Timber's limping

[Timber]

After my mom took Timber out after she got back from work, she noticed Timber was limping. One of his front paws must be hurt. He is still limping tonight. He doesn't seem to be in pain, but it is a little hard to jump. If he wants to get somewhere he would normally jump to, he looks at you and lifts his hurt paw off the ground and lets it hang. How worried shoud I be?

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Tiffany
Junior Handler

[dutchman]

Hi Tiff,

This my second attempt to reply I hope we don't have any problems this time.

There are any number of possible causes of Tiff's problem. Some of the most common causes of this are minor sprains, foreign objects in the foot, and toe or pad infections. Start off with a quick visual inspection looking between the toes and pads for any foreign objects or signs of infection. Visible signs of an infection would include swelling or a possibly red raw looking area. If you can't find anything with a visual inspection use your thumbs and fingers to apply form even pressure to small areas moving over the whole foot and leg to see if you get a pain reaction in any one location. Be careful if Tiff is really sore and tender he may bite as a pain reflex. It might be a good idea to have your mom help with the exam. If you can't find any thing and Tiff doesn't appear to be getting any worse I would say watch him and see if he doesn't get better on his own tomorrow. If there is no improvement by the end of the day or sooner if he is getting worse give your vet a call. Don't be afraid of calling you vet and asking questions most good vets will try to help out.

If you do find signs of an infected toe or pad you can start treatment tonight. To treat an infected toe or pad you need to get the infection draining. To accomplish this you start by soaking the infected area in warm water(not hot make sure you can leave you hand in the water). Soaking the infected area helps to draw the infection to the surface and soften up the skin to make draining easier. It is unlikely that the infected site will start to drain on it's own. After the infected area has soaked for ten to fifteen minutes you can try to start drainage by applying firm pressure to the area with your fingers. I did not do this the first time Aggie my mill rescue had a toe infection but this is exactly how the vet started drainage. She had repeated toe and pad infection for about the first year I had her. If I had known it was OK to use the technique I could have relieved her pain rather than have it get more intense as we waited from Sunday evening till Monday morning to see my vet. Be very careful as you apply pressure to start the drainage. It can require a rather large amount of pressure using two thumbs sometimes help. Tiff will be in a great deal of discomfort as you try to do this and may try to bite you. Have someone else help you and even consider gently wrapping his head in a towel to help minimize the risk of anyone getting bit. If you can't get it to drain after a few attempts you can try soaking some more to see if you can soften the skin more. I some times had to repeat this cycle two or three times with Aggie. If it is an infection Tiff should see the vet to get antibiotics and to have the infection site inspected. With an infection how water soaks and continued assistance to keep the site draining can be required three or four times a day till the infection has cleared up. This may take a day or it may take a week you vet can help guide you.

If it's a sprain sometimes the dog will find a gentle massage comforting. Until Timber returns to normal or you have a firm diagnosis from you vet you should limit Tiff's activities, no jumping try to restrain running and minimize walking.

When I was growing up we had a dachshund who's shoulder would sometimes pop out of it's socket. It would always go right back in but she would be sore for a little while and limp. A gentle massage to her shoulder always seemed to help speed recovery. The only problem was she learned that if she started limping on that leg she would get a good rub and she started to fake it.

Good luck, let us know what happens.

Tom and the boys (Frank and Tanner)

[Dolly's Mom]

Did you check Timber to see if he got a sticker in his paw? Hope Timber feels better tomorrow!


Sandi and the grrrls are sending N. CA doxie rays! }}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

[Mark]

Hi Tiff,

You've gotten some good advice from Tom & Sandi . . . so I have nothing to add. Just wanted to wish Timber a speedy recovery.

Please let us know how he's doing.

http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/rayz.gif http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/rayz.gif RAYZ http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/rayz.gif http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/rayz.gif

Mark

[Augie Dog]

Feel up and down the leg and look for signs of "OUCH MOM"

Check in between the toes, and for crack pads. Nails too.

If Timber is still limping after a day or two, off to the vet. It maybe more than a sprain.

Aug limped for day after missing on a jump from the bed, he jumped way to far out and bumped the door. He was ok but, I know how you can get worried.

D

[Timber]

I have already checked Timber's paw. It looks normal and doesn's seem to hurt him if I pick up his leg. It hasn't gotten worse, but also isn't going away. My mom thinks he may have twisted his paw or got it caught in his crate when he was trying to "dig" his way out of his crate. I'll re-examine his leg and paw tonight and tell you how it is on when I go on Saturday.

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Tiffany
Junior Handler

[WOTANSMUTTI]

How's Timber? Has his foot gotten any better?
Wotan cracked a nail once and he limped around like a dachsie amputee. Keep an eye on his energy level- if he starts looking depressed then it might be something more painfull and lasting than a toenail!

Hope Timber is <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm8.gif" border=0> soon!

Sonja

[Timber]

Well, I managed to on today. I think I know the cause of Timber's limping. He's got a cracked nail that goes all the way down his whole nail. He knid of shredded it because he chews on it. My mom will try to cut some of it off. Does anyone know how to get rid of this?

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Tiffany
Junior Handler

[Mark]

Hi Tiff,

I'm glad you found the problem, but have no idea (on a dog) what you should do . . . Char uses Super Glue on her hooman nails. Maybe someone here knows if that's an OK fix for puppers. http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/smile.gif

Take care,
Mark

[Cindi]

Since he is chewing on it I don't 'think' the super glue would last (I know when I used to use it on MY nails - gave having nice looking nails up as too expensive in my line of work - I could chew it off <g>). It probably needs to be cut waaay back and allowed to grow out which might necessitate a trip to the vet. And oooh, just imagine how it must hurt everytime it hits the ground when takes a step...oooh oooh Poor Timber!!

[Mrs.F]

Hi Tiff,
My Penny's nail split badly about a year ago. The split didn't go all the way into her nail bed, but it did go way down the length of her nail. We discovered it because she got it caught in a loop of the carpet and was crying pitifully. Of course this happened on Saturday night so we fixed her up ourselves. I trimmed off as much of the broken part as I could, but was worried about cutting too close to the quick. Then I used a dremmel tool to file the whole thing as smooth as I could. There was still a small split, but I couldn't do much about it. Penny seemed much more comfortable once we'd gotten rid of most of the split, but she still favored the foot for a few days. When I called the clinic to see if I needed to do anything else for it they told me to watch for signs of infection, but if everything else seemed OK just wait for it to grow out.

We were pretty sure that Penny's nail split because we'd had her nails trimmed at a local pet store (that also does some grooming) that morning. Her nails did not look very good when the fellow was finished, (sharp and ragged) and I had to try to fix them up at home afterwards. Wirewieners suggested that Penny's nails were probably cut with a clipper that was too dull and posted about using a dremel tool to file her dogs nails. Otherwise we never would have thought of using ours on Penny's sharp cracked nail!

[Shelbie]

Oooh ouch, poor Timber<IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm31.gif" border=0> Hope you feel better soon
Shelbie and Mum
x

[Timber]

My mom trimmed off much of the split nail. There is still some of it left, but Timber doesn't seem to be limping much now. Thanks!

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Tiffany
Junior Handler

[WOTANSMUTTI]

Wotan is soooo glad that Timber is limping less now.

When he had his cracked nail (all the way up) the vet just cut the sucker off- I mean, allll the way down. It was his front dewclaw nail and it took about a year to grow long.

<IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm12.gif" border=0>

[Mark]

Hi Tiff,

I'm happy to hear that Timber is doing better. http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/smile.gif He'll be back to his ol' self in no time!

Mark

[Timber]

Timber has completly recovered! Thanks for all your help!

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Tiffany
Junior Handler

[Augie Dog]

That's great news!