# Help! Some sort of growth (extra toe!?)between toes, Pics Attached



## Litz

Hello,

My baby Emma has me worried, and we are going to see the vet on Tuesday. Until then, I wanted to see if any of you have ever seen something similar to this.

Emma is 20 month female, we've had her since she was 9 weeks. As you'll see, one of her toes appears that it was stepped on or somehow injured prior to us getting her, and that toe is sort of up and retracted from the others (does not meet the ground when her paw is flat). 

Probably unrelated, but on that same paw she has now developed a "growth" in between two of her other toes, and as strange as this sounds, it almost appears like she is growing an extra toe. There is what appears to be fleshy growth which seems to have some matted, moist hair growing out of it. Directly below that, there is what actually appears to be a small black nail growing (which is why I am calling it an extra toe, although I doubt that's what it is). 

I am concerned that it may be a tumor, but of course I have NO idea... I am wondering if the vet is going to want to remove it... the base of the fleshy part actually quite wide and well attached, it *does not* have the appearance of what I would call a "skin tag" if we were talking about a human. 

So, has anyone of you ever seen anything like this? Any ideas? 

Thanks! 

CL


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## Jax08

Anytime there is a growth on the foot, it should be removed. I would get a biopsy done on it as well.


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## Litz

Jax08 said:


> Anytime there is a growth on the foot, it should be removed. I would get a biopsy done on it as well.


Just curious, if the vet does decide to remove it, are dogs generally sedated for a minor procedure, or do they just receive a local anesthetic? If general sedation is needed do they use a sedation pill, or is it IV as it would be for a human? Thanks.


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## Jax08

It will be general anesthesia, in IV. It shouldn't take long to remove it but it might be difficult to get good margins where it's located. Make sure to ask how they will a good margin (distance around the growth) with it's location.


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## carmspack

just when you think you've seen everything . What the heck is that?


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## Jax08

Right Carmen!! It's ugly looking! I've seen a few growths on my dogs but nothing like that!


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## Verivus

Wow, that is some growth there. Get it removed; it will be under GA. Make sure you send out a biopsy so 1. you know what it is and 2. you know whether or not it was completely removed... which will be very difficult based on the location.


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## JakodaCD OA

that is just weird ! Poor girl !

My sister's lab had a growth between her toes, but it didn't look like that She had it removed, took awhile for the area to heal, since it's in such a weird spot, but it did .

I would get that off asap as well.


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## lisgje

Oh, poor baby! chance has deformed bones in his feet that cause sores sometimes. I am sure your vet will get an x-ray before surgery to see exactly how that is located. Keep us posted, I have never seen anything like that. Good luck.


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## Litz

carmspack said:


> just when you think you've seen everything . What the heck is that?


No doubt, right! Emma is our second GSD and we've been through a lot with them. She has been healthy but has allergies which lead to constant itchiness. We've tried nearly everything, and have finally just decided that if it doesn't seem to bother her, then we won't let it bother us. But now this weird growth makes me nervous. 



Verivus said:


> Wow, that is some growth there. Get it removed; it will be under GA. Make sure you send out a biopsy so 1. you know what it is and 2. you know whether or not it was completely removed... which will be very difficult based on the location.


Thanks for the advice, we'll definitely talk to the vet about the biopsy.



JakodaCD OA said:


> that is just weird ! Poor girl !
> 
> My sister's lab had a growth between her toes, but it didn't look like that She had it removed, took awhile for the area to heal, since it's in such a weird spot, but it did .
> 
> Yes, look like an odd spot for any sort of good healing, plus it in a perfect location for her to be chewing on the wound.
> 
> I would get that off asap as well.


We'll head over on Tuesday and see what we can find out... I will post an update. Thanks.

CL


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## Litz

lisgje said:


> Oh, poor baby! chance has deformed bones in his feet that cause sores sometimes. I am sure your vet will get an x-ray before surgery to see exactly how that is located. Keep us posted, I have never seen anything like that. Good luck.


I was sort of wondering if it could be related to her not having the one toe for balance, etc. In the last photo in the series you'll see what I mean. I would think that it could change the pressure on her pads, and this may be a sore sort of like a callous developing. However, it does look more fleshy than a callous, but that could be because she's been chewing on it and it's now inflamed. We have begun spraying it with "Genesis" Tiamcinolone Acetonide (0.015% solution) to bring the irritation down.


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## robinhuerta

The area looks red and inflamed..?
Are you sure it is a "growth"...and not a foreign object (animal or other) that has lodged itself between her toes?
It almost looks like some form of *worm*??....the pics are really strange looking to me.
Never seen anything like it before......keep us posted on what the vet says.


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## JakodaCD OA

ya know robin, I thought it looked like a worm to, like those worms in a cocoon(sp) type thing,,ugh, makes me want to just yank it off ((((


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## Litz

JakodaCD OA said:


> ya know robin, I thought it looked like a worm to, like those worms in a cocoon(sp) type thing,,ugh, makes me want to just yank it off ((((


Ok, we just popped her full of treats and had another close up look at it with a flashlight. It is definitely not a worm or foreign object, although I can see in the pics that it's hard to tell what the heck is going on. Pic 3 is the best angle of it, and it is matted hair which is attached to a red irritated flesh growth. The black portion which looks like a claw/nail I believe is actually another, separate, portion of matted hair. It's like how a Rhino's horn is actually calcified matted hair as opposed to an actual horn... that's what this is like. It's hair which is hardened into a nail shape. So strange!


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## Courtney

Check out this thread...another dog forum.

Growth between my dog's toes - Need advice! THX! - Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca


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## JakodaCD OA

courtney ewwwww, whatever 'that' was, looks way worse or atleast something I wouldn't want to have to deal with

Litz, I had to look again, gross as it is LOL,,it does look rather like hair encircled in a tight 'thing'..Honestly, that 'thing' would drive me nuts..

Jynx (aussie) had this, what I thought was a sebaceous cyst on her face, picker me, decides to pop it, big mistake, nasty nasty, had to have it lanced the next day. 

I think these 'things' bug me probably more than dog. but it will be VERY interesting to find out what the heck it is !


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## Courtney

I was grasping for straws! I'm really curious to know what the vet says.


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## iBaman

Excuse me for a moment, but EWWWWWWWWWWWWW on the pictures in the link. I sure hope it's nothing serious! Keep us updated!


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## carmspack

does the dog know it's there , does he lick it or try to chew it off.


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## BlackthornGSD

I think the toe that doesn't touch the ground is just a rear dew claw--but I'd want to see a better picture.


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## Litz

Courtney said:


> Check out this thread...another dog forum.
> 
> Growth between my dog's toes - Need advice! THX! - Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca


WOW! The first picture in the thread that you've linked to is *exactly* what we are seeing with Emma. I was hoping to hear that someone had a final resolution, but it sounds like it's still a bit of a mystery. If it's papilloma that would make it viral which means it can not be treated with antibiotics. I also wasn't happy to read that their dogs developed those other, more nasty looking growths. 

Hopefully we can get it figured out... I will post an update after the visit. In that other thread, someone mentioned seeing a specialist. What would that be called? Would it be a K9 dermatologist? 

Thanks!


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## msvette2u

carmspack said:


> just when you think you've seen everything . What the heck is that?


That was my first thought as well...!


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## BowWowMeow

My first guess would be an alien and my second is a wart. :crazy:


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## carmspack

lol -- I think alien . It does look like a parasite .


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## msvette2u

I hope I don't have nightmares tonight 
I think I would if I found one between my dog's toes!


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## blehmannwa

I saw something very similar between Felony's toes. I thought it was an infection or a tumor as Fel had lymphoma. One vet said that it could be a growth that had something to do with histamines--allergic reactions? Fel's growth got smaller with benadryl...and eventually vanished.


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## Courtney

Litz said:


> WOW! The first picture in the thread that you've linked to is *exactly* what we are seeing with Emma. I was hoping to hear that someone had a final resolution, but it sounds like it's still a bit of a mystery. If it's papilloma that would make it viral which means it can not be treated with antibiotics. I also wasn't happy to read that their dogs developed those other, more nasty looking growths.
> 
> Hopefully we can get it figured out... I will post an update after the visit. In that other thread, someone mentioned seeing a specialist. What would that be called? Would it be a K9 dermatologist?
> 
> Thanks!


Yeah, I was disappointed that there was no final update. Like I said I was grasping at straws when I posted the thread...just did a google keyword search as I have no experience with what your seeing on your girl.

If it were me I would just stick to my regular vet right now & get the first appointment scheduled. He/she may take one look at know exactly what it is. Specialist sometimes are hard to find in ones area & I would hate to see digagnose/treatment delayed.

Does she notice the growth & mess with it? Was that blood in the picture?

Again, keep us updated. There are many of us that want to learn from this.


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## Litz

We have appointment for tomorrow morning. She does know it's there and will lick at it occasionally, but it's not yet become and obsession (as something are with her). There was no blood, but there was red inflammation in her webbing. No punctured skin though. 

Interesting about he Benedryl remark, as Emma *does* suffer from allergies of an unknown origin. We tried a course of a couple different antihistamines, both with no results. When she was on the Benedryl the trainer at her daycare stated that she was more irritable than normal, although we never noticed it at home. 

So the info that I have so far is that it could be: a wart from papillomavirus, a tumor, a foreign object (doubtful to me), or it could an allergic reaction. 

In the past she has chewed on her paws, probably due to itching, and that's when we treated her with the Rx spray I mentioned earlier. The inflammation went away and she stopped messing with them.

We lost our last GSD to canine megaesophogous which triggered aspiration pneumonia... I guess we are now "worry-warts" (pardon the pun) whenever there is anything out of the ordinary.


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## Caledon

Be interested to know what ths is. It looks scary.


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## Courtney

Remain calm...I am also a worrier & can't help it! Be prepared when you go to the visit tomorrow. It always helps me to bring a list of my concerns, what I think is going on & what I am observing because I will forget once the vet starts talking. Maybe even print the pictures you posted on here & bring them eps. if she might throw a fuss with her feet being inspected.

I am sorry to hear about the passing of your other GSD




Litz said:


> We have appointment for tomorrow morning. She does know it's there and will lick at it occasionally, but it's not yet become and obsession (as something are with her). There was no blood, but there was red inflammation in her webbing. No punctured skin though.
> 
> Interesting about he Benedryl remark, as Emma *does* suffer from allergies of an unknown origin. We tried a course of a couple different antihistamines, both with no results. When she was on the Benedryl the trainer at her daycare stated that she was more irritable than normal, although we never noticed it at home.
> 
> So the info that I have so far is that it could be: a wart from papillomavirus, a tumor, a foreign object (doubtful to me), or it could an allergic reaction.
> 
> In the past she has chewed on her paws, probably due to itching, and that's when we treated her with the Rx spray I mentioned earlier. The inflammation went away and she stopped messing with them.
> 
> We lost our last GSD to canine megaesophogous which triggered aspiration pneumonia... I guess we are now "worry-warts" (pardon the pun) whenever there is anything out of the ordinary.


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## msvette2u

Well I didn't have nightmares 

I can't wait to hear what the vet says!!


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## RebelGSD

Teratoma?


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## Good_Karma

Wow, that is concerning. Hope that your vet can shed some light on the mystery (and may it be an easy solution!!).


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## selzer

The extra toe does look like a rear dew claw. If they are going to remove the growth-thingy, then you can have them remove the dew claw (if this is a rear foot) at the same time. No big deal, but the breeder should have cut it off within the first couple of days. 

What is between the toes??? Well, I am leaning toward some type of allergy or fungi as well, though it does look like a Weird tale of the ER where the baby was emitting maggots from between her fingers. It was some type of cow-fly, maybe a horn fly larva. But you say it is not some type of worm, so maybe it is an allergy/fungi. One of my girls used to get the area between her toes red like that, inflamed, she would lick at it. Some say it is from eating corn if they have an allergy. But it could also be a yeast infection. My vet had me spray the toe area with Micotin. That was years ago, and I do not remember what type of success I had, but I do keep Micotin on hand just in case. 

That is the area around the growth-thing. Let's hope it is some type of fatty tumor or growth that is easily resolved.


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## Litz

Update: We just got home from the vet. She (the vet) really had never seen anything like this before, but seemed to not be all that concerned. She listed off some possible causes which were similar to what we've discussed here and what I have seen on other forums. Here is the strange part... we walk in and the vet pulls gently on the "tufts" of hair which were coming from the inflamed area. The hair literally pulled out in clumps that looked like pulling feathers out of a bird. Sort of a central bulbous shaped follicle/root was at the bottom of each tuft. The fur was not attached firmly, this was just a gentle pull and the tufts were popping right out. She continued, and sure enough, all of the hair that was on the "growth" was completely removed. At this point we could see that the growth was actually rather small, I would say the size of two green peas sitting side-by-side. 

The decision we made was to just clean up and bandage the area, which was bleeding at this point, and take a wait-and-see approach. The vet said it was plausible that this was a matter of ingrown or abnormal hair growth, possibly stemming from a small injury or infection. 

BTW, the claw showing in the pic is not the dew claw. Dew claws were removed by the breeder... this is once of her normal toes that feels like it is no longer attached by bone. We assume that it was injured/stepped-on when she was very young and the injury went unnoticed. We call it her "lucky toe" like Nemo has a "lucky fin"  

Side note: Emma will be 2 years old in July and she weighed 53 pounds when we saw the vet last fall. Today she weighs only 54 pounds, so very little weight gain. We figured that she was going to be small framed since her dad was only 85 lbs and mom was 65 lbs, but I did expect that she would have added some muscle over the past six-months. Vet said she's healthy and as long as she is eating that we shouldn't worry about it. I guess she's just always going to be our "little girl". 

CL


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## JakodaCD OA

I can just picture removing that hair ugh Makes sense it could be like an ingrown hair follicle, probably removing the hair did make it smaller,,did she try to 'pop' it? 

Freaky me, I would still have said, take it off right now!!! LOL


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## Litz

JakodaCD OA said:


> I can just picture removing that hair ugh Makes sense it could be like an ingrown hair follicle, probably removing the hair did make it smaller,,did she try to 'pop' it?
> 
> Freaky me, I would still have said, take it off right now!!! LOL


No popping needed, at least at this point. Once the hair was pulled there would have been some oozing had there been anything "juicy" in it!


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## msvette2u

I am trying to get the mental image - was the hair they pulled out, covering the brownish thing between the toes, or was it just the hair from around it?


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## JakodaCD OA

ok not to be gross here, but I think the 'thing' was surrounded in hair, which made it look worm like, so I believe she is talking about removing the hair that surrounded the 'thing', what was left was two little pea sized balls I guess you'd call them


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## Litz

It was the fur that was growing out of the area, not around it. Have a look at the attached pic.


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## msvette2u

Wow interesting. 
So is the brown lump gone now?

I wonder why it matted up? Did they say you should like, wipe between the toes or anything?


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## Litz

Litz said:


> It was the fur that was growing out of the area, not around it. Have a look at the attached pic.


Ok, the picture isn't really big enough to see my annotations. In the original pics in post #1, take a look at pic 3. What you're seeing is matted calcified type fur which is growing directly out of a raised, inflamed area/spot/growth (imagine a wart on a witch's face with hair growing out of it!). Now imagine pulling the hair on said wart, and having it pull right out in small tufts with a wet bulbous looking follicle. Sort of like plucking a feather out of a chicken. When all fur was removed it left a small open wound, which the doc bandaged up. 

So now we are letting Emma outside to use the bathroom with a Cling Wrap around her paw. Looks hilarious


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## Litz

msvette2u said:


> Wow interesting.
> So is the brown lump gone now?
> 
> I wonder why it matted up? Did they say you should like, wipe between the toes or anything?


Brown lump is actually just flesh colored lump now that it's been cleaned up. Doc said to keep it clean for a couple days and keep an eye on it for infection, or for possible regrowth of fur and/or change of size in the remaining bump.


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## msvette2u

Thank you for the added info


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## Shade

Glad it seems to have all turned out, it was freaking me out a little bit lol


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## Litz

Just an update for everyone that it's been about six weeks and the growth has not returned. I'm really thinking it must have been some time of inflamed follicles there, maybe some foreign object got in there and cause irritation or infection... either way, it's gone!


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## Sunflowers

Litz said:


> Just an update for everyone that it's been about six weeks and the growth has not returned. I'm really thinking it must have been some time of inflamed follicles there, maybe some foreign object got in there and cause irritation or infection... either way, it's gone!


Well, thank goodness! I am a little late reading this thread, so I got to see the resolution right away. Good riddance. That thing was awful.


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