# Toe Amputation



## P J (Dec 10, 2009)

Does anyone have any experience with this type of surgery? 

My dog developed an infection in the bone attached to the nail of the medial toe on her left foot. It had to amputated two days ago. I'm curious what others may have experienced for recovery from this.

At first, it appeared to be a skin infection. It started on June 29th with the toe swelling and her showing some lameness, we started Epsom salt soaks with iodine. Had her seen by an on call vet on the 30th when it was worse, he x-rayed it, no abnormalities were seen. He started her on an antibiotic, said to continue the soaks. Took her back to him the next day when the whole foot swelled and the skin started weeping fluid. He gave her a shot of antibiotics and changed the oral antibiotics to a stronger one and started her on a steroid. To make a long story short, prior to the amputation on the 16th, she had been seen by a vet, either the initial on call vet or the ortho vet treating her CCL injury 7 times in 18 days, with the toe being examined every time. The toe was not healing and her nail was starting to deteriorate. The ortho vet x-rayed it 2 days ago and it was visible on the x-ray that the bone had a notch in it. He recommended amputation and I agreed, knowing the bone would not heal and we did not want the infection to spread. He saved the toe and showed me the hole in it, a lot of bone had been eaten away. I asked prior to surgery that a culture and sensitivity be done, we will not get the results of that for a couple more days. 

Anyone ever experience anything like this?


----------



## HeathT (Oct 27, 2010)

I had a dog loose a middle toe and he recovered just. He is just as fast and athletic as before. He is a quail hunting dog. He was a quail hunting dog before all the quail left Texas. 
Good luck.


----------



## P J (Dec 10, 2009)

Thanks for responding. 

I did a search on the topic and there just wasn't a lot of information. My vet did say it would have been better if it had been a middle toe, but it just didn't happen that way.


----------



## terrax (Sep 1, 2011)

I hope that the toe was sent for pathology to rule out a possibility of a tumour. I've seen toes that looked like they were infected and it turned out to be cancer with a secondary infection and that was why it did not heal with antibiotics.

Best of luck.


----------



## Hunt'EmUp (Sep 30, 2010)

A friend had a similar event, had to surgically remove the nail, then later an x-rays revealed bone infection and they had to scrape the bone. It healed up nice, only time you could tell was if you were doing her nails, No nail to trim, not even a hole. She hated having her nails done, so One less nail to trim was nice; Didn't affect performance, as even though she could no longer give him the literal middle toe, it didn't hinder her ability to give the figurative one


----------



## just me (Feb 17, 2010)

we had one done a few years back outside toe..dog never seemed to notice


----------



## EdA (May 13, 2003)

terrax said:


> I hope that the toe was sent for pathology to rule out a possibility of a tumour.


X2 even though amputation is generally curative for the most common cancer, squamous cell carcinoma of the nail bed.


----------



## P J (Dec 10, 2009)

The toe was not sent out for pathology. The possibility of cancer was never discussed. We went this morning for a recheck and will go again on Monday, I will be sure to ask about the possibility. 

This is the second unusual infection she has had in the last couple of months. She had a retro-orbital abscess the end of May. At that time, the possibility of cancer was discussed, because there wasn't any purulent drainage, just white grainy stuff that resembled grits. He did find a small hole behind her upper molar when he tried to drain it.


----------



## Julie R. (Jan 13, 2003)

One of my Chesapeakes had to have a toe amputated for an infection/swelling next to a nail. From memory (this was about 20 years ago) I think they said the tumor was cancerous, hence the toe had to be amputated. It was an outside toe on a back leg and the dog was about 11 at the time. It healed fast and she wasn't even lame on it except for the first couple of days, though I think we had to keep it wrapped for several weeks. After it was fully healed you'd never have known she was missing a toe. She lived to almost 14.


----------



## laurelwood (Dec 1, 2011)

I had a dog develop several infections, one involving a toe also. It turned out that he had asymptomatic Ehrlichiosis, which triggered diabetes.


----------



## Ironwood (Sep 25, 2007)

If your dog is black do have it by a pathologist for the possibility of cancer. If your dog is coat color chocolate or brown then that changes the likelihood of cancer.


----------



## smok'in gun (Mar 31, 2009)

Had a dog that got a puncture in her foot and we fault infections for about 3 months, she would get better while geting antibotics and then when off of them for awhile the infection would come back. The vet finally did a little explorilty surgical procedure and found a piece of wood that tissue had grown around, after that the infections never came back but while she was doing the procedure the vet went ahead and removed two of her toes because their bones had deteriorated so badly. I was worried at first but honestly you would have never known by looking a her or watching her work, she didn't miss a beat.

Jeff Warren


----------



## saltgrass (Sep 22, 2008)

Paula, Sorry to hear this news. Hope all is good and Dixie gets better quick!!!!!


----------



## dogcommand (May 22, 2003)

I had a dog that had a toe on a front foot amputated (middle toe, not outer). In her case there had been a melanoma at the nail edge. they removed the toe and she never seemed to miss it....but sadly 6 months later developed bone cancer and had to be put down. I sincerely hope that your dog's problem was caught.


----------



## 1st retriever (Sep 2, 2008)

Our new shop cat at work was a stray. She had an infected middle (weight bearing) toe on one of her back legs. We tried antibiotics but after healing slightly it came back with a vengeance. We had her toe amputated as it had spread to the bone. She still limps on it occasionally and the vet said she would for awhile since it was a weight bearing toe. She has healed quite well and it for the most part doesn't bother her unless she jumps down and lands just right. Animals are pretty resilient.


----------



## P J (Dec 10, 2009)

I thought I would give update how my dog is doing with her toe amputation. 

The vet assured me there was no sign of cancer, that he would have had to take more of the toe if it was cancer. The infection was entirely in the bone and had to have entered through the nail or the nail bed. The culture came back as MRSA, so he changed the antibiotic. The stitches came out today, 2 weeks after the surgery. She is walking on it normally and has been for several days, even with the dressing on her foot. It has been a challenge to keep it dry with all the rain we've had, but she has been a good sport about wearing plastic bags.








Thanks to all that responded, it was reassuring to know that most dogs responded well to the amputation.


----------



## Marty Lee (Mar 30, 2009)

thanks for the update Paula. Hope you and Steve are doing well also. Give Dixie a big hug for me!


----------



## Carol Cassity (Aug 19, 2004)

I had a dog lose a front middle toe. No adverse effects. Good luck with your dog.


----------



## P J (Dec 10, 2009)

This is a better view of the foot.


----------



## hooked on quackers (Nov 7, 2010)

Sorry to hear about Dixie. Hope she is doing better


----------

