Dislocated Toe

[BCjetta]

In the last 2 days, Hannah has dislocated the outer toe on the left front leg 3 times. She's had some arthritis in that toe and a couple others for the past year or so. She injured the toe about a month ago (I think jammed it on something when she was diving for a stick in the bush) and was limping on it but it wasn't dislocated at that time. The vet thinks maybe she damaged some ligaments which made it more likely to dislocate when she's doing something dumb (ie diving at a stick or stopping real suddenly).

 

Its the toe on the right side

 

Here its the toe on the left

 

The 3 times its happened, I've just popped it back in and then she'll walk and barely limp. When its out she doesn't really want to put it down. The vet said we could try bandaging or splinting it for a while, or...because its arthritic, the joint may fuse...or, it may need to be surgically fused. I would have really liked to take an X-ray when it was out but I didn't want to leave it like that when we had to walk back to the car etc.

 

I'm just curious if anyone else has had experience with this and what they did for it.

 

Hannah says she's cute and she doesn't want to be sore and arthritic. She'll be 10 on May 31st.

[Tassie]

Ouch, poor Hannah - that's gotta hurt.

 

My Fergus did something to the next toe in last year - but it wasn't a full dislocation like taht. The vet did pack and bandage the foot - said to keep the bandage on for 10 days to 2 weeks if I could = to keep the toe still while it healed - this was more like a sprain, I think. The good little man kept it on for 2 weeks without chewing at it. Anyway, the bandaging did seem to do the trick for Fergus. If Hannah were my dog, I think I'd be trying the splint/bandaging approach - can't hurt - and it can't be doing any good to have that toe popping out regularly.

 

Fergus says he hopes Hannah feels better soon - he didn't like having a sore foot - but then he's a wussy boy.

[urge to herd]

Shoshone dislocated a hind foot toe December of 2006. It stuck out quite dramatically, almost a right angle to the rest of her foot. Our vet wrapped it and she ignored it, thanks goodness. Onleash walks only for 3 weeks or so, then a gradual return to full activity.

 

It was hard to keep her restricted, but I kept telling myself that it was better to suffer through it for a full 3 weeks than to let her run and re-injure it and have to do it all over again. Brain work and a lot of grooming, which she really loves, got her through her down time. Shonie was 10 when it happened to her, as well. She's had no recurrences.

 

With the wrap, Shoshone walked normally and would even trot around the back yard a bit with nary a limp. Hope Hannah recovers as well and easily.

 

Ruth n the BC3

[silhouettestable]

Could you maybe tape it to the toe beside it, which would then act like a splint to help keep it still and in place while it heals? I've dealt with a sprained toe but not dislocated. Last fall Lightning sprained one when he dove for his disc and he was sore for a while. I didn't put him on crate rest or anything, just stopped his sled training, and stopped all disc and retrieval play. We had a disc trial coming up so I took him to get an okay from the vet before going. At that point he still had (and still has) a bump on that toe that never used to be there (scar tissue I guess), but he was moving fine on it and has been fine since. With him I didn't really do anything special for it, other than to try to limit how much running around he did. But his wasn't popping out, so in your case probably taping it would help.