Happy Wednesday

[Shirlv]

Oh!Boy! Washer repairman comes today. Lost my post yesterday and it was very interesting too. I am dismantling my beautiful container garden on the deck. With all the rain this summer the plants thought they were in the rainforest. Note to self, water plants better in the future. Nitrogen in the rain probably helped too. It’s a lot more fun planting pots than throwing the pretty plants away. Will save what I can. Yard clean up today as soon as it warms up. Safe travels

[BirdbyBird]

Still cooler than normal temperatures here in SW Ohio. I stopped by Walmart and purchased some antifreeze and put some in the gray and black tanks. I have the electric heater on in there to modify the temperatures but the tanks at exposed so they need some extra assistance. I am not ready to winterize quite yet but as you know I still use my RV after it is winterized. I just drain the lines and then only use carry on water to drink, wash up and flush into the black tank. Then I add antifreeze to both the gray and black tanks to keep them from freezing till I can get them dumped. In the past when I have headed out for the winter, my rig has usually always been winterized until I can get far enough south or west to be safe.

Anne, or anyone with experience with healing up dog foot surgeries, feel free to give advice or tales from experience. I was told not to wrap Josef's foot because it was important to let the air get to it to heal. I do put a plastic bag over it with a rubber band to keep it dry when he has to go outside. But he is marching around the house like a big energetic moose. He puts his full weight on the foot 98% of the time and the healing process reflects that continued pressure and wear and tear. Yes, he has multiple staples in the foot, not that he seems to notice. I am taking him back in today since I don't have direct past experience. I am tempted to go ahead and use some cotton padding, vet wrap and a baby sock on him when he is out of his crate, just to see if I can get him to slow down and limp a little. I would then keep the foot unwrapped for a long period during the day (in his crate) and at night. Any suggestions for good wound care?

[avalen]

Tina, what about that blue stuff they put on horses, can't remember what its called but was always good at healing up those terrible owies horses get . Other horse people might remember, but I do remember it was safe for dogs too.

[BirdbyBird]

It isn't so much what antibiotic or sauve to us but what measures that I can use that would hinder healing but protect the foot from all constant flexing and pressure he puts on it as he continues to use it as if nothing happened. Silly Moose that he is.....

[Cudedog]

Anne, or anyone with experience with healing up dog foot surgeries, feel free to give advice or tales from experience. I was told not to wrap Josef's foot because it was important to let the air get to it to heal. I do put a plastic bag over it with a rubber band to keep it dry when he has to go outside. . . . He puts his full weight on the foot 98% of the time and the healing process reflects that continued pressure and wear and tear. Yes, he has multiple staples in the foot, not that he seems to notice. I am taking him back in today since I don't have direct past experience. I am tempted to go ahead and use some cotton padding, vet wrap and a baby sock on him when he is out of his crate, just to see if I can get him to slow down and limp a little. I would then keep the foot unwrapped for a long period during the day (in his crate) and at night. Any suggestions for good wound care?

OMG, Tina. I was just about to write to you about this, to see how it was going with Josef, and if you had any suggestions.

My Big Joe has had. . . "fissures" (raw cracks) on the bottom of his pads (front feet only) for about the last three months, starting about the time that my fig tree began to produce figs. He had an over-all allergic reaction to eating figs, my personal "diagnosis" is that this allergic reaction particularly manifested itself in his feet.

I was told not to wrap Josef's foot because it was important to let the air get to it to heal. I do put a plastic bag over it with a rubber band to keep it dry when he has to go outside. . . . He puts his full weight on the foot 98% of the time and the healing process reflects that continued pressure and wear and tear.

I have not, and will not, wrap Joe's feet. Why? He is a slightly over-sized (the Breed Standard calls for a maximum of 38 pounds, Joe usually hovers at around 43 - 44 pounds. Since you are a show person, Tina, I am sure you are familiar with his breed. For those who are not, imagine a medium-sized to largish dog that looks like he spends much of his time lifting weights. He is very muscular, and quite physically active (fortunately, he also has "down time" and is happy to snooze on the couch). Some have said that he looks like he has "light bulbs in his cheeks" (even his head is large and muscular). He can be a strong chewer, when in the mood and with the opportunity (I recently found half of a flashlight out in the yard, plastic bits strewn about. Luckily, he had not yet reached the battery part). I don't give him things to chew - anything - unless he has direct supervision. He can demolish a flashlight in a few minutes, biting off chunks of a solid-rubber Kong takes just a bit longer.

Oops. Now for the "why" part. Anything on him, any foot wrap, collar, leash - anything - has the potential risk of being injested, which could lead to death by choking or death by intestinal impaction (he did get some Kong bits down the hatch a while ago, thank God these were small enough to "pass through". I saw this happen, but wasn't quick enough to prevent him from swallowing them.
(Red rubber chunks in excrement are always a tip-off). If I stopped to sneeze, he could have any foot wrap off and swallowed before my sneeze was finished. No foot wrap for me. Will take my chances. When he goes outside when it is wet, I just keep a towel by the back door and dry off the feet.

He puts his full weight on the foot 98% of the time and the healing process reflects that continued pressure and wear and tear. Yes, he has multiple staples in the foot, not that he seems to notice.

Joe is totally obsessed with chasing his Kong. He even insists in carrying it around inside the house, I guess "just in case" a quick opportunity for a Kong-toss might come up unexpectedly. He will chase his Kong anyplace, anywhere (inside or out), anytime the opportunity presents itself. Until one has seen a large-ish muscular dog limping at full-speed (maybe 20 mph or so) after a Kong, one has not lived. When desperate, he will even toss the Kong up into the air himself, so that he can run after it. Only recourse is to limit Kong opportunites as much as is possible.

He puts his full weight on the foot 98% of the time and the healing process reflects that continued pressure and wear and tear.

Yes. Precisely.

I am tempted to go ahead and use some cotton padding, vet wrap and a baby sock on him when he is out of his crate, just to see if I can get him to slow down and limp a little.

Limping does not seem to bother Big Joe. At all. It doesn't slow him down in the slightest. But then, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is known to be pain-tolerant, due, no doubt, to the, um. . . "history of the breed". Tina, I am sure you will know what I mean by this.

Joe doesn't seem to care if he limps or not. I would rather he limp than to perhaps face abdominal surgery to remove some kind of foot wrap (not saying this would happen to Josef, he is likely different, not all dogs are "stealth" chewers like my Joe but it is a definite worry for me. Many dogs of my breed are know to have died due to the ingestion - or attempted ingestion - of foreign objects).

Things I have tried (the problem has been going on for about three months now, every since the figs started, although they are long gone now):

Changing his food, in case there was some allergen or lack of nutrient in his food causing the problem (I still think the problem started with the figs)

Spraying iodine on the cracks, waiting a few minutes (to soak in, and hopefully get any pathogens there), then washing it off again (he licks).
Washing the feet multiple times per day, (every time he comes in from "yard duty") with hydrogen peroxide (this seemed to make the problem worse, so stopped)

Currently:

I just wash his feet in the bathtub every night before bed time (I don't fill the tub, I just wash and rinse his feet with the extendable shower thingee - less water mess to clean up if he is already in the tub), after the final "yard duty". I then carefully dry his feet. This leaves his feet clean and dry for several hours overnight. Thus far, this seems to be working the best - the fissures/cracks are slowly subsiding (getting less deep and less wide), so I am hopeful.

I suppose it might be useful to also mention here that I have also had him to the vet multiple times for this issue (once to U.C. Davis). None could specifically identify the causal agent, or why this was happening.

The office of the vet I have been taking my animals to for the last 30 years (you know, the practice that was recently sold - the one who destroyed the health of my cat, which I mentioned in a previous post) made the following suggestions (this was a week or so before my cat issue, and also a different vet in the office than the vet that saw my cat. Had the cat issue happened previously to this visit - there would not have been a visit):

1. What do you think is causing this problem, I have never had it before - do you think it could have been the figs? Answer: I don't know.

2. Do you have suggestions on what I should do about this problem? Answer: You could try putting Bag Balm on his feet.

3. Question: Is Bag Balm toxic if it is licked off? Answer: I don't know.

4. Anything else I could try? Answer: You might try getting some "dog shoes" or "dog booties" to hold the toes together, to discourage further splitting.

5. Where can I get something like that? Answer: I don't know. (I tried ordering some from Amazon, carefully measured his foot as instructed, $$$ordered$$$ them. The seemed to fit ok, but would just fly off his feet after about 4 strides. They would also cause him to stumble, which could have let to a pulled muscle, or a potentially more serious injury. Used them twice (to be sure I was using them correctly, they came off - or almost off - both times), then tossed them.

6. Anything else you can suggest? Answer: If the problem persists, bring him back in and we will $$anesthetize$$ him and put in a few $$sutures$$. (This for small cracks in his pads no deeper than a dime is wide. Likely the cracks would have to be deepened in order to fit in any potential sutures - staples were not mentioned, although I know that staples are generally better than sutures, these days sutures are pretty much considered old-fashioned) - online research after the visit seems to suggest that suturing could cause more and ongoing problems than it seeks to repair).

7. Any other thoughts? Answer: Yes, $$bring him back$$ in a month, so we can see how he is doing. (I don't need a vet to tell me "how he is doing", I do have eyes in my head, and forty years experience in caring for dogs).

I am TOTALLY DONE with this vet clinic. (Sorry, but I guess you all knew this already).

Anyway, Tina, sorry for this semi-rant.

To sum up:

I have decided to go with the long-standing, and well-tested "tincture of time" (I know that this is probably unwelcome news, considering your entries at important pending shows. Oh my, I did so love showing my dogs, so I DO understand). If I decide to make another vet visit, it will be to the University of California at Davis Veterinary Teaching Hospital. I had an excellent experience with the vets there - if they were closer (unfortunately, 3 hours round-trip to get there and back) I would make them my "regular vet".

With the practice of washing his feet once in the evening (washing more frequently seemed to dry them out too much, which made the problem a bit worse), then having him rest the feet for the night (also limiting daily Kong-toss to the bare minimum (I can't eliminate it entirely, because my very active dog might launch into orbit), I do see improvement. He is currently not limping at all (but the cracks are still there, and they are still a bit raw at the bottom of the cracks - they are healing from the bottom up, which is what one wants).

Very slow improvement (I hate it that my dog has had this problem for so very long) but improvement none the less.

If anyone has any questions or comments, I would be happy to listen. I think, with our fur babies, "we are all in this together".

Thank you.

Anne

[JudyJB]

What about that "bandage" that you paint on a wound and it dries hard, like plastic? You would have to hold his paw while it dried and then maybe wrap it lightly with that bandage that sticks to itself to keep him from chewing it. And then watch him, of course, but I agree it needs to be covered somehow for part of the day.

This all reminds me about 40 years ago when my Schnauzer had a litter of three pups. I took them all in to get their tails docked and dewclaws removed. Each wound had one tiny stitch, but a lot of the wounds (3 puppies X 4 feet each = 12 feet + 3 tails) got infected a bit. The vet gave them each antibiotics and then told me i needed to soak the paws in Epsom salts, Really??? Ever try soaking 12 tiny paws in a tiny cup of Epson salts, not to mention the tails??? After a couple of really difficult tries, I gave up, and they healed on their own.

Shows you the ridiculous advice you are sometimes given by vets. How you can keep that wound clean and have it heal while he is running around on it is beyond me.

Warm and sunny today. Rather than stop somewhere on the way, I am going to drive 320 miles to Napa on Friday, so spending two more nights here at Emigrant lake where is is gloriously quiet and scenic. Lake is almost dry, but who cares? Heading now to change spots and then to Walmart for some groceries so I don't have to stop tomorrow.

[Bethers]

Anne, have you tried coconut oil? It was recommended by a vet I loved for a problem with one of my dogs. It helped even though she licked most right off. I'm guessing enough got into the area to moisturize it. And here's a link of what someone does for another problem... Which includes using coconut oil.
https://keepthetailwagging.com/sydney-a ... -vajayjay/

I don't see these as solutions for you, Tina. I hope Josef heals quickly. Moxie used to rip out claws. I'd have to rush her to the vet... They'd take care of it, then wrap the paw. By the time I paid, the wrapping would be spit out on the floor beside me. She wouldn't wear anything. Including bandages.

After lots of thought this morning I've elected to stay put until Sunday and hopefully go on the ranch tour here Saturday. I've picked the park I hope to get a site at Sunday... They don't have many sites so it's a gamble. But I have a backup park in mind. It's sunny today... And I think I'll drive into Alamogordo tomorrow or Friday... Buy some pistachio nuts and be touristy.

[BarbaraRose]

I got a call today from the tree trimming service and was told the whole tree has to be taken down. The inside of the trunk is rotted where the limb broke off. I haven't heard back about when they will be back to do that. Am hoping tomorrow or Friday. I will call in the morning to find out.

[BirdbyBird]

Anne, thanks for the response and sharing personal experience. Josef has been wearing a cone 24/7 except for the daily time on the grooming table for a comb out. I did take him back to the vet again yesterday, $$$, and they mentioned to be sure that he couldn't chew or mess with the foot. I suggested they take a look at his duck taped cone. I also said that I was taking bets on whether or not I might need to replace it before the foot healed. The cone tells the story of how active he. I did pick up some Bag Balm and I may be able to use it to help keep the skin from drying out and provide some barrier to the outside. He his on a second antibiotic. They took some of the stables out that were not useful. It is as if he has split the initial incision through part of the pad, just from pressure on it. The idea of padding wasn't to prevent him from limping but encourage him, I was thinking it would reduce the pressure he places on the pad but watching him I realize that it isn't the answer. I did get instruction this time to clean the foot twice a day with just water. (Good idea to discontinue the Hydrogen Peroxide. It does that neat bubble thing which appears to be cleansing but it also damages healthy cell tissue.)

When they took some of the staples out yesterday and cleaned up the incision area they were amazed at how good Josef was just standing there, like a horse, with his foot held up. With no numbing pain medicine, he only gave one little yelp. I reminded them that as good as that sounded, it was a reflection of the problem that any discomfort in that foot was not enough to make him go easy on it!

Maybe Louise will chime in. I think Drew had an injury/cut to the pad of his foot. She said it did heal but did take a long time.

I do think your idea of "allergies" is on the right track.