Paw Update

Sorry for another dull post - this is mainly for my record keeping purposes...

It has been 12 days since we had the stitches removed and the splint taken off.  She is still in a cone for most of the day but in the past 2 or 3 days we've been able to take it off while she has been supervised.  We find if she has a baby Cuz to obsess over, she leaves her foot alone. As soon as she grows bored, she licks it.  If we give her a bone or anything to chew, she uses her feet to hold it, which must bother her a bit, as she then starts licking her feet.

We tried giving her cone free time by putting a boot on her foot, but every time we left a boot on for more than 20 minutes, the biopsy site would turn into a gooey hole.  It was bizarre.  It looked like she had solid pad there, but it was as if a sponge had been melted.  The last time we had a boot on for more than 2 or 3 minutes was Monday and we are afraid to try again incase it sets us back in the healing process.  I'm not sure when we'll find the courage to try again.  No boot means no walks, and not even any outside time other than quick potty breaks.

Her foot with the major problem (we didn't get the worst foot biopsied) is looking just as bad, if not worse than before.  The first time it happened it went away on its own within a few weeks.  It has been around 6 weeks now and despite cream and oil supplements, it hasn't improved at all.  I'm not sure why.

We can see grey areas on most of her pads, including her dew pads high up on her leg. None of the grey pads seem to be bothering her at this point.  Even the foot above isn't causing her to limp.  We are basically waiting for the biopsy site to heal for her to start back on walks.

We started her on zinc a few days ago and we will be trying it for at least a month to see if it has any effect.  We are continuing with the oil and Vitamin E supplements as well and have a few days left of antibiotics.  We've stopped her pain meds and we only occasionally see a slight hitch on her biopsy foot. She has an ear infection (probably from wearing the cone so much) but that is pretty minor and we are treating it.

Her spirits are higher as she has started chasing the cats again and occasionally doing "the beat down on Lacey".  She doesn't mope in the cone any more but still hasn't learned to navigate smoothly with it on. For such a smart dog, she can be a slow learner.  LOL.

We are on a waiting list for a dermatologist but it will probably be Oct until we get in.  We are also on a cancellation list - so if someone cancels, we have a chance to get in early.