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Hi Laurie,
 
Had a case in today that I am not sure if there is much I can do for.
 
7 year old border collie mix that is very athletic but came up acutely lame with his owner on a bike ride. That was a few weeks ago – dealt with some secondary issues and he is better, but on exam today I found him to be moderately painful on extension of toes and when I examined his foot standing compared with the other foot, the P2 is not nearly as flexed as normal. This leads me to believe he has damaged his superficial digital flexor (+/- DDF) tendon. Middle toes more affected than medial and lateral so think it is at the foot level.
 
Other than rest, analgesics and laser is there anything else I can do to speed this along?
 
Joan

Hi Joan,

So, you either have a SDFT rupture or could there be an off chance that it’s a fractured sesamoid.
If it’s the SDFT rupture, then I don’t think there’d anything you can realistically do… other than put him in a padded bootie.
This might help if it’s a sesamoid… and on an off chance could help keep a toe in flexion to help SDFT to re-attach in a useful position.  (Long shot… but with people we can put their fingers in a splint to keep it straight or flexed and a tendon can re-attach).
Agreed about rest, and laser.  I’d also advocate for pain meds, but not anti-inflammatories.

Weird injury to be so dramatic.  So, I’d be cautiously optimistic!

Best of luck!  If something amazing happens, let me know!

Laurie