JenniferMac
New member
Hello all! I'm new to this forum but am reaching out in the hopes that someone may be able to provide some recommendations that may help. I apologize in advance for this long post.
Our male EB, Gumbo, is turning 11 years old soon. He's generally always been in pretty good health and we've never had any major issues or complications with him since we adopted him when he was four months old. However, about 5 years ago, he developed what we thought was an inter-digital cyst on his left front paw. It kind of showed up overnight and started to get larger and larger, even with Epsom salt foot soaks. Eventually, it burst and started oozing. We took him to the vet and they recommended surgery to remove the cyst. He had the surgery and for the first couple of weeks, all seemed well. Then, he had another growth that developed in the exact same area that was really irritating him. We went back to the vet and they though it could either be a suture knot that didn't dissolve completely or maybe the full cyst sack was not removed and had come back. So, they recommended another exploratory surgery which we agreed with. Again, all was well for a while but then the spot came back with a vengeance. This time, it appeared like a large cyst but always seemed to have a small opening where fluid would ooze from. We ended up taking him to another vet for a consultation and they thought that the cyst had come back and again, recommended surgery to remove it. After this third surgery, his paw seemed to do well for a while longer. But like all of the times before, it eventually came back. This time, his entire area between his toes swells up and the bottom side of his foot swells as well. This will happen every two weeks or so. His foot will be perfectly fine one day, then he'll wake up the next day with this red swelling. His foot will be 2-3 times the normal size to where he can barely walk on it. It will stay swollen for a while until it eventually ruptures and what appears to be some type of lymph fluid drains out. Once this happens, the swelling will gradually go down until the foot returns to normal, until it starts all over again.
We've tried everything we can think of. We've had the three prior surgeries and at his age, we're not wanting to put him through another one, especially since that didn't seem to resolve the issue anyway. We've done Epsom salt soaks, used Duoxo pads to clean the area daily, used Vetericyn spray, charcoal paste soaks, and several other things. The only time it's seemed to really clear up for any length of time is the two times he was on an oral antibiotic for 30 days, each time. We're not really sure what else to try and wanted to see if anyone may have ever experienced something like this before or may have some suggestions. We're willing to try most anything at this point if it will give our boy some relief.
Thanks in advance and if you have any questions at all, let me know.
Jennifer
Our male EB, Gumbo, is turning 11 years old soon. He's generally always been in pretty good health and we've never had any major issues or complications with him since we adopted him when he was four months old. However, about 5 years ago, he developed what we thought was an inter-digital cyst on his left front paw. It kind of showed up overnight and started to get larger and larger, even with Epsom salt foot soaks. Eventually, it burst and started oozing. We took him to the vet and they recommended surgery to remove the cyst. He had the surgery and for the first couple of weeks, all seemed well. Then, he had another growth that developed in the exact same area that was really irritating him. We went back to the vet and they though it could either be a suture knot that didn't dissolve completely or maybe the full cyst sack was not removed and had come back. So, they recommended another exploratory surgery which we agreed with. Again, all was well for a while but then the spot came back with a vengeance. This time, it appeared like a large cyst but always seemed to have a small opening where fluid would ooze from. We ended up taking him to another vet for a consultation and they thought that the cyst had come back and again, recommended surgery to remove it. After this third surgery, his paw seemed to do well for a while longer. But like all of the times before, it eventually came back. This time, his entire area between his toes swells up and the bottom side of his foot swells as well. This will happen every two weeks or so. His foot will be perfectly fine one day, then he'll wake up the next day with this red swelling. His foot will be 2-3 times the normal size to where he can barely walk on it. It will stay swollen for a while until it eventually ruptures and what appears to be some type of lymph fluid drains out. Once this happens, the swelling will gradually go down until the foot returns to normal, until it starts all over again.
We've tried everything we can think of. We've had the three prior surgeries and at his age, we're not wanting to put him through another one, especially since that didn't seem to resolve the issue anyway. We've done Epsom salt soaks, used Duoxo pads to clean the area daily, used Vetericyn spray, charcoal paste soaks, and several other things. The only time it's seemed to really clear up for any length of time is the two times he was on an oral antibiotic for 30 days, each time. We're not really sure what else to try and wanted to see if anyone may have ever experienced something like this before or may have some suggestions. We're willing to try most anything at this point if it will give our boy some relief.
Thanks in advance and if you have any questions at all, let me know.
Jennifer
