Re: Sue, thank you.

[Guest guest]

Sue, her toe injury is not recent. It was around X-mas.

I have aspirin, but I'll wait until tomorrow. She does not whimper or cry, she is definitely resting a lot, almost refuses to move at all. I think that is a good sign. She is definitely in pain, but still very reactive when we talk to her and so. Instead of jumping around she gets "happy" lying down. It is her front paw so I guess it isn't arthritis.

Sue, any suggestions how I can get her to drink some water? Anything I can add to it? I know sugar is added to water for cats when they are in distress, can I try the same with her. I'm worried about her not drinking.

Thanks again, your advice means a lot to me.

Mojo

Re: I could use 's advice right now.

F>irst of all, she is a Schnoodle, a schnauzer poodle mix. She weighs around 18 pounds.

Then she is comparable in size to my guys which makes it easy for me to relate.

>She is two and a half years old, so this should not be age related. I know dogs get arthritis, could it be this early?

Arthritis is not impossible but it usually shows up first in the hips and hindquarters - and I think you said this is a front paw?

>She is eating her can food, but will not take snacks. She normally eats everything that comes her way, so it definitely is not like her. She drank very little water though.

That would be an indication that she likely is in some degree of pain.... you do want to be sure she drinks some water so that you don't end up with her dehyrdrated or prone to a kidney infection.

>She does not jump around at all now.

and

>wags her tail instead of getting up with us and running around. It is also very difficult to get her out for a walk. When she first gets up, she's afraid to put any weight on the paw, you can see she is.

Again more signs of some degree of pain...

>Then when she takes a few steps it's better. The more she moves the better it is, but every time she is down for a while it gets worst getting up for her. She is definitely not herself and I'll see if they can see her at the vet today. I checked the bottom of her paws yesterday. A while ago she had a broken toe, bleeding one and she was slightly limping, but nothing compare to this. I also compared both of her paws and there doesn't seem to be any difference from the shoulder down, or I can't feel it.

Aha - some clues! My guess is if the toe episode was fairly recent that perhaps she had a minor injury (landed the wrong way jumping of the bed, stubbed it while running around - that sort of thing) and is just being cautious until she is sure it doesn't hurt more (or any more). There could be a chance she is developing an infection that got in there when the earlier wound was open and that is making it sensitvie - I'd keep an eye on it to see if it starts feeling warm/hot to the touch or starts to get swollen. You might also want to take her temperature - dog's normal temp is around 101 to 101.5 - above that they are running a fever which could indicate an infection as well.