Oscar Back At The Vet's
 The vet expressed fluid (thick, white and pink) from the area, and sent it off to be cultured. Normally we don't start Oscar on an antibiotic before we have culture results but this is too ugly to wait. We're not sure if it's bacterial or fungal, but we'll know more when the culture comes back. If it's not better in a couple of days, we will do a punch biopsy of the area (shudder). She also x-rayed both front paws (the healthy one for comparison), to see if there was anything amiss, like a tumor in the bone. Nothing there, but she is concerned about a soft tissue tumor of some kind. She said that infections and swelling around the nail bed can hide nasty things. Hopefully, this is just an infection of some kind. My poor boy. This looks terribly painful. The vet was shocked when I told her that Oscar wasn't limping, or licking the area at all. If not for the bath, who knows when this thing would have erupted. (I had bathed and dried his paws two days prior, so this thing just exploded out of nowhere.)The toe is still draining from the nail bed (ugh), so I am soaking his paw in warm water and hexadene solution a few times a day, in addition to Zeniquin and pain meds. Hopefully, all of this will do the trick. And just to make thing interesting, it's also a full moon........  Laurie and Oscar |
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Poor Oscar...prayers that he will be better soon!!!! |
Poor Baby Oscar!  I certainly hope all goes well. Keeping everything crossed and prayers going out for you both! You certainly have been through soooooo much!Hang in there! |
Darn  I hope this one heals up without throwing his whole system out of balance. |
| Sure hope this is just and infection that can be treated. |
| That poor dog Does he ever have days he isn't actually sick or in pain? |
| Hugs to Oscar. (Gentle ones) |
| Thanks for the kind thoughts everyone. Willowsprite, I often think the same thing about Oscar. We just seem to lurch from one health crisis to another. Sometimes we manage to go months without a vet's intervention, but those stretches don't happen very often. I will say though that despite all of this, Oscar seems to enjoy life. Is it me or does there seem to be a plethora of sick dogs right now?????? Laurie and Oscar |
| Hope he gets better |
| There does seem to be a bunch of them sick lately. My friend Helen in ND took 3 of her Sammys into the vet today. 2 of her puppies (they are about 3 months old, from a litter of 4 pups).....one went in for a scheduled hernia repair - and she's back home and doing great.  Her brother had vague symptoms of not eating. Vet xrayed him - and found he had an obstruction. When they rushed him to surgery they found he had eaten at least part of a stuffie toy. It was in his stomach, pyloric valve and duodenum, with another small piece in the large intestine. Poor puppy - he will be staying over the weekend for sure. Then Rose (Gabby's mom) had been limping. Turns out she had a bit of wheat stubble imbedded in her foot. She had it all removed, irrigated and wrapped and she's back home. Talk about a really BAD day  |
| Heal fast buddy! We love you! Hang in there Laurie...you are a good Mommy! |
Oh, poor Oscar!! I hope the meds work and he is well soon.  |
| Sheepie hugs for you and oscar. |
| Oh, Laurie. I know how your stomach just dropped when you found this on Oscar's foot. How long will it take for the culture to get back? These beautiful dogs can be so stoic which makes it difficult to pick up on subtle changes. Thank goodness you're so thorough in keeping on top his his health concerns... I'm really, really hoping the antibiotic will be the effective one and that soaking will help the healing process move long quickly. Oscar is so darn blessed to have you as his mama. Sending hugs and prayers to you both. |
| sending good thoughts your way. Bless his little heart , they are stoic aren't they? I hope you get answers quick and they have an antibiotic to reduce everything We do have a lot of sheepies out of sorts here lately. |
| Oh poor Oscar! Get better soon! Cindy |
Oscar's Mom wrote: Is it me or does there seem to be a plethora of sick dogs right now?????? Sure does! I want all the sheepies to get better. I hope Oscar's toe heals up quickly. That guy has been through so much. |
| Hugs to Oscar and wishes for a speedy recovery. |
| Damn, Laurie, I'm so sorry. Hope it clears up quickly. And sure does seem to be a lot of sick OES lately. Got a call yesterday from a friend (used to be on the forum) that her 6 year old most likely has lymphoma, awaiting confirmation, but vets are pretty sure. Another life long immune compromised dog who's built a new wing for his vet. I'm going to talk to her today about both the OESCA sponsored lymphoma research, but also making sure she gets some blood sent in to the CHIC DNA repository so it's available for other/future research - thank you, Jaci, for reminding me to think of that, very timely. Shitty way to start the weekend. Hug your dogs. Kristine |
| Please give Oscar a gentle hug from us. We're cheering him on for a speedy recovery. |
| Oh Laurie, Hugs to you and Ocscar.. That poor boy, He has a wonderful Momma. Hope things heal up quickly, and his system doesn't get thrown off to much. Will be thinking of you both Lisa Frankie and Mattie |
| Hugs to Oscar--get well soon! |
| I really appreciate all of the support here. It makes the "Oscar Seven Year Health Marathon" a little easier to handle. It will be 7 days (next Thursday) before we have culture results, unless it is MRSA, and that should come back more quickly. I feel so bad for my boy. I still can't believe he's not limping. Oscar is experiencing discomfort, as he has been especially snuggly, which only happens when he's not feeling well, but he's not even favoring that foot at all. The toe is still ugly, and oozing, but it has not gotten any worse.  My vets are always amazed at Oscar's pain tolerance. He doesn't overtly show any pain. Even with terrible pancreatitis, I've never heard him whimper. My tweetie pie!  Thanks for keeping me sane, folks! Laurie and Oscar |
| Get better soon Oscar! Hang in there Laurie! |
| Laurie might be worthwhile to PM Mim as she went through this awhile ago a nail bed infection in tiggys toe. Took ages to clear up and if it did not amputation of the toe is the last resort, I know tiggy when under treatment, it took a long time to get it under controll and healed. She actually went to a specialist in the end for treatment rather then tiggy loose her toe. I am sure she can fill you in on tiggys situation and the treatment she underwent. Nail bed infections are one of the hardest to clear up. |
Oscar's Mom wrote: I feel so bad for my boy. I still can't believe he's not limping. Oscar is experiencing discomfort, as he has been especially snuggly, which only happens when he's not feeling well, but he's not even favoring that foot at all. The toe is still ugly, and oozing, but it has not gotten any worse. You just ache when they're hurting when they don't feel well. I've checked for updates a few times today and am glad to hear it hasn't gotten any worse. Sending good wishes and positive thoughts to Oscar. I hope this means his toe will soon be on the mend. |
| Oh I hope Oscar recover and it doesn't take too long for the treatment to heal his toe gentle hugs to Oscar. Feel better soon sweetie pie |
| Lauire, we have been through the MRSA stuff!Send me a PM...The culture test for MRSA may take more than a few days. We have been through this a few times but it was in our dogs ears.... They let it sit in the petri dish and then test it so it may take about a week... Hope Oscar feels better soon and sending our sheepies prayers and good thoughts |
| Ashley, thanks for your offer of help. I will PM you. Oscar just got over a stubborn strain of MRSA about a month ago. There's always the possibility he's been reinfected. My vets got MRSA results in four days last time, with abundant growth, so I would imagine it would be about the same, a week on the outside. We just have to wait and see. Lisa, thanks for the info on Tiggy. My vet said amputation might be necessary, but I'm trying to stay positive. I will contact Mim for her experience on this issue. And thanks to all for thinking positive thoughts. Laurie and Oscar |
| Lauire, was the MRSA in the same toe? Oh, how I can relate...It took us over a year to clear Bowie fo the MRSA in his ears...My trainer just went through something similiar with her dog and his toe. They thought it was MRSa and it wasn't but it took a while to heal. They talked about amputating it as well but they didn't have to do so...Hope you get good results! Contact me any time! Diane |
| When I saw this title with two pages of posts, I was assuming/hoping it was an old post got revisited by a guest! No more sick puppy please! Hope all the test results come back with good news! Get better soon, Oscaroo |
| Ashley, Oscar had multiple MRSA lesions on his chest, inner thigh, and left flank. Though they were stubborn, we were lucky in that the spots stayed on the surface of the skin, and did not go any deeper, so there was no oozing or weeping, just crust. This is the first issue we have ever had with a toe. Oscar's toe looks a little better today. Laurie and Oscar |
| Thinking of you and our buddy! |
| Oh poor Oscar, please get better soon. |
Oscar's Mom wrote: Oscar's toe looks a little better today. We can both use some cautious optimism. Hoping this is a good sign that Oscar's toe will now heal. |
| Hi Laurie, how's Oscar doing? Tiggy has had 3 nail bed infections in her first 2 or so years of life. The last two were combination bacterial and fungal. And the third one the vet started talking toe amputation as the nail is attached to the little end toe bone with ligaments. I got the infection under controll with twice daily bleach baths and an antifungal in the end but it took months. PM me if you want the long version and the gory details. Mim |
Oh my gosh! Don't know how I missed this post, but wow! Fingers, arms, legs, paws crossed for a good diagnosis and treatment plan. Poor Oscar!  Gentle hugs to that sweet boy, please! |
| Hope Oscar's toe looks even better today!! |
| Oh Oscar....i hope youre feeling better....i dont know how i missed this either...it does seem amazing how many of our pups are getting sick....good thoughts and gentle hugs to you and Oscar!! |
| Thanks again for all of the support. I love this forum! We got preliminary results a few days ago for the lesion on Oscar's hip, which is about the size of half a dime. Surprise, surprise, it's MRSA. In the meantime, the swelling and inflammation in his toe has decreased significantly, and the oozing/weeping has stopped altogether, which is all good news. It also makes the culture results we received on the toe especially puzzling. The toe, from which the vet expressed a large amount of goop, only showed a light growth of non-pathogenic bacteria.  So we're left with a) anaerobic bacteria that appears to be susceptible to Zeniquin, b) a fungal infection, or c) a neoplastic disorder. In addition to keeping a very close eye on the situation, we are continuing with the Zeniquin, and we have to go back in a week for a re-check, unless I notice something else amiss. We are discussing a biopsy, but with the MRSA, we really don't want to give Oscar any open wounds unless absolutely necessary. Hopefully, it's an anaerobic infection, and this all will be moot. Oscar is such a good boy. I haven't even had to cover the foot overnight for the last few days, as he's not bothering it at all. Laurie and Oscar |
| Love you Oscar You are a good baby! |
Ah Lauire, so sorry it is MRSA  Having been there, I know how hard it is to clear for good. I know you've been through this before so don't have to tell you to be aware it is contagious - to people as well.Are the antibiotics helping? Sending our good thoughts and prayers for it to clear soon |
| Thanks Diane. I think we should start an exclusive MRSA club! I am somewhat of a freak about germs (figures, I get the dog with the most drug resistant infections EVER  ), so I am hypervigilant about hand washing, bleaching, anyway. This just takes it up a notch. I wear gloves when bathing him whenever he has an infection.We are fortunate that the MRSA is just one tiny lesion on his hip, and it has remained on the surface of the skin. The Zeniquin seems to be working so far. Laurie and Oscar |
Oscar's Mom wrote: We got preliminary results a few days ago for the lesion on Oscar's hip, which is about the size of half a dime. Surprise, surprise, it's MRSA. Darn it. That is puzzling about Oscar's toe. But it's encouraging too that the inflammation has gone done... something must be working. Let's hope whatever it is just goes way for good. Licking damages the skin so quickly. Oscar, you're such a great boy to not lick your foot. Love you, buddy! |
| I don't know much about MRSA but I hope that they can clear it up. Hugs to Oscar! |
| Hugs to you and Oscar. Get well Oscar you little tough cookie! So sorry all that you continually go through. Sometimes they can heal pretty quickly of the nail infection. Hannah had a torn nail and it got infected and she healed after spending 1.5 days at the vets, we kept her there mainly because of her diabetes. So just wanted to give you some hope that sometimes that particular condition can heal on the quicker side even in a sheepie that has a lot of autoimmune problems. So sorry about the repeated MRSA that's one thing we never had to deal with. I can't imagine the patience level you possess but I do know how much you can love your sheepie and be willing to do anything to help them. Kudos to you! |
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