Mystery Injury - Any Ideas?

[kellysomer]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

We have recently rehomed a lovely ex racing bitch called Lottie. She is settling in well and the house training is coming along nicely, however we are having a rather strange problem with her legs.

I will try and explain, but being very horsey and not good on dog anatomy the terms i use may not be correct. it affect the part of her lower leg which would be her ergot if she were a horse. I imagine that it is the remainder of the 5th toe, and is just by her dew claws, it is made of the same stuff as her pads so quite rough and dark in colour. I am sure there is a proper name for it but i have no idea!!! Some one help me!

Anyway after the first long walk she went on we noticed that this pad had had the top layer of skin scraped off and was bleeding, i cleaned it up and covered it until the bleeding stopped. It started to heal fine, then when we took her to the forest again the same thing happened to the other front leg. Very odd! Since then everytime she is let off the lead she comes back with a little blood on each front pad, she is not lame and doesnt mind you cleaning the area.

I cannot understand how she can have identical injuries on both legs at different times, it doesnt add up. Also the part of the leg in question doesnt touch the ground. I was wondering if there is a conformational defect that could cause this injury or whether perhaps her dew claws are causing the injury (it doesnt look like they are) they have no blood on them. Is this the reason that they are routinely removed or is she ok keeping them, she has them intact and i do not really want to remove them and cause her unnessessary worry and pain at the vets. I cannot imagine that her suspensory ligaments stretch so much as to let this part of her leg touch the ground?

Anyone come across this before or have any ideas, everytime she runs they bleed which is both inconvenient and rather sad for Lottie

 

[marion]

That is a dog's stopper pad.

They extend the front legs to brake forward motion and the pad presses against the ground.

They do not always bleed but it depends on the speed, conformation and ground condition at the time.

It is perfectly normal but can be prevented by a nice leg bandage(just as you would a horse) made of vet wrap or a bit of insulating tape, with padding underneath(dosen't get as heavy as vet wrap in the wet, but still sticks well) .

Good on you for taking on Lottie and for caring so much about her. :thumbsup:

Wishing you the best of luck and lots of loving years from your new baby.

:wub:

 

[T Hoare]

Agree with Marion

Just to say our whippets used to get the same if they ran on a hard surface ie tarmac. I hasten to add we stopped doing this nearly as quick as we started. They only run on grass now.

 

[Judy]

Racing people often tape up their dogs stopper pads with Vetwrap to prevent the injury you are talking about.

Here's a picture.

 

[kellysomer]

What a lovely picture. I have been told by a couple of people to vetwrap her legs before running, i dont intentionally let her run full pelt on gravel but sadly the new forest seems to be mostly gravel tracks this weather as off track is so muddy! Also as soon as you let her off the lead she belts off. Cheeky girl should be more careful where she runs! I will wrap her legs, think she will use a lot less equiwrap that one of the horses , hehe, her legs are like twigs.

Thanks for the help, i'm glad its a common injury, i had wondered if she had a suspensory ligament injury or some conformational problem. Phew! :blink:

 

[marion]

You are so right I think you will find she uses a little less wrap than the horses lol.

If you are going to wrap her legs it's a good idea to include her dew claws as these can get damaged too.

And use the usual rules for bandaging horses legs, tension, end of bandage placement etc. Sorry to state the obvious. lol. :- "

Glad that you care so much for her :wub: :thumbsup:

x x

 

[Judy]

I just wrap it round a couple of times (not too tight) and tape it to the leg with insulation tape. It doesn't seem to take the fur off like other tape but will remain stuck until you take it off. If I don't use the insulation tape I find that the vetwrap either works its way down or gets pushed up when the dog slides to a stop on it, which doesn't happen with a horse.

 

[marion]

I must admit I am not a fan of vet wrap myself. But some people look down on you for using insulating tape.

But I think it is gentle on fur and stay on great in the wet,,,,and comes in funky colours lol :thumbsup:

x x

 

[clairej810]

Yep definitely stopper pads and vet wrap should do the trick to avoid it happening or you can buy proper boots - therapaw are good. She's fine to keep her dew claws - both mine have theirs although we are thinking of removing Tiny's because they corkscrew and grow very fast.

 

[jinnyfizz]

Just a suggestion and I don't have a clue if it will work :- " but I've got some stuff called Expandover which some vets use to secure dressings in place. It's very gentle on whippet hair and skin, unlike the adhesive tapes you can get, and seems to do a good job holding things in place unless the dog chews them off :wacko:

Maybe this could be used to secure the vetrap - or in place of it??

Google search for Expandover for suppliers :thumbsup:

 

[Strike Whippets]

The more she's free run the harder her pads, stoppers etc ....become .....I once got told to stand my greyhound in a salt solution daily (up and over his stoppers) to help harden them off ....It worked ......It saves having to wrap her each walk .......Many racing greyhounds don't free run once they are racing, and when they race its only once a week-ish, so stoppers can soften .... :luck:

 

[kellysomer]

The pads have healed up now so we will keep an eye on them. It seems like they are a bit touhger as after her daily run yesterday they were not even sore. Hopefully the routine will pay off and they will harden off.

 

[billyboy45]

Dab a little Meth on them daily,or even every other day.This will harden them up quickly.One little piece of advice i think all owner's should take,and i found this out a long time ago.This is a most common injury for dog's who do a lot of fast retrieving work,especialy with a ball,on flat ground,where the ball tend's to bounce a lot.I have a few pieces of broad bicycle tube,that fit's nicely over the wrist,and is very flexable.It roll's on,and off.I only use it when im out messing with the ball.I tend to use vetwrap when racing.Dont know why,but i guess it's just the done thing. ...Billy...

 

[marion]

8) Cool!!!

Like little over reach boots!!

lol

x x