Gangrene

[cowanbree]

Just wanting some information on gangrene, anyone had any experience esp in feet please pm me

[Scales of Justice]

Can you post any more information about the particular problem. I may be able to help but need to know if your problem is relevant to mine

[cowanbree]

Foot injury about a week ago – vet thought damage ligament as no visible injury. Toes have been going black over the weekend so off to the vet today expecting to hear badly bruising but he said the front 2 toes have gangrene.

Basically what I am wanting to know is does it spread and how long will it take for the toes to drop off. He seems to think it won’t spread and other than giving me some antibiotics has said just to leave it alone. There is healthy pink skin (it is a bit inflamed) directly above the toes.

He is blaming either a blot clot in the foot or a squeeze type injury, there is a definite line. My issue is that this is a very old dog. She deserves a chance but I don’t want to put her through a hard time for nothing. My vet is not that talkative and just says wait and see

[oakway]

Foot injury about a week ago – vet thought damage ligament as no visible injury. Toes have been going black over the weekend so off to the vet today expecting to hear badly bruising but he said the front 2 toes have gangrene.

Basically what I am wanting to know is does it spread and how long will it take for the toes to drop off. He seems to think it won’t spread and other than giving me some antibiotics has said just to leave it alone. There is healthy pink skin (it is a bit inflamed) directly above the toes.

He is blaming either a blot clot in the foot or a squeeze type injury, there is a definite line. My issue is that this is a very old dog. She deserves a chance but I don’t want to put her through a hard time for nothing. My vet is not that talkative and just says wait and see

The best advice I can give, is change your vet.

[cowanbree]

Nah, my vet is a keeper. I just wish he was a bit more talkative. He has already given me his opinion, no it won’t spread and we need to wait until all the flesh dies before we can do anything further. He would prefer not to operate given her age and thinks the dead flesh will fall off . He thinks she will be fine unless something else happens, I am just looking for some real life experiences to make me feel better

[oakway]

Crickies then I can't be of any more help. Maybe just do as the vet says.

I sure feel for you, I wouldn't want to be in your situation.

Good luck and keep us all posted as to the out come.

[Scales of Justice]

Cowanbree,

I've had two cases of gangrene in the past - one was a damaged bone in the foot where the bone was sharp and was penetrating into the tissue and the other was a white tip spider bite which caused the area to go black and become gangrenous. The first case was fixed with surgery and antibiotics and the other case was fixed with poultices of aloe vera on the skin.

I'm not sure whether there would be any relevance to your dog's problem but I wouldn't take the problem too lightly if it doesn't start to look better quite quickly with antibiotics I would probably be considering a second opinion as the toes may need to be amputated. Gangrene can spread throughout the whole body if left untended.

If you didn't actually see the injury happen, it may not be an injury at all but poor circulation due to old age.

Edited July 30, 2007 by Scales of Justice

[Rappie]

Without surgical debridement of the dead tissue, there isn't a lot else to do except treat with antibiotics and keep a very close eye on the demarcation between healthy and necrotic tissue. I have had some success on really manky (a technical term, obviously ) dirt filled degloving injuries using a product called Intrasite. It's a gel that comes in a squeezy tube and it helps to debride necrotic tissue while providing nutrients to healing tissue - I bandage it on with some melolin (non stick dressing), gauze and vetwrap. You'd need to check the wound underneath regularly but it might help.... you can buy Intrasite from pharmacies.

It is a strange presentation, and an awkward situation to be in - good luck.

[cowanbree]

Thanks folks

I have personally wondered if this is a spider bite myself. Scales of Justice, did you lose any of the area or did the gel heal it?

If it was poor circulation wouldn’t more than one foot be affected?

Very hard situation, she is 15 and this is the 3rd major health issue in 18mths. I don’t want to give up too soon but neither do I want her to suffer esp if it is going to be for nothing

[cowanbree]

Thanks Rappie, will see if that is stocked over here and try it

[sandgrubber]

Foot injury about a week ago – vet thought damage ligament as no visible injury. Toes have been going black over the weekend so off to the vet today expecting to hear badly bruising but he said the front 2 toes have gangrene.

I don't know anything about gangrene in dogs, but my mother got it in a finger and had to have the finger amputated. She only had the gangrene for a few days. My impression is that it is a very rapidly spreading and horrible condition. That's why they amputate. If it is gangrene the situation is dire and the need for treatment is URGENT

[Scales of Justice]

I have personally wondered if this is a spider bite myself. Scales of Justice, did you lose any of the area or did the gel heal it?

The gel healed it back to normal within three months. When she was first bitten, the area started to get bigger and it was raised up slightly then within days it started to go black and we thought she would lose her leg. (It was on her foreleg between the elbow and pastern joint.) It got blacker and blacker. She had antibiotics and it still didn't heal. We were told there wasn't much we could do about it. I decided to cut fresh aloe vera plant and wrap it onto the wound and within about two to three days it appeared to improve slightly. Someone told us paw paw cream was better, so we stopped the aloe vera and started to use paw paw cream. It got worse again. Stopped using paw paw cream and started up the aloe vera poultices (wrapped fresh plant (sliced through the middle) straight onto the site and left it for a day - changing poultices daily). Within a week it had improved markedly and within 3 months the hair was growing back. It became totally normal after a few months.

[cowanbree]

Thanks everyone, appreciate the help

Sandgrubber Kell has been seen by the vet on a number of occasions over this, she is being treated but I wasn’t all that happy with what he suggested which was antibiotics, wash the foot a couple times daily and wait for it to drop off.

I have been into the health shop and brought the Alovera Gel, it says on the back not to apply to broken skin but I have lathered it on in any case and we will see what happens.

Scales of Justice, how far gone was your leg, was it smelling? This incident only happened Thursday 10 days ago, noticed she was going black in the foot 8 days later. We don’t have open sores yet but it is quite unpleasant smelling

Rappie tried to get your cream but it isn’t available over here unfortunately.

I went into the vet again today and asked him what he thought her chances were as she was an old dog and I didn’t want her to suffer. He said he considers that she has a good chance of retaining at least the majority of the foot and unless something changes she should be ok. Very difficult as I want what is best for her and I am trying not to be selfish but still want to give her every chance

[Scales of Justice]

Cowanbree,

Try to get the fresh aloe vera plant from a nursery (shouldn't be expensive). Slice lengthways enough of a leaf that you can lay it open like a bandage and wrap it onto the site with either a bandage or elastoplast. I don't believe the stuff you buy from the shops will do as good a job as the fresh plant. Aloe vera has unique properties which many plants don't have - just can't remember the substance name - it starts with an 'x' which help healing.