one of my worst fears was almost realized today
Ever since Franklin broke his toe 2 1/2 weeks ago I have been really paranoid about splint issues. My worst fear was that the splint would be put on too tight and cut off circulation to his foot. I've heard of dogs losing a foot/leg because of a split too tight. Well yesterday I noticed Franklin wasn't wanting to walk on his foot anymore and he was acting like it was bothering him. We just had this splint put on Friday afternoon and it was supposed to be on for 2 weeks. Well I decided today that its better safe than sorry so I took him to the vet to have the splint taken off and redone. Well they took off the splint and found a swollen foot with necrotic (dead) foot pads that smelled HORRIBLE. The splint was put on way too tight and was cutting off circulation, just like I had feared. Parts of his foot pads are dead and won't come back, but hopefully since the blood circulation has returned some of it will come back again. All of his toes are swollen to twice the normal size and very red/pink. He is incredibly painful and also has open pressure sores. The vet (a different vet than I had been going to before) said that these wounds are so much worse than the broken toe! He is worried about his foot but hopes with the splint off it will heal. He is on strict cage rest now because he has a broken toe that is now unprotected and his foot pads are dead and very painful. We are going to re-xray next week to see how well the break has healed and if we need to re-splint, although I will likely see if there is something else I can do. What is really scary is thinking about what would have happened if I wasn't so paranoid and if I hadn't worked at a vet. If I would have waited the full 14 days for the splint to come off, Franklin would have lost his leg. The damage was so severe already after only 5 days, that by the time 14 days had passed his whole foot would have been dead and they would have had to amputate. I'm sooooooooooo glad I am so in tune with my little guy. I plan on bringing him into the original vet tomorrow just to show them the damage that was done. I just want them to be aware and maybe more careful in the future. The picture attached is of his foot. It already looks better after having the splint off for most of the day.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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Oh...poor baby....good thing you took him in! Feel better soonFranklin!!!!!
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Permalink Reply by Geri & Sidney on
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Sooo glad you went with your gut and took him in. Poor Franklin! I hope he feels lots better very soon. Give him a hug from me.
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Permalink Reply by Kassi Hawkins on
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oh my goodness. Poor baby. This just breaks my heart. I hope your baby heals quickly!
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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on
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Thank you for sharing this information, and hey everybody, spread this around! Make sure people hear about this.
You can be sure: if my dogs ever get a splint, it's not gonna be too tight!
Please keep us informed.
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Permalink Reply by Rebecca Marie O'Bryan on
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o my goodness! poor little guy:( good think you check on him when u did. i feel so bad for him, i hope he heals up fast so he can enjoy the out doors when summer comes. i look forward to see how he is doing
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Permalink Reply by David on
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Thank you , this is very informative...
I hope Franklin will be alright. Not to be the mean guy around here.
I wonder if vet have malpractice insurance, you will need to be compensated for all of the extra grief and work!!!
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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I was thinking about that, but in class we were learning about malpractice lawsuits and unfortunately for animals its a bit of a waste of time. You can get money for future treatment, but for me its going to be almost free because I'll be getting it done by the doctors at my school. I have no desire to take him back there to be treated. I took him to the vet today to show him the damage and got a pretty uninterested reply, which I guess I kind of expected. Vet basically said I can look at it if you want, but since we didn't take the cast off we aren't responsible for anything that comes up in the future from it being removed. I said no I don't want you to look at it, damage has already been done and now there really isn't anything you can do about it and told them I will be getting future treatment elsewhere.
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Permalink Reply by Cindi & Twinkie on
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I am just sick for you! I would have never had thought to think about that. Our poor babies can't even tell us when things are wrong. It is a blessing that you know him so well. Best of luck during this recovery!
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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I am so sorry to hear that :( On a side note, we used to treat diabetic patient who suffer from neuropathy with hydrotherapy, 3 minutes legs in a hot tank, 1 minute legs in a cold one to force blood circulation. Results have been great and they regain sensitivity in their toes, if there's open sore / wound, we used a watertight plastic bag to keep the water off. Just a thought.
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Permalink Reply by Rachael & Waffle on
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Um, if that happened to me, I would be fighting that vet office tooth and nail for a refund and every cent of follow up care, and then some. It's great that you thought something was amiss and took care of it. I can't believe people who have been trained to do those sorts of things could mess up *that bad*. Lots of wishes and prayers for Franklin to get better!
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Oh my gosh, how awful! I am stunned that they would not do something as basic as make sure the splint is not too tight, or show you how to check it periodically to make sure that minor swelling hasn't caused it to become too tight when it initially fit ok.
So glad you found it and hope his recovery goes better than planned! Poor guy.
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Markley on
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Wow...I had no idea. I know with humans it's easier because we leave toes/fingers hanging out. Poor guy! How do you have any idea until it's too late? I hope he gets better soon....
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