes and then there is no sign of any discomfort!) Was reluctant to take her as normally my vet tries to insist on all sorts but luckily not in this case.

 

[Alec Swan]

When we refer to 'broken toes', and especially in greyhounds and their types, and probably in any relatively 'fine' dog, it isn't actually the toe which is broken, more often than not, it's a collapsed metatarsal. Your dog being a boxer, would be 'less' likely to suffer from such a condition, though not impossible. Generally, when a 'broken toe' is evident, there seems to be little or no pain or discomfort, which is strange!

When you stood on your dog's foot, did she scream the house down and refuse to weight bear, AT ALL, and if she did, how long was it before she seemed to recover? With a 'genuine' broken toe, one would expect an immediate and possibly violent reaction to the pain, which would be understandable. With a gradual and increasing lameness, it would sound like 'broken' isn't the right word, if that makes sense!

Dog's feet, rather like their olfactory systems are an absolute nightmare. There may well be those vets who will suggest surgery or some form of treatment. Generally, most will suggest rest.

As a matter of interest, what is Rox's age? Metatarsals tend to collapse as dogs age, and whilst impossible to generalise, one might expect such an event from perhaps 5 years onwards. I'd also suggest that if your vet was able to manipulate the affected joints, then a 'genuine break' is highly unlikely, as the pain would be more than the dog could stand. Also, Rox's reaction to the postman would suggest that rather than a 'break', she has a collapsed metatarsal. For a reason that few can fathom, such collapses rarely seem to bother them, much!

Alec.

 

[mattydog]

My ridgey got trodden on by a horse when she was a pup. She screamed and would not weight bear at all, floppy foot. Xrays showed 3 broken toes. As she was a pup and still growing we had to go in to the vets every 2 or 3 days to be re bandaged. She made a complete recovery and never learnt her lesson with the horses. She would walk behind them wearing their tails like a wig! Never got stood on again though.

 

[sam_m]

When we refer to 'broken toes', and especially in greyhounds and their types, and probably in any relatively 'fine' dog, it isn't actually the toe which is broken, more often than not, it's a collapsed metatarsal. Your dog being a boxer, would be 'less' likely to suffer from such a condition, though not impossible. Generally, when a 'broken toe' is evident, there seems to be little or no pain or discomfort, which is strange!

When you stood on your dog's foot, did she scream the house down and refuse to weight bear, AT ALL, and if she did, how long was it before she seemed to recover? With a 'genuine' broken toe, one would expect an immediate and possibly violent reaction to the pain, which would be understandable. With a gradual and increasing lameness, it would sound like 'broken' isn't the right word, if that makes sense!

Dog's feet, rather like their olfactory systems are an absolute nightmare. There may well be those vets who will suggest surgery or some form of treatment. Generally, most will suggest rest.

As a matter of interest, what is Rox's age? Metatarsals tend to collapse as dogs age, and whilst impossible to generalise, one might expect such an event from perhaps 5 years onwards. I'd also suggest that if your vet was able to manipulate the affected joints, then a 'genuine break' is highly unlikely, as the pain would be more than the dog could stand. Also, Rox's reaction to the postman would suggest that rather than a 'break', she has a collapsed metatarsal. For a reason that few can fathom, such collapses rarely seem to bother them, much!

Alec.

Hi Alec,

That makes a lot of sense!

No reaction from her other than a short "gruf" to say she was there before she turned tail and removed herself from the kitchen before she was told off as she shouldn't of been there. She's at no point been completely non weight bearing except when she first gets up from a snooze when she "levels out" within 5 minutes, and I've found on the very short walk to the post box with my son that she was a lot better than if I let her lay around quietly.

The vet could manipulate the joints in her toes, although the affected toe was obviously causing bother as she did pull her paw away from the vet.

To finish off she's 4 1/2 and 28kg dead on.

But thank you Alec, you post makes complete sense and sounds more like what may be up.

Sam

 

[{97702}]

I would say that hasn't be my experience at all Sam_M - the vet's x-rays clearly showed broken toes (or a foot!) in every case with my dog, certainly not a collapsed metatarsal, and on some occasions she was weight bearing but not on others.

It really depends on the pain threshold a dog has, in the same way as a human - I have had broken toes and fingers, and would dispute the suggestion that a broken toe would be "more pain than the dog could bear" as this has never been my experience either for myself or my dog.

 

[sam_m]

I would say that hasn't be my experience at all Sam_M - the vet's x-rays clearly showed broken toes (or a foot!) in every case with my dog, certainly not a collapsed metatarsal, and on some occasions she was weight bearing but not on others.

It really depends on the pain threshold a dog has, in the same way as a human - I have had broken toes and fingers, and would dispute the suggestion that a broken toe would be "more pain than the dog could bear" as this has never been my experience either for myself or my dog.

It's a mind field I'm finding, whilst she's happy I'm not keen to push for x-rays, but at the same time I've never known her to be so woe is me. Shall see how she does once her painkillers have stopped and go from there.

Completely agree re pain thresholds differing, I know when I broke A toe compared to shattering my foot the one fracture was worse pain wise than the multiples.

 

[{97702}]

I had to smile last time I went in with my girl - even the vet said casually 'oh no, we don't need to sedate her do we' and promptly x-rayed her just by plonking her foot in place and assuming she would sit still