Bob Shire writes:
My foster Teddy, whom I've nicknamed "Mr. T",
is a sweet & adorable Cairn mix who came to CRUSA
as an owner-surrender in early October 2010.
He had spent most of his life in a puppy mill,
but had recently been adopted by a family who said
they had to give him up on account of illness in the family.
When I picked him up, his feet were severely discolored from licking;
a day or two later, he began to limp and hold up his right front paw.
I noticed a large cyst on top of of one of his toes.
I took Teddy to the vet, who thought he was suffering from a seasonal allergy.
We treated him for that, and the vet also drained the large
cyst on top of his toe and gave us an antibiotic for his cysts.
(The vet had found another one between Teddy's toes.)
He also told us to keep an e-collar on Teddy for a month.
(The picture of Teddy wearing an e-collar &
a Superman costume in 2010'S
DOGS CELEBRATE HOWLOWEEN
Fundraiser was not entirely a joke.)
The symptoms of the allergy cleared up and the cysts improved,
but then quickly returned. The vet discussed the possibility
of surgery to remove one of Teddy's toes.
We took Teddy to another vet who opined that Teddy's
licking & chewing on his feet as a result of the allergy
had probably resulted in ingrown hair
which had given rise to his cysts. The irritation from
the cysts had caused Teddy to continue to lick & chew,
which further irritated his paw. He put Teddy on a steroid,
but cautioned that that would not solve the underlying
problem of the foreign material, and that Teddy
might have to have surgery to have that material removed.
Teddy did well for several weeks,
but continued to lick & chew on his paw.
He would limp and hold his paw up,
we'd put an e-collar on him for a couple of days,
and he'd improve. But, shortly after,
we'd go through the same cycle.
This continued for a few weeks, but eventually we decided
this was no way for Teddy to live, and his condition was an
impediment to him finding a forever home.
So we returned to the vet, who recommended
the surgery he had mentioned earlier. There's a large
area on top of and wrapping around one of Teddy's
weight-bearing toes that will be opened up,
cleaned out, and sewn closed. The other cyst between his
toes will also be attended to.
The surgery is scheduled for Thursday, 13 January.
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