Warty growth on side of toe

[ritab]

Lena has a warty thing on the side of her toe which got infected - the vet gave ABs and it went right down - she said her glands are still slightly swollen so gave another 5 days ABs, but the warty thing has re-appeared in the middle of the AB course.

The vet keeps talking about amputating the toe which I am not happy about. If I can I'd like to manage the "thing". She has a Therapaw boot which I will ensure she wears at all times when either outside or unattended. I know these things can sometimes be cancerous, but also know there is only one certain outcome if it is. I don't want

to put her through too much invasive treatment.

Has anyone else had a similar experience - I think it would help me to hear of other similar experiences.

[julies]

Hi Rita

I'm not sure what you mean about the one certain outcome if it's cancerous but I've had dogs who've had malignant aggressive cancers and have survived after treatment and lived for years afterwards ... the thing is to find out what you're dealing with so you can decide on the treatment .... My big lurcher who had an aggressive, malignant tumour off his front leg (and no clean margin round it ) had radiotherapy at Cambridge as well as homeopathic treatment .. the worst affect of radiotherapy was that he had a tiny bit of 'sunburn' after his third session so I had to put Aloe Vera on his leg .. apart from that he was just sleepy for the rest of the day

On your last thread I posted about my friends dog who had a warty thing on her toe which turned out to be a tumour ...she had the toe removed and the vet has said she'll be fine without any other treatment I see the grey quite often and you wouldn't know she's missing a toe or has been poorly

My lurcher had a front toe off due to a serious infection we couldn't cure with ABs and he was fine, he just had a bit more Chiropractic treatment as his leg skewed slightly as he walked cos his toe was missing.

Can the vet do a fine needle aspiration to check exactly what it is or does he now think it's a tumour? If so my view would be the toe's better off? If it is a nasty the sooner it is dealt with the better so maybe have a chat with your vet.

Best wishes

Julie

[ritab]

Thanks Julie. I've been doing quite a lot of internet research but didn't find anything as positive as your experiences. Even the RGT vet seems to indicate that cancer treatment isn't really successful.

I wondered whether to get a second (greyhound vet) opinion on toe removal. We've got some insurance so we can afford to do the right thing. I'm just not sure what the right thing is. The vet suggested a biopsy at first, but when it shrank said there wasn't anything to biopsy. Now it's back perhaps we should do that.

I wouldn't find it easy to travel far for treatment though as I share a car with my husband and he needs it for work.

Thanks again for your positive comments.

Rita

[julies]

Hi Rita

I think (in my limited cancer experience) you need to know exactly what you're dealing with IF (and it's only an IF) it is a tumour it does seem to make sense to remove the tumour and toe asap ... I guess you could do the radiotherapy and even chemo if necessary but if the simple answer is to take the toe off then that seems a simple option I think you just need to do something ... in my experience you need to move quickly if cancer is there .....
Personally I'd have the toe off it's a tumour then you've removed most/all of the cancer ... but that's just me

With my dogs I have always opted for the immediate treatment ... for my nerves as well as theirs

Best wishes

Julie

[ritab]

The ABs finish tomorrow (Wed) so if on Thurs it is still looking angry I'll take her to the vet. I wouldn't want to leave it longer than that. I was meaning that I wouldn't be able to travel miles for special treatment (you said you went to Cambridge) - will have to rely on our vets, but they are a very big practice with lots of facilities (just not a greyhound vet) and the main surgery is only 3 miles away.

If it's just an infected wound from where her toes have rubbed together a toe amputation seems rather drastic though. The claw of the outside toe lies against the lesion.

I am nervous about lots of invasive treatment if it isn't going to work - I'm more in favour of "hospice" type care. However I'll be having a detailed discussion with the vet about how to proceed and what I should expect in recovery terms. Don't worry - I want to do the best for Lena as she is a lovely young dog and we have gone through the worst of the settling in so we'd like to enjoy her company for years to come.

Rita