Foxtail experts in the house?
I posted this over in 
doghealth just now, but in case any of my CA friends know anything about foxtail, I'd love some insight.
Thanks!
I am fairly new to California. My Great Dane, Annabelle, started limping Sunday morning and she felt hot. So I ran her to the emergency vet. The emergency vet looked at her paw and said it was an infected nail bed and that they'd have to remove the nail and whatnot.
Come to find out, they only treated her for the fever. I came home thinking they treated the nail... and she was bleeding profusely all day today. I applied pressure and checked it out. Noticed it was coming from between her toes and nowhere near a toenail (and her toenails all look fine and intact).
I took her to my regular vet who was confused since she also didn't see how they could have thought it was anything to do with the nail. She said it's likely foxtail.
I don't know much about foxtail, but it's apparently a seed that is shaped in a way that can penetrate the skin and burrow itself deeper and deeper. She didn't consider anything else, wants to do surgery first thing tomorrow morning. She said it can't wait.
But wait... she barely looked at it and she wants to sedate my dog? She said she also can't be sure they can remove it, in which case they will just treat her with antibiotics like they are doing now.
After paying $900 at the emergency vet for her fever and nothing else, $200 for more medicine and a visit today... I am broke. All my savings are drained.
So is it wrong of me to want to seek a second opinion? This is a new vet that bought my old clinic and honestly, I can't say I trust her too much. She tries to upsell me on Science Diet dog food when I have done the research and have chosen Wellness for cost effectiveness versus quality. Science Diet? Uh no.
And she's always telling me I need to do this and that and even tried selling me scents to keep my cat calm because she said she was too stressed out. That's $50 a month. And my cat is very calm and healthy, she remarked on that herself (said she would have assumed she was a young cat, not an elder cat like she is an that her personality even at the vet was awesome).
Soooo I can't be sure she's not just upselling me. A year or so ago, another vet found something on her paw and said that it had to be surgically removed, but come surgery day... it was gone. She said they never went away on their own, but this time it did. Funny how that works, eh?
My concern is that's what this person is doing and I want a second opinion. I found another vet office that people have good things to say about. But my question is... If it's foxtail, can she wait until Wednesday? I won't go into the details, but that's about the earliest I could get her in.
And what about the bandaged wound? Would leaving it covered until Wednesday cause it to fester?
She's on two types of antibiotics now and an anti-inflammatory medicine.
So what I need to know is this:
1) Can someone explain what foxtail imbedded into the skin might look like or do? Does a festering, gaping hole that bleeds nonstop sound like foxtail or something else?
2) If it is indeed foxtail, would waiting until Wednesday to get a second opinion before undergoing surgery be a bad idea?
3) Would letting the bandages stay on until Wednesday cause any kinds of problems? The vet placed them on, but she insists they need to come off right away. Would Wednesday be soon enough?
Any other advice would be appreciated. The paw is really swollen and just started bleeding today while the pain started yesterday. She was fine on Saturday. She had elevated white blood cells and a fever, which shows an infection which we are treating. Anything else that could cause such a thing on a foot? Is foxtail the most likely diagnosis? I'd hate to round up all the cash (when I'm broke) and have her go through sedation to find out it's not it, I have to try yet another costly procedure. I hate these guessing games the vets seem to play around here. Like I have loads of cash and like putting my pet through difficult medical procedures.
Sorry for the novel, I just really don't know what to do here. It's a tricky situation :/
doghealth just now, but in case any of my CA friends know anything about foxtail, I'd love some insight. Thanks!
I am fairly new to California. My Great Dane, Annabelle, started limping Sunday morning and she felt hot. So I ran her to the emergency vet. The emergency vet looked at her paw and said it was an infected nail bed and that they'd have to remove the nail and whatnot.
Come to find out, they only treated her for the fever. I came home thinking they treated the nail... and she was bleeding profusely all day today. I applied pressure and checked it out. Noticed it was coming from between her toes and nowhere near a toenail (and her toenails all look fine and intact).
I took her to my regular vet who was confused since she also didn't see how they could have thought it was anything to do with the nail. She said it's likely foxtail.
I don't know much about foxtail, but it's apparently a seed that is shaped in a way that can penetrate the skin and burrow itself deeper and deeper. She didn't consider anything else, wants to do surgery first thing tomorrow morning. She said it can't wait.
But wait... she barely looked at it and she wants to sedate my dog? She said she also can't be sure they can remove it, in which case they will just treat her with antibiotics like they are doing now.
After paying $900 at the emergency vet for her fever and nothing else, $200 for more medicine and a visit today... I am broke. All my savings are drained.
So is it wrong of me to want to seek a second opinion? This is a new vet that bought my old clinic and honestly, I can't say I trust her too much. She tries to upsell me on Science Diet dog food when I have done the research and have chosen Wellness for cost effectiveness versus quality. Science Diet? Uh no.
And she's always telling me I need to do this and that and even tried selling me scents to keep my cat calm because she said she was too stressed out. That's $50 a month. And my cat is very calm and healthy, she remarked on that herself (said she would have assumed she was a young cat, not an elder cat like she is an that her personality even at the vet was awesome).
Soooo I can't be sure she's not just upselling me. A year or so ago, another vet found something on her paw and said that it had to be surgically removed, but come surgery day... it was gone. She said they never went away on their own, but this time it did. Funny how that works, eh?
My concern is that's what this person is doing and I want a second opinion. I found another vet office that people have good things to say about. But my question is... If it's foxtail, can she wait until Wednesday? I won't go into the details, but that's about the earliest I could get her in.
And what about the bandaged wound? Would leaving it covered until Wednesday cause it to fester?
She's on two types of antibiotics now and an anti-inflammatory medicine.
So what I need to know is this:
1) Can someone explain what foxtail imbedded into the skin might look like or do? Does a festering, gaping hole that bleeds nonstop sound like foxtail or something else?
2) If it is indeed foxtail, would waiting until Wednesday to get a second opinion before undergoing surgery be a bad idea?
3) Would letting the bandages stay on until Wednesday cause any kinds of problems? The vet placed them on, but she insists they need to come off right away. Would Wednesday be soon enough?
Any other advice would be appreciated. The paw is really swollen and just started bleeding today while the pain started yesterday. She was fine on Saturday. She had elevated white blood cells and a fever, which shows an infection which we are treating. Anything else that could cause such a thing on a foot? Is foxtail the most likely diagnosis? I'd hate to round up all the cash (when I'm broke) and have her go through sedation to find out it's not it, I have to try yet another costly procedure. I hate these guessing games the vets seem to play around here. Like I have loads of cash and like putting my pet through difficult medical procedures.
Sorry for the novel, I just really don't know what to do here. It's a tricky situation :/