[rainedbows]

Hello! I just adopted a staghound (so they say. or mutt. doesn't matter ) that lived outside from a couple years before entering rescue. She limps a bit when she walks slow, but runs just fine. It looks like she has a toe that was broken and never set (it is turned in). It's not swollen and I can mess with it so I know it's not recent and doesn't hurt her other than just never being fixed.

Yes, I will be taking her to the vet for a well-dog check and will have it looked at but I wanted to give her a couple days since she is so scared still. I was just wondering if anyone had experience with something like this? Can something like this be broke and reset?

Thank you!

 

[GitaBooks]

I've never had experience with this, however, we do have a stray cat living in our barn who broke his leg and it healed improperly and he now has a life-long limp. His leg is of little use for anything besides balance, though he sometimes using it when running. Because he is feral he won't let us get near enough to him to help. The funny thing is, even with his leg issue, he still manages to get around just fine. I wish I could help him, but he seems to have learned how to do things on his own.

If your dog is limping because of her toe then corrective surgery could be done to help. However, she may be limping because of some other issue. Perhaps she limped when she first broke her toe and now she does it out of "habit". It could be arthritis from limping during her toe break.

When she goes to the vet try asking them to feel her entire leg and hip. If the toe isn't causing pain at all then leaving it the way it is may be less stressful then surgery. However, if the limping makes her more prone to arthritis at an earlier age then corrective surgery may help prevent that.

I hope this helps. : )

Best of luck with your new dog!

 

[jagger]

If it's really interfering with the dogs' life and the toe is in bad enough shape, i'd probably ask for it to be cut off. As harsh as that sounds, I would probably do the same for me instead of having corrective that doesn't guarantee anything. Healing time would be faster and probably cheaper in the long run for the dog.