Joan immediately brought Sadie into the clinic for evaluation. Sadie's entire paw was severely swollen with a condition called "cellulitus" which is a rapidly spreading infection in the tissues around the bones in her toes. It became obvious upon examination that Sadie had most likely become caught in a trap when she was wandering astray. X-rays were immediately taken to determine if Sadie had any damage to the bones in her foot. Thankfully, all of the bones appeared to be in tact. But that still left a challenging situation to treat medically. The cellulitus and damaged blood supply to her paw could possibly lead to a sloughing of the damaged tissues and loss of part of her foot. Antibiotics were immediately prescribed to stop the spreading infection in hopes to save the damaged tissues.  

Several days passed and Joan felt that Sadie was improving and the swelling of her foot was starting to decrease. Approximately one-week after initiation of treatment Joan woke to a terrible complication. Sadie's body had rejected the dying tissue in two of her toes and suddenly overnight the wounds broke open leaving bone exposed on the ends of her paw. Joan immediately brought Sadie back to the hospital and Dr. Geurts determined that surgery was indicated to remove the dead tissues and bone from her foot in order to allow healthy tissues to grow in and heal the wound.

The procedure that was performed is called surgical debridement and healing by second intention. Sadie's body would now have to heal the wounds by formation of scar tissues in the exposed areas. Surgery was performed and two of Sadie's toes were amputated. A picture below is postoperative, along with a follow-up picture depicting the wound healing at various stages.

Dr. Geurts expects it to take several months for Sadie's wounds to completely heal although permanent lameness may always be a problem for her since she lost a large portion of the weight bearing surface of her front foot.  

Although Sadie's injuries are very tragic. They could have been much worse had she been caught higher up the leg which would likely have necessitated amputation of her limb. Despite the pain and trauma of what Sadie has endured, she is a dog that always keeps a friendly, happy and very cooperative attitude--although she refuses to wear an Elizabethan collar!

"Sadie--you're an outstanding patient! We admire your determination and kind hearted nature. Get well soon!"