Brick's paw is bothering him
Brick's LF paw is bothering him the past day and a half. He was fine when we went to bed on Thursday. He was limping Friday morning when we got up and by the time I got home Friday evening, he wasn't putting any weight on it at all and just hopping around. I've been giving him rimadyl but it doesn't seem to help. I figured if he was still hopping this morning, I'd take him to the vet. So he was, and we went to the vet. She was really manipulating his LF paw and he was crying. He even tried to nip her, which he NEVER does. It's clear there's something going on with his paw. His 3rd toe is swollen. She doesn't think it's broken. Instead she thinks it might be an infection. She gave me Tramadol and an antibiotic for him and to keep him on rimadyl. If he still isn't putting weight on it by Monday morning, the vet wants to see him first thing that morning for x-rays and more examination. Hope the antibiotic works. |
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| Update: He was licking at his paw this evening and it started to bleed. I was cleaning it up when I noticed his 3rd toe pad looked purple and swollen on the interior side. That's where it was bleeding from. I bandaged it up and put a cone on him so he can't get the bandage off. The question is, should I take him to the ER vet tomorrow or wait until Monday morning and take him to his regular vet. |
| How is Brick? I hope he is doing better today. |
| He's putting weight on it today, running, and jumping, so it must be better. I re-wrapped it this evening. No blood, but definitely some kind of bump on the pad. Will call vet in the morning. |
| Poor Bricky |
| I was wondering about a grass awn or other foreign body in the toe and infection. I don't think broken as often the whole paw supports any broken member (if it is an internal toe) Xray would rule out broken toe and maybe show an intruder. Poor Brick, the old guy is having his trials. |
| He was limping a bit more this morning. Paw is still bandaged & he's still on the meds. He'll go to the vet tomorrow morning for x-rays and a more thorough examination of that pad. My non-professional opinion is that it all has to do with that bump. Did he cut the pad on something or was he nicked by the groomer? Is there a foreign object in there? Could it be a sebaceous gland cyst like he has in other places? Is it infected? The bump looks angry and raw. |
| OUCH. Poor Brick. Keep us posted. |
| Update: Just got a call from the vet. They did not have to fully anesthetize him. No broken bones, no bone infections (which the vet was most worried about). That toe pad was swollen & oozing. She manipulated the pad and felt something hard in there. The object was worked out. It appears as it might be a shard of wood or a thorn. Nothing else was found. She then drained the pad of pus and cleaned it all up. So no bandages. The wound has to dry out & heal. Must have a bag on his foot when he goes outside. Has to wear the cone of shame. Stays on his antibiotic and rimadyl for pain. Good outcome today. Glad he didn't have anything more serious wrong and glad he didn't need surgery. |
Glad to hear you found the problem. Hope he feels better soon. |
Excellent news!  Laurie |
| That is such good news about Brick. I hope he heals quickly. |
Good news!  My first dalmo got a fox tail between his toes. We didn't know and it worked its way in before he started limping and he needed surgery and had a large incision with a lot of stitches. |
Mim wrote: Good news! he needed surgery and had a large incision with a lot of stitches. That's exactly what I'm glad we avoided. |
| So sorry for Bricky! (And sorry I came late to the updates - been busy.) Benson sends hugs and smooches to help him feel better. |
| Hope Brick continues to heal. Glad it wasn't more serious. |
| His paw seems to be fine now. No limping, no bleeding. |
| Guess I spoke too soon. I'm sitting in the waiting room of the ER vet with Brick. He started limping an hopping again, favoring that LF. Doc thinks there is more trash in that one toe pad. They'll give him a light anesthetic and root around in the pad to pull out the offending object(s). Never a dull moment. |
| We're they able to clean it out more? |
| The vet removed "non-specific debris and inflammatory material" and flushed it out. He'll go back on an antibiotic and probably some Tramadol for pain. His paw & lower leg is all bandaged up and he won't put any weight on the paw. |
| Good news re: Brick! Yeah punctured pads and stuff between the pads are difficult but heal quickly. |
| He's having a harder time this go around. It's hard for him to get around as he's putting no weight on that paw. And I just noticed it's starting to bleed. So it's off to the vet first thing in the morning. I'm frustrated with this whole paw situation. |
Ouch! Poor Brick.  Oscar had trouble with (mostly) fungal infections and benign tumors cropping up around his nail beds. The weight-bearing nature of the foot, as well as the high degree of difficulty in keeping the area clean always made these issues tough to manage. Hopefully Brick's issues are all centered around the foreign object and it's aftereffects. They might want to do a culture as well. Once we had trouble treating an obvious infection in Oscar's toe, and it turned out to be an anaerobe, which needed a very specific antibiotic. Hope Brick is doing better soon! Laurie |
| His vet wants to do a punch biopsy of the tissue in that toe pad. Not sure what that entails. She wants to rule out anything nasty (like tumors) and see if we can identify the foreign material in the pad. I just hate the fact that he has to be taken off his feet again just when he started to feel better yesterday. It's tough for him to get around as his back end is a little weak due to age (12th b'day is coming up in 3.5 weeks) and he loses use of one of his front legs due to the procedure. Really sucks. |
| I know what you mean. I always hated when the vet had to further aggravate an already painful problem in order to do diagnostic testing. Would an x-ray be helpful first, before the punch biopsy? I know you don't want to run up the bill either, but at least that would be non-invasive. I totally get how hard it is when the front legs or feet are involved when the dog is already struggling on the back end. This was one of our major problems with Oscar for the last two years. And Oscar was 115 lbs. I hope everything turns out okay for Brick. Laurie |
Oscar's Mom wrote: I know what you mean. I always hated when the vet had to further aggravate an already painful problem in order to do diagnostic testing. Would an x-ray be helpful first, before the punch biopsy? I know you don't want to run up the bill either, but at least that would be non-invasive. I totally get how hard it is when the front legs or feet are involved when the dog is already struggling on the back end. This was one of our major problems with Oscar for the last two years. And Oscar was 115 lbs. I hope everything turns out okay for Brick. Laurie He had x-rays taken of that paw and leg and shoulder back on 1/26/16. They didn't show anything out of place or abnormal. |
| Ahh. Figured your vet had done one at some point, but just wanted to throw that out there. Fingers crossed on the punch biopsy..... Laurie |
| Brick had his punch biopsy this past Monday. She took one the size of a thumb nail  .It went out to pathology and I just received the results. It was a benign fluid filled cyst. She removed the whole cyst with good, clean margins, so it shouldn't be a problem again. Now I just gotta get his paw healed up. He's handling it well, though. She doesn't see these kinds of cysts very often and definitely not in a toe pad. HOPEFULLY this is it with the toe. |
| Well that is a relief, that once it heals up Brick will be back to his usual adorable self! |
| That is good news regarding Brick. He'll heal quickly and get back to his playful self. |
| When these boys get old, they start growing strange things in odd places. It seemed like every time I would pet Oscar, I would find a new lump or bump. Goofy knuckleheads! Glad Brick is on the mend. Laurie |
| The official name of the cyst is "benign epidermal inclusion cyst". He went back today for a check and a bandage change. Doc says it looks great. She cleaned it up, disinfected the area, and rewrapped the paw. He seems to be walking on it much better today. He goes back Monday for another check & bandage change. |
| Well, 3 months later, and Brick started limping on his LF yesterday. <sigh> I got him in this morning. Between the time I called this morning and the time we left, his paw bled out. Then he was putting weight on it again. Seems to be the exact same thing as before. Something is in his toe pad; it fills up with blood & pus; hurts to put weight on it; it finds a pathway out of the body; bleeds & leaks; then he's fine for awhile. Rinse & repeat. The vet is doing a culture of the stuff coming out of the hole. In the meantime, he's on Deramaxx and Clavamox. We're doing blood work for another issue that I'll post separately. |
| I got the results of the culture back today. They found 4 types of bacteria in the sample: 2 enterococcus bacterias, a bacillus bacteria, and the real problem, MRSA. The 3 other bacterias are rather mild & easily treatable. Not so with the MRSA. His vet wants to treat it with chloramphenicol for probably a month. Sounds like kind of a nasty ABX. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=624 https://www.vetinfo.com/chloramphenicol-for-dogs.html http://www.diamondbackdrugs.com/chloram ... -for-pets/ Little nervous giving this to him (and for me to handle it). |
| I hope things get better soon, you and Brick need a break. |
| Ugh. Poor puppy! Sorry to hear about Brick. Oscar had MRSA more than once, but we never used chloramphenicol to treat it, so I don't have any experience with the side effects. Oscar would also generally have two or more cooties growing at a time, so we would pick an antibiotic that treated all of them. Hope Brick is on the mend soon! Laurie |
Oscar's Mom wrote: Ugh. Poor puppy! Sorry to hear about Brick. Oscar had MRSA more than once, but we never used chloramphenicol to treat it, so I don't have any experience with the side effects. Oscar would also generally have two or more cooties growing at a time, so we would pick an antibiotic that treated all of them. Hope Brick is on the mend soon! Laurie Hi Laurie, With all of Oscar's MRSA infections, did you ever worry about spreading it to either yourselves or another dog? What kind of precautions did you take to limit the spread? |
| I'm taking him to his internist tomorrow. The more I read about that chloramphenicol, the more I don't like it. You have to expect vomiting, diarrhea, lack of appetite, weight loss. Probably have to use Cerenia with it. Also, pro-biotics have to be given 2 hours after the anti-biotic. Plus we'd be looking at 30 days. Brick should weigh 60-63 lbs and he weighs about 53 lbs. He's dropped 3.5 pounds in 3 months. He can ill afford to lose anymore weight. I can't do that regimen as I work and I have nobody that would want to take on the responsibility of complete caretaker for a month. Probably couldn't afford a full time care taker for him. And never mind the medicine can be fatal to the human if not handled correctly. Can't believe that it's the only treatment. Plus, his internist is a little skeptical of the results. The MRSA, coupled with the 3 other bacterias, would be what we'd expect if we swabbed his paw after he stepped in poop. |
| Brick's at the specialist now. She reviewed the culture lab results. The lab did NOT find MRSA in the culture. They found the run of the mill bacterias and MRSS. Still a methicillin resistant bacteria but not as bad as MRSA. Not a lot is known about MRSS right now but his specialist says the human body is not as friendly a host to it as other animals. MRSS has more treatment options than MRSA. Some not nearly as dangerous or involved as the chloramphenicol. Don't know why his regular vet said MRSA. Maybe because a lot of people have heard of it and it's just easier to say? We'll treat him with a topical antibiotic (muprocin) and if it busts open again, I'll soak his paw in chlorhexadrine. |
| MRSS! Oscar had that too! Schleiferi, or something like that, right? Oscar's MRSS was susceptible to mupiricin as well, but his was all over his body so we treated with a more run of the mill antibiotic than chloramphenicol. Oscar took so many different ones to treat different infections over the years that I'm not sure which one we used to treat MRSS. Maybe doxycycline? We had to be very careful with MRSA. I bathed Oscar frequently, and always wore gloves when dealing with any lesions, etc. I also cleaned all of his grooming tools with germicide each time I used them. MRSI and MRSS don't seem to be zoonotics, so I just treated them like any other of Oscar's crazy infections. I only used chlorhex shampoos with Oscar since he was a puppy, because of his frequent drug resistant infections. They seemed to keep his overall bacteria load down to a dull roar. Our favorites: Chlorhexiderm 4%, and Douxo Chlorhexidine PS. Chlorhexiderm is really really thick (and blue!), but gentle enough to use every day. You just have to make sure you rinse it out well. The Douxo product was fine, but more expensive, and the blue stuff smells way better.  If you continue to have trouble with all of this, you might want to have your vet culture for an anaerobe. They thrive where there is little oxygen, and they seem to love the paws, feet, and toenails, as those area can get matted and let cooties get out of control. Oscar had trouble with fungal infections, as well as an anaerobe that got a foothold (no pun intended) around one of his toenails. That was super tough to treat. I am sorry that you are dealing with all of this. I know how stressful it is to manage these things. Laurie |
Oscar's Mom wrote: MRSS! Oscar had that too! Schleiferi, or something like that, right? Oscar's MRSS was susceptible to mupiricin as well, but his was all over his body so we treated with a more run of the mill antibiotic than chloramphenicol. Oscar took so many different ones to treat different infections over the years that I'm not sure which one we used to treat MRSS. Maybe doxycycline? We had to be very careful with MRSA. I bathed Oscar frequently, and always wore gloves when dealing with any lesions, etc. I also cleaned all of his grooming tools with germicide each time I used them. MRSI and MRSS don't seem to be zoonotics, so I just treated them like any other of Oscar's crazy infections. I only used chlorhex shampoos with Oscar since he was a puppy, because of his frequent drug resistant infections. They seemed to keep his overall bacteria load down to a dull roar. Our favorites: Chlorhexiderm 4%, and Douxo Chlorhexidine PS. Chlorhexiderm is really really thick (and blue!), but gentle enough to use every day. You just have to make sure you rinse it out well. The Douxo product was fine, but more expensive, and the blue stuff smells way better. If you continue to have trouble with all of this, you might want to have your vet culture for an anaerobe. They thrive where there is little oxygen, and they seem to love the paws, feet, and toenails, as those area can get matted and let cooties get out of control. Oscar had trouble with fungal infections, as well as an anaerobe that got a foothold (no pun intended) around one of his toenails. That was super tough to treat. I am sorry that you are dealing with all of this. I know how stressful it is to manage these things. Laurie Yes. Schleiferi. Can you cut the Chlorhexiderm with water so it's easier to use? |
| Yes, you can dilute the Chlorhexiderm in water. (Not sure about the Douxo version. I never diluted it.) I had a soft plastic water bottle that I used for mixing the DVM Chlorhexiderm shampoo with water. This was helpful when he got older and could no longer stand. I just squirted him with the mixture, lathered it up, and used another bottle with plain water to rinse him off. I always made sure to dry him, as he was prone to fungal infections as well as bacterial ones. I had the Metro Air Force mini dryer ($70) and that thing was great. It was the only dryer I used on Oscar. Hope this info is helpful, and hope Brick is doing better. Laurie |
| Just putting this out there. Mark, if you end up with any unusual skin issues in the next few years, please get them checked out. My brother ended up with MSRA on his spine last summer. Very difficult to treat. The infectious disease doctor told his that the frequent spider bites that he has been getting for the last three years were probably MRSA boils. My brother had gone to the ER for them as he didn't have a GP/internist at the time and the ER missed it. The same could true for MRSS. |
Mom of 3 wrote: Just putting this out there. Mark, if you end up with any unusual skin issues in the next few years, please get them checked out. My brother ended up with MSRA on his spine last summer. Very difficult to treat. The infectious disease doctor told his that the frequent spider bites that he has been getting for the last three years were probably MRSA boils. My brother had gone to the ER for them as he didn't have a GP/internist at the time and the ER missed it. The same could true for MRSS. I don't know if he truly has MRSS. And if he does, where is it on him? And should it be treated the same as MRSA. In all honesty, I don't really know what I should be doing to insure that he doesn't have it, and what I should be doing so that I don't get it (or Zeke). I wash my hands every time I'm done touching him or his things. He's not allowed on the bed or couch. I spray their beds and the area rugs with Lysol every so often. I don't know what else I can do. |
| Mark, cultures are the only way to be sure if he does or doesn't have it. Though cultures can be contaminated or, if not handled properly, show a false negative. Don't you love it. Skin and ears are the most common sites (duh! not much else left, right?). You are doing the right things - common sense hygiene. I just mentioned it because there are known cases of transmission between dogs and people. Just another thought. Our Golden got a grass seed stuck in his foot, between the toes. It also became inflamed, swollen, and full of pus. Pure luck that our vet was able to locate it under a local. He had issues with grass allergies from then on. |
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