Hand (paw) hold needed. Dog getting toe amputated

[bluetongue]

My darling whippet has struggled with corns for years. He recently had one surgically removed from his front foot but unfortunately there were complications and the wound has broken down. Amputating the toe is now the only option.It’s happening on Monday.

i know it’s a common surgery and dogs usually recover well but I’m so stressed already because of the complications he’s already had. I’ve had to have numerous days off work already and will need more while he recovers from this surgery. I feel like a terrible dog owner and a terrible employee. My parents are helping but they can’t care for him every day. He can’t really be left unsupervised because he can get around even the super sized cone he already has.

He can’t have trazadone to calm him as it makes him loopy. Any other oral sedatives have pretty much zero effect on him 😭

I’ve already had the month from hell and this is the icing on the cake.

Oh no! What a worry. I’m trying to think of solutions but I’m sure you’ve tried them already. We did find an inflatable neck collar worked better than a cone but of course that won’t help- you’ll still need to supervise to find out if it works!

I’m considering trying both at the same time. Whippet anatomy makes everything more difficult.

My boy has had numerous other foot surgeries and never had complications or issues with his collar before and now it’s happening all at once. I keep waking up every few hours at night because I keep worrying he’s got to his foot. Plus a team member is leaving at the end of this week at work (in a team of three) so taking days off is about to get even harder. I’m the dependable one at work with seven months of banked sick leave and in the last month I’ve taken so many days off, first when I was sick and thought it might be cancer (it wasn’t, I’m physically fine now) and now for my poor dog. I’m mentally exhausted.

Bless you. Well I think you are going to have to resign yourself to not being bombproof. There are bombs underway. You’re going to have to accept balls will be dropped.

You’re so right. It’s been a very humbling time that’s for sure.

As long as my boy comes out okay from surgery next week I’ll be okay and I guess even if he doesn’t I’ll have to be okay too.

On top of all of this I’m also up to my elbows in perimenopause and was struggling with staying asleep past 3.30am even before I was worried about my dog eating his stitches. I have a GP appointment this week to discuss HRT and to get a sleeping pill prescription. It’s so tempting to cancel it but I know that would be a mistake. I can’t look after my dog properly or be a good employee if I don’t look after myself.

You do! I take amitriptyline/nortriptyline for a different issue, and it’s been great at helping my sleep.

We lost our dog last Saturday, in a bit of a rush. He had been fine, then he wasn’t, so there wasn’t much time to adjust. It will take a while to accept but we will make the best of it as you always must.

Unfortunately life doesn’t stop while you deal with a curveball- it’s like tetras sometimes, they just keep coming faster than ever!

I hope the HRT and the GP appointment help. Hopefully the pup will recover quickly and you’ll be able to take a breath and recuperate properly! It’s been a crap year, frankly!

So sorry about your dog. They have such a big place in our hearts.

Funny you mention amitriptyline. I took it last year for a herniated disc and found the same thing re sleep. Am considering asking for it again even though my back pain is gone now. Everything seems worse when you can’t sleep properly.

Ahhh please don’t cancel your GP, and don’t let them fob you off, lack of sleep magnifies everything (which then your darling pup will pick up on - and react accordingly)

I’m sure the surgery will be ok, and work will have to understand, your dog is your family

Hang in there lovely x

Thanks. D Whippet is now back home and resting. I’ve taken the next two days off work to supervise him and then my parents will be looking after him during the day while I’m at work until he gets his stitches back.

I actually had my longest sleep for ages last night but I still felt exhausted by the end of the day. I’m trying to be kind to myself during these days off and will be getting some lunch specials from my local takeaways 🙂

I won’t be cancelling my GP appointment, don’t worry.

so glad that your whippet is back home recovering. It's always a worry when they have these operations. My then 6 old whippet cross had a toe amputated back in 2007. We adapted some socks (toddler sized) to ease over the dressing inside the house and popped (unused) poo bags over his paw when he went outside. Keep doing this for a week or two after the dressing and stitches were removed. Be warned though, our dog was NOT impressed with his footwear and had a sulk with us....

I’m glad your lad is home! Definitely be kind to yourself! You need to survive the current stressful interlude in good enough shape for the next one! Self care is vital- things that make you happy.
I light a scented candle while I work, and have gorgeous handcream on my desk. Just because.

How’s your pup doing? I hope you’re both ok x

Pup is doing well. He has been pretty reluctant to put weight onto the operated foot until this morning but he appears to be coming good.

I initially thought my parents could have him all next week but they can’t have him Monday and two other half days. I’ll have to talk to my boss again. Sigh. Can hopefully do some work from home. I have loads of leave available but hate leaving my colleague alone. Sadly nothing I can do to avoid that.

Poor pup has had another complication with stitches not holding and wound breakdown 😥 He needed to go in for a third surgery in three weeks and if this doesn’t work there might be nothing else that can be done. Sob.

I’m doing my best took after him. Work is short staffed so I’m juggling supervising him between me and my parents. Work also won’t let me work from home which is a whole other can of worms. It kills me that I can’t look after him ‘perfectly’ but I’m doing the best I can. I sleep in the lounge room with him on a mattress on the floor and never go anywhere apart from my parents’ house, work, the vet and dashing in for shopping while I can. My appetite is all over the place and I’m having trouble sleeping. He needs to pull through after all this.

Ah, @bluetongue ! That’s crap, I’m so sorry! Poor little lad, and poor you trying to hold everything together.

We do what we can for our little buddies, but ultimately we can’t do the impossible. Is there anyone else you can recruit to sit with him occasionally, to take some pressure off?

Can shopping be delivered? That sounds very intense.

I’m sorry to hear this. I have an ex racing greyhound who has a toe missing from each hind paw although he already had this when I got him so can’t help with recovery etc. However there is a FB Group called Three Toed Greyhounds which might be worth a look ?

I had considered getting a pet sitter but I’d prefer not to as he’s an anxious wee lad. My mum is having knee surgery next week just to further complicate things.

First bandage change after surgery number 3 went well. At least the foot is healing as hoped for. The actual re-bandaging was a bit of a nightmare as he’s completely over having his foot handled and between the vet, a vet nurse and me we struggled to hold him. There’s no aggression, he just freaks out. I’m trying a new sedative for the next bandage change. Most oral sedatives have no effect on him which hasn’t helped his recovery.

His foot looks pretty funky now but as long as he can walk okay that’s all that matters. He will probably need front foot boots to go on walks from now on but I can live with that.

Uncooperative dogs can be extraordinarily hard to wrangle. Mine would clamp his lips shut so you couldn’t check his teeth. And twitch just as you were almost getting a look down his lughole…

I imagine a whippet is doing that jackrabbit thing with his back legs, bouncing off anyone trying to hold him.

Update! He’a doing really well. The vet had sent a sample to dead skin for a bacteria culture and it came back positive for an antibiotic resistant bacteria. Luckily my vet started him on the best antibiotic for this infection on the day the sample was sent off.It sounds like a bad thing but at least we now know why the stitches were just falling apart and his wounds weren’t healing.

He’s getting sedated for his bandage changes now. It’s much less stressful for him and the humans.

All going to plan he has one more bandage change on Saturday then he gets the stitches out some time next week.

My parents have been wonderful with looking after him while I’ve been at work and my dad for helping me drive to and from appointments. I drive, just it’s just quicker for my dad to pick me up with my dog already in the car,

Will keep fingers crossed for further improvement. It's always so worrying when post OP complications arise.

Glad your pup is doing well. Only just seen your thread but our dog had a toe amputated in July, histology results came back as cancer but no spread , & you’d never know now. Her fur has grown back & she’s running about completely normally.

Wonderful news. Everything looks unmanageable when it looms ahead. I’m pleased it’s going relatively smoothly.

Happy to hear your dog is doing well. Such a relief that the cancer could all be removed.

Brilliant news 😁😁😁

Hello OP! I’m a few days late to your thread but wanted to ask how your boy is doing? My lad is booked in for a toe amputation next week (recurrent fracture) and I’m also quite nervous about the recovery even though it’s a pretty routine surgery! Is your boy getting around okay?

Whippet boy finally got his stitches out this week. He still has a bandage and a cone though because he has a sore caused by the bandaging. Leaving the wound open would be ideal but unfortunately he knocks his foot with the cone and by putting the cone on the floor he can get at his foot to lick it. He’s still limping but hoping it’s just the sore on his foot causing it.

Try not to be too worried by my boy’s story. His was a complicated case due to infection and previous tension surgery. It’s a pretty common operation and dogs usually do very well after it.