Anyone’s dog have a toe removed?

[Drinkandknowthings]

A few months ago I noticed a lump on DDogs nail/pad (I posted at the time). Saw 2 vets in the same practice, neither was entirely sure what it was but said removing the nail (and lump) was the best option. He said there was a chance the lump might grow back when the nail grew back and that if it did then the whole toe might need to be removed.

Well the nail is growing back and so is the ‘lump’, except it’s not really a lump, it’s like the inside of the nail is leaking and growing outside the nail.

I’ll obviously get an appointment soon but just wondering if anyone’s dog has had a toe removed. He’s a big active golden retriever so not easy to keep calm without regular exercise!

Yes, due to an undiagnosable limp. Went to the racing vets at Doncaster. Still had the slight limp for the next 10 years, didn't really faze him, just made it easier to follow his footprints on the beach. It was an 'inside' toe.

Our oldest boy had a toe removed when he was young, he caught the nail and it got infected and needed to be removed. You wouldn't even know it to look at him now unless you were looking at that paw, he's a staffie so also very active, doesn't walk with a limp or anything like that and recovered very quickly after the op! He got neutered at the same time so had that to recover from too!
As a groomer I've seen quite a few dogs with toes that have been removed, I think it is a lot more common than we know to be honest. It's a fairly minor procedure and your dog should be back to himself after it in no time😁

Mines had a toe removed , he’s got SLO so we’ve had a lot of issues with nails prior to diagnosis and they had to have some bone to test for the disease so they took off the toe with the worst nail . It’s actually only half a toe as they took it from the first joint . The op was several years ago and it was a complete nightmare getting it to heal up but I think that is more about our dog rather than toe removals in general as he’s always had problems with wounds healing

Good to hear it’s relatively’common’. It’s a middle toe as well. Just a bit worried as the vets doesn’t seem entirely sure what it is.

Don't want to worry you - but did they send it off for biopsy? I'm afraid we lost a Flatcoated retriever to bone cancer, which first presented as a lump in the toe. The toe was removed but unfortunately it didn't catch it all. Flatcoats are particularly prone to bone cancer though.

catsrus they didn’t send it for biopsy. The vet said they could but in his opinion it was ‘just’ a lump. So DH said ok. I might have said send it (because cancer was in the back of my mind) but what’s done is done.

Yep, but on the plus side they do see a lot of cancerous lumps so if didn't ring alarm bells then it might just be benign but difficult to clear up. Fingers crossed.